China launches moon mission with Saudi technology

China on Monday announced the successful launch of a lunar communications relay satellite which includes an optical camera developed by Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology.

The satellite is designed to support an unprecedented mission to put a lander and rover on the far side of the moon by late 2018.

The Saudi participation within the Chines Space Agency was reflected in building and developing a payload for space censoring system aiming to film and take photos of the moon, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The payload was readied in a record time of no more than 12 months during which the Saudi research team faced numerous challenges, most prominent of which was the importance of manufacturing a compact payload with a high capacity of less than 10.5 cu.cm and a weight of no more than 630 grams on the Chinese satellite, it added.