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China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced that at the 74th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), the China Chang'e-5 team was awarded the "Laurels for Team Achievement Award," the highest team honor bestowed by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).

Chang'e-5 Lunar Samples Open for International Applications CNSA announced at the congress that Chang'e-5 lunar scientific samples will be open for international applications. Scientists from all countries are welcome to conduct joint research and share the results.

Background on the Laurels Award: The Laurels for Team Achievement Award, established in 2001, is one of the two major awards presented annually by the IAA. It aims to recognize space project teams that have achieved outstanding accomplishments in the field of astronautics, primarily demonstrated in technological innovation, scientific discovery, and international cooperation.

Significance of Chang'e-5 Mission: Chang'e-5 represents China's most complex and technologically challenging aerospace systems engineering project to date. It accomplished China's first unmanned lunar sampling and return mission, achieving breakthroughs in key technologies including lunar surface sampling, lunar ascent, lunar orbit rendezvous and docking with sample transfer, and skip re-entry return.

Through a series of meticulously orchestrated flight phases, Chang'e-5 successfully returned 1,731 grams of lunar samples to Earth, completing the world's largest single unmanned lunar sampling mission.

Gradual International Opening of Samples: Hu Hao, Chief Designer of the CNSA Lunar Exploration Program Phase III and the Chang'e-5 mission, stated: "The lunar samples are currently highly recognized internationally. Foreign experts and research institutions also hope to obtain samples for scientific research. We are organizing studies on how to implement procedures and methods to gradually open access internationally. Colleagues from around the world can participate and apply to study the samples we retrieved from the Moon."

Current Research Progress: To date, CNSA has completed the distribution of 258 portions totaling 77.68 grams of lunar samples across six batches to Chinese scientists. Over 70 related papers have been published in authoritative domestic and international journals. Research on the lunar samples has determined the formation age of young lunar basalt to be 2.030 billion years, extending previous human knowledge by 800 million years.

Purpose of Lunar Exploration: Hu Hao emphasized: "The achievements we have made in lunar exploration over these 20 years are truly rewarding. The purpose of our exploration is application – the subsequent utilization of the Moon. We aim to leverage the lunar environmental conditions to serve future scientific, economic, and social development."  International Lunar Research Station (ILRS): CNSA stated that China is accelerating the advancement of the major scientific project, the International Lunar Research Station. Currently, this cooperation initiative has received active participation and positive responses from nearly 20 countries and international organizations worldwide.