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Deployment

Yutu-2 Rover at The Moon

China's lunar far-side rover, deployed by the Chang'e 4 lander (first far-side soft landing, 2019-01-03). Operated primarily by ground command across the Earth-Moon light delay; Chinese sources describe autonomous navigation/obstacle-detection capability, but the specific hazard-avoidance behavior is not corroborated in English-language primary sources (verified-vs-claimed: stated as claimed-capability, not verified). Still mobile as of 2025 (1.6+ km traversed), the longest-lived lunar rover.

Yutu-2 Rover by China National Space Administration · Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verified

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Machine-readable surfaces

The Yutu-2 rover operates on the far side of the Moon within the Von Karman crater in the South Pole-Aitken basin as part of the Chang'e 4 mission. It is the longest-lived lunar rover, having traversed over 1.6 km and remaining mobile as of 2025 under ground command.

Key facts

Mission
Chang'e 4 (far-side)
Site
Von Karman crater, South Pole-Aitken basin
Status
Longest-lived lunar rover; 1.6+ km traversed, still mobile as of 2025; ground-commanded

Safety record

No incidents on record for Yutu-2 Rover at The Moon.

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Trust tier
Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verifiedhow tiers work →
Last updated
2026-07-10
Model
Yutu-2 Rover
Company
China National Space Administration
Location
The Moon
Status
operational
Operator type
maker operated
First seen
2019-01-03
ID
a37ffd08-fb0b-4d76-9727-430daf8eca34

Timeline

  1. Jan 2019
    First recorded
    Yutu-2 Rover first documented operating at The Moon.
  2. Jan 2019
    created
  3. Jul 2026
    Current status: operational, reviewed
    Latest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.

On the deployment map

Yutu-2 Rover operates in The Moon. Explore the full verified map:

Sources (2)

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yutu-2
  2. https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/change-4
Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-10

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-10

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: research

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: space

Sources by quality tier

1
knowledge-base
Knowledge base
1
unclassified
Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Yutu-2 Rover at The Moon.

Common questions

What is the Yutu-2 Rover deployment at The Moon?
Yutu-2 Rover, built by China National Space Administration, is recorded as a deployment at The Moon on the DEPLOY registry. China National Space Administration operates the deployment directly.
Who operates Yutu-2 Rover at The Moon?
China National Space Administration, the manufacturer of Yutu-2 Rover, operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.
When did the Yutu-2 Rover deployment at The Moon go live?
The deployment is recorded as starting January 3, 2019 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Have there been incidents at the Yutu-2 Rover deployment at The Moon?
No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

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