Central planning is literately central to any communist country, though its history has mixed results. As part of that planning, bureaucrats in all parts of the government are occasionally tasked with coming up with goals and milestones for their specific part of the government. These usually take the form of a five- or 10-year plan, which is what the China National Space Agency (CNSA) released on January 28.

This is the fifth such report, with previous releases in 2000, 2006, 2011 and 2016, and the current plans for future space exploration build on the efforts of the past plans. At more than 7,500 words, the document itself is hefty but still a relatively high-level overview of what the agency hopes to achieve. Some main focal points include improving the sustainability of their rocket launches, improving their global position system, partnering with Russia on lunar exploration, maintaining and expanding the Tiangong space station, researching the underlying technology for a Mars sample return mission, and building a global partnership to build a research station on the moon.