In January 2026, the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center (the Center) organized a review meeting for lunar scientific sample borrowing applications. Upon evaluation and review by the expert committee of the Center and approval by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), a total of 49 applications from 14 research institutions across the country were approved, with 22 designated responsible researchers. On February 5, the result was released by the Center, announcing that SEU was granted access to the lunar soil sample from the Chang'e-5 mission. This approval marks SEU's first acquisition of authentic lunar scientific samples for cutting-edge research, signifying a major step forward in the university's involvement in key fields such as in-situ lunar resource utilization and the development of extraterrestrial construction materials.

Lunar soil sample from the Chang'e-5 mission

The granted lunar soil sample, numbered CE5C0200YJFM00703H, is a powdered lunar soil sample weighing 350mg. The principal investigator for the sample is Academician Miao Changwen from SEU, and the research team includes Professor She Wei, Professor Zuo Wenqiang, Professor Zhao Dongliang, and other national-level young talents. The team integrates expertise from civil engineering, materials science, energy, and other multidisciplinary areas. They will focus on the key topic of “Macroscopic Packing Behavior Regulation of Chang'e-5 Lunar Soil Particles Based on Nano Morphology Characterization and Lunar Key Material Design Research” to conduct cutting-edge technological explorations with high precision and low loss. The aim is to solve the extreme environmental challenges of in-situ lunar construction. This research will provide crucial material preparation technologies for China's lunar base construction, offer important theoretical support for subsequent Chang'e missions and lunar research station planning, and is expected to break the limitations of international lunar soil research homogeneity, facilitating efficient transitions from basic research to applied technology.

Aligning with major national strategies such asbuildingChina into a space power and promoting intelligent manufacturing, SEU is advancing systematic research on lunar surface construction. Led by Academician Miao Changwen, the research team has long been dedicated to studies on civil engineering materials and their performance in extreme environments. The team has undertaken multiple national lunar research projects and topics, accumulating solid foundational research in areas such as lunar soil simulant material preparation and material performance regulation in vacuum environments. In 2025, Academician Miao delivered a keynote speech at the 3rd Symposium on Extraterrestrial Engineering Construction, hosted by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, sharing SEU's innovative achievements in the field of extraterrestrial engineering materials, which gained significant attention from the academic community.

The on-site scene of the lunar soil borrow application by SEU's Extraterrestrial Construction Research Team

The Chang'e-5 and Chang'e-6 missions have returned a total of 3,666.3 grams of lunar samples. Since the first batch of lunar samples was released in 2021, the Center hasconducted ten rounds of sample distribution, significantly advancing China's continuous breakthroughs in fields such as lunar soil geochemistry, space weathering, and in-situ resource utilization.

Source: School of Materials Science and Engineering, SEU

Translated by: Melody Zhang

Proofread by: Gao Min

Edited by: Leah Li