That will be followed by deployment of an unmanned lunar orbiter mission along with a nuclear-powered landing vehicle to support lunar rover delivery and sample return operations.

FORBES: Chinese Checkmate: Beating Us At Our Own Game?

We also take a closer look at how the commercial space sector is pushing exploration forward with Google Lunar X Prize senior director, Alexandra Hall, a lunar rover team at Carnegie Mellon, the Space Angels Network VC firm and Laser Motive, which is working on powering crafts through lasers.

ENGADGET

These include sending an unmanned rover to the lunar surface as well as sending a probe to collect surface samples and return them to earth.

ECONOMIST: China launches a rocket and aims for the moon

After launching a lunar orbiter later this year, scientists will begin the process of choosing among several competing rover designs for exploring the Moon's geology and terrain, and now the first of these candidates has been unveiled for public consumption.

ENGADGET: Chinese engineers reveal nuclear-powered lunar rover