Press Release
CE-7 MATCH Thai Scientific Payload remains ready for its mission
following the postponement of Chang'e-7 launch to 2027
Thailand’s lunar exploration efforts continue
24 August 2026 - The National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) announces that the postponement of Long March 5 Y14 that is supposed to carry Chang’e 7 mission to the year 2027 does not impact the institute’s determination in completing the mission and that Thailand still intend to follow through the mission to the end.
Due to the development of Typhoon Narra in South China sea, the planned launch on 24 August 2026 was delayed to next year. Due to the nature of Chang’e 7 parameters with the goal to land in the Shackleton crater near the Lunar south pole, the particular lighting requirement can no longer be met in the 2026 windows and hence the mission is to be postponed for 2027.
On board Chang’e 7 lies CE-7 MATCH (Moon-Aiming Thai-Chinese Hodoscope), the scientific payload designed and manufactured in its entirety by Thai scientists and engineers that was selected to fly aboard Chang’e 7 mission to the Moon. Once deployed, this would be Thailand’s first payload to leave Earth and orbit around another celestial body.
The CE-7 MATCH mission is designed to be flexible in the deployment window and currently does not contain any battery or other component that might degrade over time. This boosts confidence that the instrument will be ready upon the next launch window.
Dr. Wiphu Rujopakarn, NARIT executive director, notes that, “Our team still stands ready for the mission, and that the delay does not impact the readiness of the instrument and the team’s determination. The instrument is a result of the effort between Thai scientists and engineers from the design, manufacturing, implementation, and testing, until we are certain it is ready for its space mission”
“Even though we now have to wait further, we are still in high spirits and ready for the day that CE-7 MATCH will arrive in Lunar orbit. What’s more important to us is the knowledge, experience, and human capacity that have grown tremendously since the beginning of the mission. These are the things that will stay with Thailand and build a foundation in which we will one day take on ever increasingly difficult challenges.”
CE-7 MATCH is a scientific instrument developed in collaboration between NARIT and Mahidol University. From the scientific goal set by Thai researchers, to the design, development, manufacture, assembly, and testing phase done entirely by Thai scientists and engineers to be ready for operation in the extreme space environment. The mission goal is to study the cosmic rays in deep space far from Earth’s influence, in ways that have never been achieved before.
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Dr. Peerapong Thorteeka, NARIT engineer and lead engineer of CE-7 MATCH team says, “Our engineering team understands the inherent risk involved in space missions. We will now look onward on both developing our next project, the CE-8 ALIGN and further developing Thailand’s deep space engineering laboratory to open up new opportunities for the next generation to learn and be a part of space exploration. Even though we now have to wait a bit longer, but we are determined to bring the nation’s first payload to the Moon. The development of this project has already given us deep insights and experience in the development of such instruments. As far as the engineering goes, one can say we are already there.”
Follow latest update regarding CE-7 MATCH mission via NARIT official channels.
