China's second moon orbiter, the Chang'e-2, has performed outstandingly, a Chinese lawmaker close to the lunar exploration project said Tuesday.

Chang'e-2 has more than achieved the goals set for it, said Hu Hao, deputy commander-in-chief of the lunar exploration center under the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry of National Defense and a deputy to the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.

China last month published a high-resolution full-coverage map of the moon captured by the Chang'e-2, which is "the highest-resolution photo of the entirety of the moon's surface to be published so far in the world," according to Hu.

"China's lunar exploration is providing research materials for global scientists, which has demonstrated that our utilization of the moon is for peaceful purposes," he said.

Chang'e-2, named after a Chinese mythological moon goddess, was launched on Oct. 1, 2010.

"The excellent performance of Chang'e-2 has laid a solid foundation for the future landing of its successor, Chang'e-3, next year," noted Hu.

China's third lunar probe, Chang'e-3, is expected to be launched in 2013 and conduct a moon landing and lunar explorations. Its launch is part of the second step of China's three-phrase lunar probe project of orbiting, landing and returning.

Chang'e-2 will continue tests on the space environment and engineering technology experiments at the second Lagrange Point.

Source: Xinhua News Agency