China is going to Mars

Since SpaceX has been founded, interest in Mars grown rapidly and is still increasing. And now, China is interested to put a piece of itself on the red planet in this Solar system.

In 23 July 2020, China will launch its Tianwen-1 orbiter, lander and rover on a fast track to Mars. Tianwen-1 is planned to enter Mars' orbit in February 2021.

Mission of Chinese Mars Tianwen-1

The rover will look for signs of life, past or present, which is the most interesting one.

Another parts of the mission are:

map the surface
analyze soil composition
analyze ice and possible water distribution
watch the ionosphere
serve as a test for a future sample-return mission back to earth
many others analysis

Launch and booster

Tianwen-1 will get into space on Chang Zheng 5. Chang Zheng 5 is a heavy rocket built in China able to bring on low orbit 25 tons of payload.

In comparison, SpaceX's Starship's payload supposed to be 100 tons.

The Chinese rocket is not reusable and some parts burn in Earth's atmosphere, some will float in space.

23 July 2020 - February 2021