China aims to beat US in race for Mars samples with 2030 goal: space official
- It is the first time Chinese space authorities have openly suggested timeline for Tianwen-3 mission puts it ahead of Nasa’s plans
- Planning work has also begun for the world’s first laboratory for the study of Martian rocks, Wu Weiren reveals
“China will launch the Tianwen-3 spacecraft around 2030 to implement its Mars sample return mission,” Wu Weiren said on Wednesday, in a keynote speech to the China Space Conference in Wuhan, in the central province of Hubei.
“In view of the progress being made around the world, we are expected to become the first country to deliver samples from Mars,” said Wu, who is also director of the recently established Deep Space Exploration Laboratory in Hefei, Anhui province.
Wu, the first senior Chinese space official to make such a prediction openly, also revealed that China has started planning on a project to build the world’s first Mars sample laboratory.
Sun Zezhou, Wu’s colleague and chief designer of the 2021 Tianwen-1 Mars mission, previously said that all key technologies needed for Tianwen-3 were in place and work was progressing smoothly.
China and the US are the only two nations that have soft landed on Mars – one of the few places in the solar system where life may have existed, making it a major destination for exploration.