China is planning four deep space exploration missions before 2030, including probes to Mars, asteroids and Jupiter, says Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.

China would launch its first Mars probe in 2020, and it was expected to orbit around, land and put a rover on the Red Planet, Pei told a space conference on Tuesday, China's Space Day.

It also plans to probe asteroids around 2022, followed by a probe in 2028 to bring Mars samples back to Earth.

An exploration mission to the Jupiter system was planned around 2029.

Lunar and deep space exploration were important for China's endeavor to become a major space power, Pei said.

As for a manned lunar landing, Pei said he personally thought a launch vehicle was still the largest technical challenge, and the huge costs should also be taken into consideration.

Based on China's circumstances, he proposed an unmanned lunar research station in about 10 years to accumulate technical expertise, and a lunar research and development base around 2050. The base would be operated by robots over the long term, and visited by humans, Pei envisioned.

Source: Xinhua News

Related Links
China National Space Administration
The Chinese Space Program - News, Policy and Technology
China News from SinoDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

China Space Agency chief says he expects visit by Russia's Roscosmos
Colorado Springs (Sputnik) Apr 20, 2018
China anticipates a visit by the Russia's state space agency Roscosmos, China National Space Administration Secretary-General Tian Yulong told Sputnik that they anticipate the visit of "Probably during President [Vladimir] Putin's official visit to China, and probably Roscosmos' delegation will come maybe ahead of him or together," Tian said when asked about the planned visits. He explained that meetings between representatives of the Chinese and Russian space agencies take place frequently. ... read more