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China Plans Two-Way Mars Lander by 2030
By wchung | 31 May, 2026

Unlike NASA’s Curiosity rover, the Mars probe China is planning to launch before 2030 will return home with samples, according to the head of the nation’s lunar orbiter project.

China’s Mars probe will carry out a three-phase mission, said Ouyang Ziyuan speaking at a lecture organized by the Chinese Society of Astronautics.

The first phase will involve remote sensing. The second will require a soft landing followed by a rover-type exploration. The third will require the probe to bring back samples from the red planet.

Long before that mission, however, China will launch the Chang’e-3 lunar orbiter and lander in the second half of 2013, Ouyang told the audience. That mission is expected to help China build a telecommunication network that would be used to link with a future Mars probe.

The technology for the Mars probe will be based to a large extent on experience gained through the Chang’e-5, a lunar probe that will return to earth with lunar samples.