China plans to launch a mission to Mars in July that will include a remote-controlled robot landing on the surface of the Red Planet, the company responsible for the project has announced.
Beijinghas invested billions of dollars in its space program in an attempt to catch up with the United States and confirm its position as a major world power in this regard.
The mission of Mars is one of the new space projects that China is pursuing, including sending Chinese astronauts to the moon and owning a space station by 2022.
Beijing had been planning the Mars mission for some time, but the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation confirmed in a statement on Sunday that it might be implemented in July, according to "AFP".
The goal of the Chinese mission "Tianwin" is to put a probe into orbit around Mars and land a robot to explore and study the planet's surface.
It will take several months to cover the distance between Earth and Mars, which is approximately 55 million km, and that is constantly changing because of their planetary orbits.
China previously carried out a similar mission to the moon, and in January 2019, it placed a small craft on the dark side of the moon's surface, becoming the first country to do so.
The United States, which has sent four exploration vehicles to Mars, plans to launch a fifth spacecraft this summer, due to arrive in February 2021.
The United Arab Emirates plans to launch the first Arab probe to the Red Planet on July 15th.
