China announced Friday that it has approved a Mars exploration program and hopes to land on the planet by 2020.
Xu Dazhe, director of the China National Space Administration (CSNA), announced Friday at a rare news conference that plans are being drawn up for the project. The project, announced in January, has been formally approved by the government.
“What we would like to do is to orbit Mars, make a landing, and rove around for reconnaissance in one mission, which is quite a challenge,” Xu said, according to reports. “This is a project that has attracted much attention from both the science and space fields.”
China will look to recreate the success of the U.S. Viking 1 mission, which landed on Mars in the 1970s.
Earlier this week, Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the Moon and Mars missions of CSNA told BBC: “We will orbit Mars, land and deploy a rover — all in one mission.”
Wu also said the country is looking to “explore, land and settle [on the moon]” — and would like the United States’ help.
“We would like to cooperate with the U.S., especially for space and moon exploration,” he said. “We have urged the U.S. many times to get rid of restrictions so scientists from both countries can work together on future exploration.
