China's First Mission to Mars Should Begin Next Year, Space Administration's Deputy Head Says
Tang Shihua
DATE:  Jan 15 2019
/ SOURCE:  yicai
China's First Mission to Mars Should Begin Next Year, Space Administration's Deputy Head Says China's First Mission to Mars Should Begin Next Year, Space Administration's Deputy Head Says

(Yicai Global) Jan. 15 -- China's first Mars exploration mission will begin around next year, according to the vice administrator of the China National Space Administration.

The expedition will begin after Chang'e-4's mission exploring the dark side of the moon is completed, Wu Yanhua, also deputy general director of China's lunar exploration program, said at a press conference held by China's cabinet yesterday.

Space agencies from around the world are welcome to cooperate in China's deep space exploration missions, added Secretary General Li Guoping. The country wants to team up on scientific research and will offer to carry orbiters and landers up to 10 kilograms for its partners when it runs its upcoming mission to the southern lunar pole.

The Queqiao relay satellite, which China sent into orbit in May to communicate with Chang'e-4 on the far side of the moon, is expected to run for another three to five years and foreign agencies are welcome to use it for research, Li said.

There were 13 projects aboard Chang'e-4 -- including four from partnerships with Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia, Wu said, adding that China monitors the mission from a space station it built in Argentina and is using Russian heat technology on the moon. The European Space Agency and China also support each other in deep space exploration, he continued, saying China has also been working with the United States to observe Chang'e-4 via an American lunar reconnaissance satellite.

The Chinese government will be open minded about its Mars mission approach, and is open to accepting social and international capital, Wu added. Li said the CNSA would also cooperate with foreign partners on Earth observation, communication and space science satellites.

China is also considering the possibility of building a research base on the moon, and would welcome long-term cooperation with foreign countries, said Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program.

Editor: James Boynton

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Keywords:   Space Exploration,Mars