What are Chinese plans for Mars? Find out

Chinese scientists Liu Jizhong and Hou Zengqian said that its upcoming Mars sample return mission — the Tianwen-3 — is likely to launch somewhere around 2030.

The statements came as Jizhong — director of China's Lunar Exploration and Space Program Centre — and Zengqian — who is with the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences — made the presentation at the International Conference of Deep Space Sciences in Hefei, Anhui Province on April 22.

The presentation outlined the mission's science objectives, including sample collection and mobile sampling.

The Tianwen-3 mission will involve a dual launch of two Long March 5 rockets, each carrying a vehicle stack. 

One stack will include a landing vehicle and a two-stage ascent vehicle, while the other will include an orbiter and return craft.

The landing vehicle will touch down on the Martian surface. It would collect and store up to 500 grams of material, and then launch back into space.

The orbiter will await rendezvous and sample transfer, along with the return vehicle that will store the sample that will be sent back to Earth.

The launch vehicle will weigh about 790 pounds (360 kilograms) and would consist of a solid-rocket first stage and a liquid-propellant upper stage.

Samples will then be transferred to the orbiter's return vehicle in preparation for Mars orbital departure and the return journey to Earth.

Mobile sampling is also listed as a mission objective, with criteria outlined for possible landing sites, including evidence of past liquid water, elevation, terrain, geological diversity, and latitudinal positioning optimal for the return to Martian orbit with the sample.

The Tianwen-3 mission is expected to beat the schedule currently set for a similar Mars sample return mission, planned by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) for a 2033 sample return date.

However, the recent presentation did not provide an expected launch date for the Chinese mission.