Wu Weiren, design director of China’s Lunar Exploration Program, expressed confidence that China will beat the US in bringing Martian samples back to Earth. Speaking at the China Space Conference in Wuhan, Hubei, Wu announced that China plans to launch the Tianwen 3 spacecraft to conduct a mission to retrieve Mars samples. He believes that China is poised to lead the way in transporting samples from the red planet back to Earth.
China has already begun planning the construction of the world’s first Mars sample laboratory. Key technology for the Tianwen 3 mission is ready, and progress is moving forward smoothly, according to Sun Zezhou, a colleague of Wu Weiren and design director of the 2021 Thien Van 1 Mars mission. The successful deployment of the Thien Van 1 spacecraft in 2021 marked a significant milestone in their Mars exploration efforts. With plans to launch the Tianwen 3 spacecraft in the near future and the construction of a Mars sample laboratory in progress, China is positioned to play a leading role in the next phase of Mars exploration and sample retrieval.
While both China and NASA have successfully landed on Mars, NASA’s entry into Mars exploration is relatively recent compared to NASA’s decades-long history of Mars exploration. Despite NASA’s early lead in the race to bring back Martian samples, budgetary constraints have complicated their plans. The cost of the program has surged from $4 billion to $11 billion, potentially delaying the return of samples to Earth until after 2040 unless alternative solutions are considered. In contrast, China has been able to maintain its focus on bringing back Martian samples while also investing heavily in its lunar exploration efforts.