Photos: China launches Mars probe in space race with US

China's biggest space rocket launched from the southern island of Hainan

Last updated: July 23, 2020 | 10:12

AFP and Compiled by Christian Borbon, Senior Web Editor

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China launched a rover to Mars on Thursday, a journey coinciding with a similar US mission as the powers take their rivalry into deep space.

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The Long March 5 Y-4 rocket, carrying an unmanned Mars probe of the Tianwen-1 mission, is seen before the launch at Wenchang Space Launch Center in Wenchang, Hainan Province, China

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The Chinese mission is named Tianwen-1 ("Questions to Heaven") in a nod to a classical poem that has verses about the cosmos. It launched on a Long March 5 - China's biggest space rocket - from the southern island of Hainan.

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Chinese authorities have yet to confirm the success of the launch. Tianwen-1 is expected to arrive in February 2021 after a seven-month, 55-million-kilometre (34-million-mile) voyage.

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The mission includes a Mars orbiter, a lander and a rover that will study the planet's soil.

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A Long March-5 rocket, carrying an orbiter, lander and rover as part of the Tianwen-1 mission to Mars, lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in southern China's Hainan Province.

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A Long March-5 rocket, carrying an orbiter, lander and rover as part of the Tianwen-1 mission to Mars, lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in southern China's Hainan Province

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The Long March 5 Y-4 rocket, carrying an unmanned Mars probe of the Tianwen-1 mission, takes off from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Wenchang, Hainan Province, China

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The Long March 5 Y-4 rocket, carrying an unmanned Mars probe of the Tianwen-1 mission, takes off from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Wenchang, Hainan Province, China

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The Long March 5 Y-4 rocket, carrying an unmanned Mars probe of the Tianwen-1 mission, takes off from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Wenchang, Hainan Province, China.

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