China announces Mars and Jupiter missions
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China's plans for deepspace exploration included two Mars missions and one Jupiter probe.
China plans its first Mars probe by 2020, said Wu Yanhua, vice director of the ChinaNational Space Administration.
A second Mars probe will bring backsamples and conduct research on theplanet's structure, composition andenvironment, Wu said.
Also on the agenda are an asteroidexploration, and a fly-by of the Jupitersystem.
China aims to become a space poweraround 2030 with an advanced and openaerospace industry and spaceinfrastructure.
Key aerospace projects currently plannedby around 2020 include manned spaceprograms, lunar probes, the BeiDouNavigation Satellite System and the Gaofen (High Resolution) observation satelliteprogram, according to a white paper onspace activities released late last year.
