Planetary Exploration of China

The Planetary Exploration of China is the robotic interplanetary spaceflight program run by the China National Space Administration since 2020. It aims to explore the Solar System, starting with Mars and expanding to Jupiter and beyond. It was first known as the Mars mission of China and took its present name in April 2020; each mission is called Tianwen, meaning Questions to Heaven. Tianwen-1 launched in July 2020 with an orbiter, a lander and the Zhurong rover, entered Mars orbit in February 2021 and landed in May, making China the second country to soft-land and operate a spacecraft on Mars. Tianwen-2 launched in May 2025 toward the near-Earth asteroid Kamooalewa, with a sample return planned for 2027. Tianwen-3 is planned as a Mars sample return launching in 2028, and Tianwen-4 as a Jupiter mission planned for 2029. The program is ongoing, and later missions remain planned rather than flown.