China has launched an unmanned probe to Mars in its first independent mission to another planet, a bid for global leadership in space and a display of its technological prowess and ambition.
The Tianwen-1 was launched on a Long March-5 carrier rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre on the southern island of Hainan.
Livestreams showed a successful lift-off, with rockets blazing orange and the spacecraft heading upward across clear blue skies.
Hundreds of space enthusiasts cried out excitedly on a beach across the bay from the launch site.
If successful, it will make China the first country to orbit, land and deploy a rover in its inaugural mission.
China’s tandem spacecraft — with both an orbiter and a rover — will take seven months to reach Mars, like the others. Landing, meanwhile, will take seven minutes.
The probe is expected to reach Mars in February. It will then attempt to deploy a rover to explore the planet for 90 days.
If all goes well, Tianwen-1, or “quest for heavenly truth”, will look for underground water as well as evidence of possible ancient life.
There will be challenges ahead as the craft nears Mars, Liu Tongjie, spokesman for the mission, told reporters ahead of the launch.
“If the deceleration process is not right, or if flight precision is not sufficient, the probe would not be captured by Mars,” he said, referring to gravity on Mars taking the craft down to the surface.
Mr Liu said the probe would orbit Mars for about two and a half months and look for an opportunity to enter its atmosphere and make a soft landing.
