China announces plans for manned Mars mission by 2033

China has announced plans to send a manned mission to Mars by 2033, setting out a timeline for the country's ambitions to take on the US as a space superpower.

Beijing is aiming to send taikonauts - Chinese astronauts - to the red planet over five missions from 2033 to 2043, said Wang Xiaojun, the Head of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, one of the country’s state-run aerospace companies, according to reports in Chinese state media.

He told the Global Space Exploration Conference in St. Petersburg, Russia that prior to sending taikonauts or building a base on Mars, a number of missions must first be conducted including the sending of soil samples back to Earth as well as robotic trials.

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Wang also spoke of an anticipated third phase that would see trips to Mars become commonplace, and possibly include the use of multiple space stations to create a "sky ladder" of stops along the way.

The rapid acceleration of China's progress in developing launch and satellite technologies has become something of a source of national pride for the Communist Party as it prepares for next month's celebrations for the centennial of its founding.

Nonetheless, the pace of launches and the ambition of Beijing's timeline have become a cause of consternation in Washington with some concerned about threats to national security and the country losing its technical lead.

NASA has plans of its own to send manned missions to Mars in the 2030s following a return to the Moon later this decade.

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Some industry analysts worry that a lack of trust, co-ordinated and cooperation between the two superpowers could lead to accidents or unnecessary security concerns. NASA has been barred by US law from working with the Chinese space programme since 2011.

China already has the core module of its space station in orbit around Earth, and earlier this year became the second country after the US to successfully land a rover on the surface of Mars.

Beijing has always insisted that its ambitions are peaceful and that it welcomes international collaboration. China has reportedly also been looking at the possibility of working with Russia to construct a research base on the Moon.

Last week, three taikonauts took up residence in the Chinese Space Station where they will stay for three months, preparing it for future visits and scientific research.

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In a video call that was broadcast to the nation this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated the crew. saying the station would "make pioneering contributions to the peaceful use of space by humanity".

"We Chinese taikonauts now have a long-term home in orbit," Nie Haisheng, the head of the three-man crew, replied to the president.

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