China launched its latest space mission to Mars on July 23, 2020, with the lift-off of the Tianwen-1 spacecraft at 12.41pm aboard a Long March 5 rocket from Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre in Hainan, China. The Mars probe is expected to take over five months to reach the red planet. So far, only the US and the former Soviet Union have successfully landed space vessels to Mars. A successful landing on Mars of the Tianwen-1 is seen as a key step along China’s path to becoming a major space power.