Which Chinese mission delivered the Zhurong rover to Mars?

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The Chinese mission that delivered the Zhurong rover to Mars was Tianwen-1.

Tianwen-1 was China's first successful interplanetary Mars mission, operated by the China National Space Administration. It launched on July 23, 2020, aboard a Long March 5 rocket and entered Mars orbit on February 10, 2021. The mission combined an orbiter, lander, and rover rather than sending Zhurong as a standalone spacecraft.

The lander carrying Zhurong touched down in Utopia Planitia on May 14, 2021. Zhurong then drove down the landing platform's ramps on May 22, beginning surface operations. The orbiter served both as a scientific spacecraft and as a communications relay between the rover and Earth.

The answer is sometimes confused with Chang'e missions, which belong to China's lunar program, or with Yinghuo-1, an earlier Chinese Mars probe that never reached the planet after its launch vehicle failed. Shenzhou spacecraft, meanwhile, are associated with China's crewed Earth-orbit program.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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