Tianwen-1 Lander / Zhurong Platform

Tianwen-1

Agency

CNSA

Launched

2020-07-23

Landed

2021-05-15

Operated

Lander supported Zhurong through hibernation entry May 2022

Technical Details

Agency	CNSA
Country	🇨🇳 China
Landing Site	Utopia Planitia (25.1°N, 109.9°E)
Power System	Solar panels
Mass	~240 kg (lander platform, excluding Zhurong rover)

Key Findings

1.First Chinese successful Mars landing, making China only the third country (after the USSR and USA) to soft-land on Mars
2.Employed an aeroshell + supersonic parachute + retro-rocket landing sequence — architecturally similar to NASA's Phoenix
3.Successfully deployed Zhurong rover within days of landing
4.Radar altimeter and hazard-avoidance cameras guided the final descent phase autonomously without real-time Earth control (signal delay ~18 minutes)
5.China achieved Mars orbit insertion, landing, and surface operations in a single mission — a first for any nation's inaugural Mars programme

Mission Outcome

Tianwen-1's lander successfully placed the Zhurong rover on the surface of Utopia Planitia on May 15, 2021, marking China's arrival as a full-capability Mars exploration nation. The mission's combined orbiter-lander-rover architecture made China only the third nation to soft-land on Mars on its first attempt. Zhurong operated on the surface for approximately one Earth year before entering planned hibernation in May 2022, from which it has not been recovered.

Sources

[1] China National Space Administration — retrieved 2026-06-01
[2] NASA NSSDCA — retrieved 2026-06-01

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