China may have its sights set on a mission to Venus

A senior Chinese space official said that China is considering a mission to Venus.

In 2020 the country launched its first interplanetary mission, called Tianwen 1, to Mars. China plans to go further afield as a result of the mission. The chief designer of China's lunar exploration program told Chinese state media earlier this month that there are three more missions to follow the Mars mission.

China plans to launch a mission that will sample an asteroid and visit a comet, as well as a probe to explore the Jupiter system, according to a recent space white paper. China is considering adding Venus's targets for exploration in the interview, which was published March 7.

China's Mars orbiter snaps selfies above Red Planet.

The potential mission was not given further details.

In the last decade, scientists in China proposed a mission to Venus. The mission that was not selected for further development work would have focused on the planet's atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetosphere, as well as carry out surveys of its surface and internal structure.

The September 2020 announcement of a detection of phosphine in the Venusian atmosphere made the second planet from the sun a hot topic.

Last year, NASA and the European Space Agency announced three missions to the hottest planet in the solar system. China may be next to sign up for a trip to the other side.

Follow us on social media.