Nation set to launch Mars probe in 2020

China is on track to launch its first Mars probe around 2020, and plans call for retrieving soil and rock samples from the red planet before 2030, said Zhang Rongqiao, the mission's chief designer.

China aims to become the first country to conduct an orbital and surface exploration of Mars in a single mission, he said on Wednesday at an international forum on lunar and deep space exploration in Beijing.

The Chinese Mars probe consists of three parts: orbiter, lander and rover. It will carry 13 scientific instruments - seven in the orbiter and six in the rover, he said.