China has moved a rocket into position to launch a rover to Mars in one of three upcoming missions to the red planet, one from the US and another by the United Arab Emirates.
The Long March-5 carrier rocket is China's heaviest-lift launch vehicle and has been used experimentally three times, but never with a payload. Dubbed Tianwen-1, China's first mission to Mars aims to land a rover to gather scientific data.
The rocket is due to blast off from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in the southern island province of Hainan in late July or early August, according to state media