China has been developing aerospace technologies for decades. Yet in recent years, China has made significant progress in aerospace activities, including satellite deployment, manned space flights, and deep space exploration.

China now has a complete satellite system, ranging from scientific experiment to practical applications satellites.

For high-resolution earth observation, six satellites named “Gaofen” have been launched since 2013. They are equipped with optical and radar sensors, which can work in all-weather conditions.

China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite system is expected to have worldwide service by 2020. Also, it is set to consist of 35 satellites, with the 23rd having been launched in June of this year.

And “Mozi”, the world’s first quantum experiment satellite, was sent into space in August, which may bring about breakthroughs in quantum physics and communication.

Meanwhile, China has completed the 235th launch of its Long March series of rockets. It also developed two solid launch vehicles named Kuaizhou and CZ-11

For space exploration, China launched the lunar exploration project, Chang’e in 2004. The project has three stages: orbiting, landing, and sample return.

The first probe circled the moon in 2007. The third made a lunar-landing in 2013, with work for a fifth currently under way. It’s scheduled to return to earth in 2017 carrying lunar samples.

With these advancements, China is laying a solid foundation for its next deep space exploration target — the planet Mars.