The solar-powered rover named Zhuo Rong will now survey the landing site before leaving the platform for inspection.

The state news agency Xinhua reported that on Saturday, an unopened Chinese spacecraft successfully landed on the surface of Mars, making China the second spaceflight country after the United States landed on the “red planet.”

Xinhua News Agency said that the “Tianjin 1” spacecraft landed on a vast plain called “Utopia Planet”. “This is the first time that China has left a footprint on Mars.”

The spacecraft left its parked orbit at 17:00 GMT on Friday GMT (1AM Beijing time on Saturday).

The official China Space News stated that the landing module separated from the orbiter three hours later and entered the Martian atmosphere.

It said that the landing process includes “deceleration for nine minutes”, which is the process by which the module decelerates and then slowly descends.

Now, a solar-powered rover named Zhuo Rong will survey the landing site before it leaves the platform for inspection. Zhu Rong is named after the mythical Chinese god of fire and possesses six scientific instruments, including a high-resolution terrain camera.

Wanderers will study the surface soil and atmosphere of the planet. Zhu Rong will also use ground penetrating radar to look for signs of ancient life, including any groundwater and ice.

“Tianwen-1” (Tianwen-1), named after a Chinese poem written two thousand years ago, is China’s first independent flight to Mars. The probe launched jointly with Russia in 2011 failed to leave the earth’s orbit.

In July last year, the 5-ton spacecraft was launched from Hainan Island in southern China and was launched by a powerful “Long March May 5” rocket.

After more than six months of transportation, Tianwen-1 reached Mars in February and has been in orbit since.

If Zhurong is successfully deployed, China will be the first country to fly to Mars, land and release rovers.

Astro One was one-third of its arrival on Mars in February. The perseverance of the American rover successfully landed in a depression called Jezero Crater on February 18, more than 2,000 kilometers from the utopia Planitia.

Hope-the third spacecraft to reach Mars in February this year-was not designed for landing. It was launched by the United Arab Emirates and is currently operating over Mars to collect data about its weather and atmosphere.

The first successful landing was completed by NASA Viking 1 in July 1976 and then Viking 2 in September of that year. The Mars probe launched by the former Soviet Union landed in December 1971, but lost communication within seconds after landing.

China is pursuing an ambitious space program. It is testing reusable spacecraft and plans to build a manned lunar research station.

Xinhua News Agency said in a comment published on Saturday that China is “not competing for space leadership” but is committed to “uncovering the secrets of the universe and contributing to the peaceful use of space by mankind”.