Adding that second lander pushes the arrival of Mars samples on Earth back to 2033, from 2031.
The MAV will launch the sample container into Mars orbit, where it will be snagged by a European Earth return orbiter.
The nation's Chang'e 5 mission touched down on the moon in December 2020 and shortly after delivered to Earth the first lunar samples since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 did so in 1976.
— China's moon-sampling Chang'e 5 probe beams home eerie images from deep space.— China offers 1st glimpse inside Chang'e 5 moon rock sample .
During a May 2021 virtual Senate hearing, for example, NASA chief Bill Nelson twice showed a printed-out picture of Zhurong on Mars, saying the Chinese program is "adding a new element about whether we want to be serious" about NASA sending humans back to the moon.It released a high-resolution global map of the moon earlier in June, and in May released plans for its Tianwen 2 asteroid sample return mission, which is scheduled to launch in 2025.