The road to the Red Planet

The launch window for a Mars probe appears once every two years, when conditions are favorable for scientists to attempt further exploration of the Red Planet.

Several probes are scheduled to be launched next year, signaling probably the most intense period of Martian exploration in history, Pang Zhihao, a spaceflight researcher at the China Academy of Space Technology, told Beijing News.

In addition to China's Mars 2020 mission spacecraft, which has yet to be officially named, NASA's 1 metric ton rover, the European Space Agency-Russian ExoMars lander and rover, and orbiters from the United Arab Emirates and India are scheduled to be sent to Mars next year, according to SpaceNews.