Mars probe prepared for launch into orbit

BEIJING - China's first Mars probe will be launched between Nov 8 and Nov 20, after being delayed for two years, a top scientist said.

Yinghuo-1, a micro-satellite weighing 110 kilograms, will be sent into space with Russia's Phobos-Grunt mission at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site in Kazakhstan.

The probe is expected to enter a preset orbit around Mars between August and September next year, said Wu Ji, director of the National Space Science Center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.