"China has the full capacity to accomplish Mars exploration by 2013," Ye said.

Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of China's lunar orbiter project. [File photo]

Earlier this month, Wu Weiren, the chief engineer overseeing China's lunar exploration program, also revealed that work on the Chang'e-2 lunar orbiter had entered the pre-launch testing stage and it would make its first trial flight before the end of the year.

Chang'e-2 will carry out a soft-landing test in preparation for the launch of Chang'e-3, which is scheduled for 2013.

The Chang'e Project is named after a Chinese legend of a goddess who took a magic elixir and flew to the moon.

Space-program officials had said previously that the Chang'e-2 mission would be launched in October around the Mid Autumn Festival, dedicated to the Moon Goddess, Chang'e, but no precise date has been given.

Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of China's lunar orbiter project, told the Global Times that China's plan to launch an orbital space station by around 2020 is achievable, based on aerospace technology development and the success of future manned missions.

China's space program will pose great challenges to scientists and technicians, Ouyang said, adding that the space station will be quite small in size compared with the International Space Station, a joint collaboration between 16 countries, including the US and Russia.

Huang Hai, a professor at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA), told the Global Times that a space station was vital for future scientific research.

"A space station is a good platform for spacecraft and a research lab. It is the ultimate purpose of manned space technology," Huang said, adding that the cost would vary depending on the size of the station.

"China will build a smaller one, for perhaps 10 to 20 people, which is affordable for one single country," he said.