China releases first footage of its Mars rover landing

China has released the first videos of its historic Martian rover landing, captured by its spacecraft Tianwen-1.

The two short clips show the moment the lander, carrying the Zhurong rover, departs the Tianwen-1 orbiter and hurtles off towards the red planet.

China’s National Space Administration shared the footage on its website four days after Zhurong touched down on Mars.

The landing marked a triumph for Beijing’s space ambitions and makes China only the second nation to successfully put a probe on the Martian surface after the US.

The Tianwen-1 mission launched in July and arrived at Mars in February.