Tianwen 1 probe set to enter Mars orbit before New Year

China's Tianwen 1 Mars probe is set to enter the orbit of the red planet around Feb 10, two days before Chinese New Year, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the nation's leading space contractor.

The State-owned conglomerate said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon that the spacecraft will conduct a "braking" operation to decelerate and make sure it will be captured by Martian gravity.

Tianwen 1 has flown for 196 days and has traveled more than 450 million kilometers on its journey to the planet. It is now around 170 million km from Earth. Depending on the two planets' orbits, Mars is between 55 million km and 400 million km from Earth.