Abstract: To tackle flight control difficulties in Mars exploration under the conditions of remote TT&C distance and large time delay, the mission planning technology for flight control of Mars exploration was investigated systematically. A flight control system for deep space exploration with large time delay was constructed. A predictive and iterative flight control methodology was proposed, based on the interplanetary large time delay model. The open-loop control mode for deep space exploration was designed, in which the states of TT&C uplink and downlink were decoupled appropriately. The automatic scheduling of complex TT&C mode switching and the adaptive correction of telecommunication time delay for telecommand were also realized, while important functions such as optimal allocation of TT&C resources, reasonable arrangement of flight control events and automatic conflict resolution were implemented. The difficulties encountered in flight control of Mars exploration, including TT&C with large time delay, innovative flight control mode, difficult state coordination between the probe and ground, and high requirements in emergency response, have been resolved effectively. This research guarantees the safe and reliable implementation of China’s first Mars orbiting exploration and the critical Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) process.