Mission

Tianwen-2

China's mission to collect a sample from the small near-Earth asteroid Kamo'oalewa and then explore a comet in the main asteroid belt.

Tianwen-2 is a China National Space Administration (CNSA) mission to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid, catalogued as 2016 HO3, and bring them back to Earth.[1] The asteroid is also known as Kamo'oalewa.[2] If the sampling succeeds, it would be China's first sample collected from interplanetary space.[1]

The mission

Tianwen-2 launched on a Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province.[3] NASA's record of spacecraft missions to small bodies lists its launch on 28 May 2025 and its arrival at Kamo'oalewa for sample return on 4 July 2026.[2] The plan is for the spacecraft to fly around the asteroid and then land on it to collect the samples.[1]

After completing that main task, the spacecraft is planned to continue to a comet in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.[1] CNSA's planetary program focuses on scientific goals that include the origin and evolution of the solar system and the effects of small bodies on Earth.[4]

Earlier asteroid samples, from Ryugu and Bennu, are described on their own pages.

Milestones

  1. May 28, 2025
    Launch on Long March 3B
  2. July 4, 2026
    Arrival at Kamo'oalewa
  3. April 2027 expected
    Departs Kamo'oalewa, sample return capsule on trajectory to Earth
  4. November 2027 expected
    Sample capsule returns to Earth, lands in Inner Mongolia
  5. In 2035 expected
    Arrival at Comet 311P/PANSTARRS

Dates marked expected are agency estimates.

All missions and what each does next

Sources

  1. [1]China National Space Administration, China to launch Tianwen-2 mission to explore asteroid — cnsa.gov.cn, retrieved October 26, 2026
  2. [2]NASA/JPL Solar System Dynamics, Small-Body Targets of Spacecraft Missions — ssd.jpl.nasa.gov, retrieved October 26, 2026
  3. [3]China National Space Administration, Tianwen-2 probe scheduled for launch at end of May — cnsa.gov.cn, retrieved October 26, 2026
  4. [4]China National Space Administration, China plans new deep space exploration missions — cnsa.gov.cn, retrieved October 26, 2026

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