Overview

• The Tianwen-2 spacecraft lifted off from Xichang with a Long March 3B rocket on May 29, 2025, marking China’s first direct mission to a near-Earth asteroid.
• It will spend several months orbiting Kamo'oalewa—an asteroid that shares Earth’s solar orbit—to collect high-resolution data and surface imagery before sampling.
• A return capsule is set to deliver the asteroid specimens to Earth in 2027, enabling analysis of primitive solar system material.
• Following sample delivery, the probe will continue deeper into the solar system to investigate comet 311P in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
• The mission underscores China’s escalating space capabilities after the Tiangong station operations and 2020 Tianwen-1 Mars rover success and paves the way for a crewed Moon landing around 2030.