China's Tianwen-2 Mission | 31 May 2025

Source: IE 

China is set to launch the Tianwen-2 mission, aiming to survey and sample the near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamo‘oalewa. 

• Tianwen-1: Tianwen-1 (2020) was a Chinese mission to Mars that included an orbiter, a lander, and a rover to explore the Martian surface. 
• About Tianwen-2 Mission: It is a near-Earth asteroid (NEAs) sample return and main asteroid belt comet orbiter mission that aims to demonstrate China's capabilities in complex deep space operations. 
  • NEAs are asteroids with orbits that bring them close to Earth. Those whose paths cross Earth's orbit are called Earth-crossers. 
• Significance: It will make China one of the few nations after the US (OSIRIS-Rex) and Japan (Hayabusa 2) to retrieve asteroid samples and return them to Earth. 
• Objectives: It aims to investigate Kamo‘oalewa’s unusual orbit and potential lunar origin, testing the hypothesis that it may be a lunar fragment from an ancient Earth-Moon collision. 
  • Discovered in 2016, Kamoʻoalewa is one of only seven known quasi-satellites of Earth. 
  • Quasi satellites orbit the Sun but because of their close distance to the planet, they are gravitationally influenced by the planet. 
  • Quasi-satellites like Kamoʻoalewa are known to shift their orbits in 100-300 years.   
• Sampling Techniques: It will use a “touch-and-go” technique (robotic arm propels fragments into chamber) to collect asteroid samples, with an optional “anchor and attach” method for drilling if needed. 
• Future Plans: After Kamo'oalewa, Tianwen-2 will orbit and analyze a comet in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter). 
  • Tianwen-3 (2028) aims to return samples from Mars for the first time.