Shafaqna Pakistan: China’s Tianwen-2 space probe has reached its target asteroid after travelling nearly one billion kilometres over the course of more than a year, marking a major milestone in the country’s first asteroid sample-return mission, the Chinese space agency said on Monday.
Launched in May 2025, the Tianwen-2 mission is China’s first attempt to collect and return samples from an asteroid for scientific research.
The mission is part of Beijing’s broader push to expand its space capabilities, with the government investing billions of dollars in its space programme to realise President Xi Jinping’s vision of a national “space dream.”
According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the spacecraft successfully approached within 20 kilometres (12 miles) of the asteroid after a journey of around 400 days and one billion kilometres, and has now begun its scientific exploration.
The agency also published a photograph of the asteroid, a rugged and grey rocky mass named “2016 HO3” that contrasts sharply with the black background of space.
“The probe will progressively conduct more detailed scientific exploration to acquire data on the asteroid’s morphology, material composition and internal structure, laying the groundwork for subsequent sample collection operations,” the CNSA said.
Tianwen-2 is to release a module once the samples have been collected that will transport them back to Earth.
Japanese and American missions have already collected samples from different asteroids.
However, Tianwen-2 marks an important milestone for China in catching up with the United States and Europe in the field of deep-space exploration — that is, beyond the Moon — according to experts.
Asteroids are rocky bodies orbiting the Sun. Scientists believe that samples could contain clues about the origins and evolution of the solar system.
source: Geo News
