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China is preparing to launch its Tianwen-2 mission, which focuses on exploring and collecting samples from the near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamo‘oalewa.
Overview of Tianwen-2 Mission
- Launch Vehicle: Long March 3B rocket
- Launch Site: Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, Sichuan Province, China
- Agency: China National Space Administration (CNSA)
- Mission Goals: To conduct a detailed survey and collect samples from asteroid Kamo‘oalewa before proceeding to the asteroid belt for studying comet 311P/PANSTARRS.
What is Asteroid Kamo‘oalewa?
Kamo‘oalewa is a near-Earth asteroid discovered in 2016 by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope located at Haleakalā, Hawaii. It belongs to a rare group known as Earth’s quasi-satellites—objects that orbit the Sun but stay gravitationally linked to Earth due to their close proximity. The asteroid follows a highly elliptical path around the Sun, appearing to alternate between leading and trailing Earth, creating an optical illusion of orbiting our planet. It has maintained this orbit for about 100 years and is predicted to remain in this state for approximately 300 more years, though such orbits tend to be unstable over long periods.
Sampling Method of Tianwen-2
The mission plans to utilize a “touch-and-go” approach to collect asteroid samples, a technique previously employed by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx and Japan’s Hayabusa2 missions. This involves briefly hovering above the asteroid’s surface and deploying a robotic arm that fires a projectile or gas burst to dislodge material, which is then gathered into a collection chamber. As an alternative, an “anchor-and-attach” method might be employed, where multiple robotic arms drill into the asteroid to extract subsurface samples.
About the Tianwen Program
The Tianwen series—meaning “Heavenly Questions” and inspired by a classic Chinese poem by Qu Yuan—reflects China’s expanding ambitions in deep space exploration. Tianwen-1, launched in 2020, marked China’s first successful mission to Mars, deploying an orbiter, lander, and rover. Although the rover ceased functioning in 2022, the mission was a major milestone. Looking ahead, Tianwen-3 is planned for launch by 2028, aiming to bring back samples from Mars, positioning China among the select few nations undertaking interplanetary sample return missions.
