吉林一号高分03D06
Development of the Tianwen-3 Mars sample-return mission is progressing with breakthroughs in Mars sampling and containment, takeoff and ascent, orbit rendezvous, and planetary protection.
The Tianwen-3 mission concept includes a dedicated drone to collect surface samples in addition to drilling and scooping.
Tianwen-3 will use a drone with a range of a few hundred metres to supplement samples collected by the lander's scoop and drill.
Tianwen-2 has traveled about 700 million kilometres since its launch.
Tianwen-2 is expected to arrive at the near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3 (Kamo'oalewa) in 2026, with rumours suggesting an arrival in early July 2026.
Engineers from major state-owned aerospace corporations appeared on Chunwan in 2021, including Zhang Zihui (Chang'e program), Zhang Bainan (Shenzhou program), Xie Jun (BeiDou navigation constellation), and Sun Zezhou (chief engineer of Tianwen 1).
Tianwen-2 launched in May 2025 from Xichang for a year-long sample-return mission to asteroid 2016 HO3/469219 Kamoʻoalewa with a planned summer 2026 arrival and a sample-return capsule dropping 200–1,000 grams to Earth during a 2029 flyby.
CNSA has released an image of Tianwen-2 in deep space using a robotic arm.
Tianwen-2 has been in space for 125 days.
Tianwen-2 is currently 45 million kilometers from asteroid Kamoʻoalewa.
The image of Tianwen-2 provides a view of the spacecraft and return capsule for delivering samples from near Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa.
Tianwen-2 is on a trajectory to asteroid Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3).
The stated goal is to turn GoMars into an operational forecasting system that can ingest real-time data from China's planned Tianwen 3 Mars mission.
China has strengthened its space program in recent years with missions such as the Chang’e 4 landing on the far side of the Moon and the Tianwen-1 arrival on Mars.
Tianwen-1 is China's first interplanetary mission that combines orbiter, lander, and rover functions.
In May 2025, China launched Tianwen-2 to return samples from the near-Earth asteroid 2016HO3.
The Tianwen-2 mission, launched in May 2025, is en route to asteroid 2016HO3/469219 Kamoʻoalewa to collect samples from it in 2026 and 2027.
The Tianwen-1 team prepared for 3I/ATLAS observations starting in early September.
The relative velocity of 3I/ATLAS to the Tianwen-1 orbiter is around 86 kilometers per second.
The observation of faint objects with Tianwen-1 serves as a technical trial for the Tianwen-2 asteroid exploration mission.