Tianwen-2

TW-2

Mission Profile

Tianwen-2 (TW-2) is China's planned small body sample return and comet flyby mission, intended to collect material from near-Earth asteroid Kamo'oalewa (469219) and return the sample to Earth, then continue to comet 311P/PANSTARRS for a close flyby. Kamo'oalewa is of particular interest because it may be a fragment ejected from the Moon rather than a conventional asteroid, making its material scientifically unique. The mission is planned for launch on a Long March 3B in the late 2020s, following the successful Tianwen-1 Mars mission and establishing China as a leader in small body exploration alongside NASA's OSIRIS-REx and JAXA's Hayabusa programs.