China launches mission to retrieve asteroid samples

China launches mission to retrieve asteroid samples

China has launched its Tianwen-2 spacecraft to collect samples from the asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and to return them by 2027.

China has launched the Tianwen-2 spacecraft on a mission to collect samples from the asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, with plans to return them to Earth by 2027. Representational image/Reuters.