By 
July 6th, 2026
Image credit: CNSA
China’s Tianwen-2 probe has successfully arrived at a distance of under 13 miles (20 kilometers) from asteroid 2016HO3.
Tianwen-2 was launched on May 29, 2025, taking roughly 400-days to reach the space rock.
The spacecraft mission involves multiple goals over a decade-long expedition:
- Collecting samples from the near-Earth asteroid 2016HO3
- Exploring the main-belt comet 311P, which is more distant than Mars
During the approach phase, the probe acquired imagery of the asteroid.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) explains that, on its voyage to the asteroid, the probe executed deep-space maneuvers and trajectory correction operations.
On June 6, 2026, the probe achieved its first detection of the asteroid.
On June 7, Tianwen-2 entered a coplanar trajectory with the asteroid.
On June 19, it approached the asteroid to within 1, 243 miles (2,000 kilometers).
Tianwen-2 is China’s first asteroid sample-return mission.
The CNSA adds that the probe will progressively conduct more detailed scientific exploration to acquire data on the asteroid’s morphology, material composition and internal structure. Doing so will lead to subsequent sample collection operations.
Go to this CCTV video at:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1384639696815109
Posted in Space News
