Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

China’s roadmap for a Mars Sample Return mission to be launched in 2028.
(Image credit: The University of Hong Kong/Zengqian Hou, et al.)

China is making progress on the country’s mission to retrieve samples from Mars.

Xinhua news agency reports that the Tianwen-3 flight model development phase is to be completed within the year.

Liu Jizhong, chief designer of the Tianwen-3 mission, said last week that building on preliminary technical research and demonstrations, the mission has achieved breakthroughs in key technologies.

Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Major space endeavor

The engineering team is now focused on developing prototypes, Liu told Xinhua.

“The Tianwen-3 mission represents a highly challenging, innovative and pioneering major space endeavor,” said Liu.

“It is expected to achieve humanity’s first Mars sample return mission,” Liu said, “thus significantly advancing the integrated development of space science, space technology and space applications.”

Image credit: Tian et al. (2024)

2028 launch

Tianwen-3 is scheduled for launch around 2028. The goal of the mission to the Red Planet is to return to Earth around 2031 no less than 500 grams of Martian samples.

The mission involves use of an orbiter, a returner, a lander, an ascender, and a service module, which will compose the orbiter-returner complex and the lander-ascender-service module complex, Xinhua reports.

Image credit: CCTV/CGTN/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Key capabilities

As part of the on-going development work, breakthroughs in key capabilities are on tap, such as Mars surface sampling and sealing, surface takeoff and ascent, Mars orbital rendezvous, sample capture and transfer, as well as planetary protection.

The mission is expected to search for potential signs of life on Mars, investigate Martian geological formation, and examine Martian atmosphere, with the objective of making major discoveries in the study of habitable evolution of terrestrial planets.

Meanwhile, Liu also noted that China’s Tianwen-2 probe, launched in 2025, has traveled is slated reach the near-Earth asteroid 2016HO3 this year to begin carrying out exploration duties.