China has taken a major step in deep space exploration with the launch of Tianwen-2, aiming to become the third nation to return samples from an asteroid.

China launched its Tianwen-2 spacecraft early Wednesday in a landmark mission to retrieve samples from a near-Earth asteroid, 469219 Kamoʻoalewa. The Long March 3B rocket carrying the probe lifted off at around 1:31 a.m. local time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China. State media Xinhua confirmed the launch as a "complete success."

The robotic spacecraft is expected to approach the small asteroid—located about 10 million miles from Earth—over the next year, reaching its destination by July 2026. Tianwen-2 will collect rock samples and return them to Earth via capsule in November 2027.

This mission underscores China’s rapidly advancing space ambitions. In recent years, China has landed robotic missions on the far side of the moon, launched and operated its own space station, and is preparing to send astronauts to the lunar surface by 2030.

If successful, China will become the third country to recover asteroid samples. Japan pioneered such missions with Hayabusa in 2010 and Hayabusa2 in 2019. The United States followed with its OSIRIS-REx mission, which retrieved samples from asteroid Bennu in 2020.

Kamoʻoalewa, Tianwen-2’s target, is classified as a quasi-satellite of Earth—an object that follows a similar orbit around the sun. NASA estimates its size to range from 40 to 100 metres. Scientists hope the mission will offer insights into the early solar system and the origins of water and life on Earth.

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