China to launch near-Earth asteroid sample return mission in 2025 China will launch the Tianwen-2 mission to sample a near-Earth asteroid next year, an official with the country’s space agency said Tuesday.

Tianwen-2 is scheduled to launch in 2025, Bian Zhigang, deputy head of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said Sept. 24, according to Chinese media The Paper.

The mission will first focus on sampling near-Earth asteroid Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3). After delivering samples to Earth, the spacecraft will use our planet for a gravitational slingshot maneuver and set it on a course for main-belt comet 311P/PANSTARRS.

Kamoʻoalewa is a quasi-satellite of Earth and is roughly 40-100 meters in diameter. This small body may be a fragment of the Moon, ejected into space by a past impact event, according to one journal article.