Depending on the stage or orbit, this floating space rock is located approximately 9–24 million miles from Earth and is estimated to be 40–100 meters across. By around July 2026, Tianwen-2 is anticipated to arrive at 469219 Kamoʻoalewa.
Given that this is almost 38 times farther away than the closest estimate of the distance between Earth and the Moon, it makes sense that a high-speed shuttle would take so long to get at this highly coveted location.
Since the astroid’s gravity is significantly lower than that of the Moon, where China has spent a lot of time practicing, experts predict that landing the spacecraft on the astroid will be one of the mission’s most difficult tasks.
However, after successfully landing on 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, Tianwen-2 will perform a thorough examination of the materials on the astroid before returning to Earth with samples inside, which is expected to happen in November 2027.
However, Tianwen-2’s voyage will not end there. It will proceed in an effort to reach main-belt comet 311P/PanSTARRS, which is around 87 million miles from Earth.
