Tag: Mars Sample Return
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China Advances Tianwen-3 Mars Sample Return Mission Into Prototype Development
China’s Tianwen-3 Mars sample return mission has entered prototype development, with two Long March 5 launches planned for late 2028 or early 2029 and the return of approximately 500 grams of Martian material targeted for around 2031. If successful, Tianwen-3 could become the first mission to deliver samples from Mars to Earth, while supporting China’s…
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China Advances Tianwen-3 Mars Sample-Return Mission Toward 2028 Launch
China has moved hardware for its Tianwen-3 Mars sample-return mission into prototype development, maintaining plans for two Long March 5 launches in late 2028 and the return of approximately 500 grams of Martian material to Earth around 2031. If successful, the mission would complete the first direct return of samples from Mars and could give…
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Tianwen-3 to Dig Up Martian Soil and Bring It Back to Earth, a First for Humanity
As a key step in China’s planetary exploration program, the Tianwen-3 Mars sample return mission is expected to become the first successful Mars sample return mission in human history. At the 2026 Deep Space Exploration (Tiandu) International Conference held on September 3, Academician Hou Zengqian of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the chief scientist of…
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ESA Member States Seek Cancellation of Mars Earth Return Orbiter
Member states of the European Space Agency have called for the cancellation of the Earth Return Orbiter, a central component of the joint Mars Sample Return programme with NASA. The Earth Return Orbiter was intended to capture Martian samples launched into orbit and transport them back to Earth. ESA had awarded Airbus Defence and Space…
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After record-breaking 2025, Rocket Lab prepares for Neutron’s debut in 2026
Rocket Lab had its most successful year to date in 2025, with its Electron rocket completing 21 successful flights and the company racking up several new industry contracts. One such contract is with the Space Development Agency, valued at up to $816 million, for Rocket Lab to develop 18 missile-warning satellites — the company’s largest…
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NASA defers decision on Mars Sample Return to the Trump administration
For nearly four years, NASA’s Perseverance rover has journeyed across an unexplored patch of land on Mars—once home to an ancient river delta—and collected a slew of rock samples sealed inside cigar-sized titanium tubes. These tubes might contain tantalizing clues about past life on Mars, but NASA’s ever-changing plans to bring them back to Earth…
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As it happened: NASA announces new path options for Mars Sample Return mission
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, announced changes to the Mars Sample Return mission during a news teleconference on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Read live blog for updates from the briefing.
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Nelson: Decision on Mars Sample Return expected before new administration takes office
This illustration shows a concept for multiple robots that would team up to ferry to Earth samples of rocks and soil being collected from the Martian surface by NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover.Credit: NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech One of the biggest decision points for the space community, how to redesign the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, may be weeks…
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With NASA’s plan faltering, China knows it can be first with Mars sample return
China plans to launch two heavy-lift Long March 5 rockets with elements of the Tianwen-3 Mars sample return mission in 2028, the mission’s chief designer said Thursday. In a presentation at a Chinese space exploration conference, the chief designer of China’s robotic Mars sample return project described the mission’s high-level design and outlined how the…
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NASA is commissioning 10 studies on Mars Sample Return—most are commercial
NASA announced Friday that it will award contracts to seven companies, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, to study how to transport rock samples from Mars more cheaply back to Earth. The space agency put out a call to industry in April to propose ideas on how to return the Mars rocks to Earth for less…