24 April 2021
During the China Space Conference on the occasion of the China Space Day 2021 in Nanjing, Ye Peijian, Academic of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, reiterated the plans for China's combined asteroid-comet mission. The mission is to send a probe around NEO asteroid 2016HO3 and then land on it to collect samples. The probe will then fly back to Earth's proximity and release the sample return capsule. After that, the craft will continue the mission with swing-by manoeuvres at Earth and Mars. It will finally arrive at the asteroid belt and orbit comet 311P. The whole process will take about 10 years.
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