12 March 2026 Liu Jizhong, the chief designer of the Tianwen-3 mission, said, that the mission to return samples from Mars is entering the flight hardware development phase with the goal of eventually launching it 2028 year to search for biosignatures on the Red Planet. The necessary technologies include the selection and sealing of samples on the surface of Mars, take off and rise from its surface, docking in orbit around Mars and planetary defense systems. Engineering team during 2026 will move to the flight model development phase.
The multi-component mission will use two separate launches from Earth at the end 2028 year during a short optimal launch window. Two Long March missiles 5 a stack of landing and lifting devices will be released separately, as well as a combination of devices: orbital around the red planet and return to Earth. After landing and collecting samples on the surface, the lifter will launch them into Martian orbit to dock with the orbiter before returning to Earth, for the purpose of delivery no less 500 grams of Martian samples to Earth in 2031 year. The mission will also carry a drone to help collect samples alongside the lander's drilling and bucket systems. The drone will have a range of several hundreds of meters to supplement the samples, collected by the bucket and drill of the lander.
Tianwen-3 will be the first ever mission, which will attempt to collect samples from Mars and deliver them to Earth. Tentatively, this should take place by the end of November 2027 year.
Source: https://spacenews.com