China’s September 8, 2026, update on Tianwen-3 reports that engineers had begun developing a spacecraft prototype, eight probable landing areas had been shortlisted, and a planetary-protection laboratory was planned. The Chinese mission is intended to collect and return its own Mars samples, with a launch targeted around 2028 and a return around 2031, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The shortlist is a later selection stage than the 86 potential landing sites in a 2024 study cited by CNN in its October 12, 2026, report. Hou Zengqian, Tianwen-3’s chief scientist, said eight probable areas had been shortlisted by the September update.
How China plans to collect and return Mars samples
The announced plan calls for two Long March 5 launches from Wenchang Space Launch Center. Tianwen-3’s listed elements are a lander, an ascender, a service capsule, an orbiter and a reentry module. Its planned drilling would reach as deep as 2 meters below the surface.
Hou said subsurface samples could be less exposed to radiation, oxidation and weathering at the surface, helping preserve potential biosignatures and geological information. China’s announced schedule targets a launch around 2028 and sample return around 2031; both are future mission goals.
The planned laboratory addresses planetary protection: preventing Earth contamination from reaching Mars, preventing returned Martian material from contaminating Earth, and keeping the samples free of terrestrial pollution. The safeguards matter in both directions, from spacecraft and laboratories to the material scientists hope to study.
Tianwen-3’s announced collection is at its own selected landing area. The plan is to return samples collected by the Chinese mission, separate from the specimens NASA’s Perseverance rover has gathered.
Why Perseverance’s Sapphire Canyon sample matters
CNN reported that Perseverance drilled the Sapphire Canyon core from the Cheyava Falls rock in Neretva Vallis in July 2024 and that the core remained aboard the rover. The sample’s dark spots and pale ridges have drawn scientific interest: Perseverance science-team member Adrian Broz described them to CNN as a potential biosignature, while chemical or geological processes without life remain possible. Purdue planetary scientist and Perseverance team member Briony Horgan told CNN that a definitive assessment requires returned samples and laboratory study.
NASA’s sample-return plan is a separate question
NASA’s May 2, 2025, fiscal year 2026 budget request proposed terminating Mars Sample Return (MSR), describing the mission as grossly over budget and saying human missions to Mars would achieve its goals. In remarks at an August 30, 2026, news conference, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said samples would be retrieved robotically or by astronauts. CNN reported on October 12 that he had not provided a specific mission design or schedule.
Lockheed Martin has separately proposed a fixed-price mission costing under $3 billion to return 30 Perseverance samples by 2037 at the latest. The company’s proposal is not an approved NASA mission.
