China launches landmark mission to retrieve pristine asteroid samples | Space News

Chinese state media says the mission aims ‘to shed light on the formation and evolution of asteroids’ and the Earth.

China has successfully launched a spacecraft as part of its first-ever mission to retrieve pristine asteroid samples, in what researchers have described as a “significant step” in Beijing’s ambitions for interplanetary exploration.

China’s Long March 3B rocket lifted off at about 1.31am local time (18:30 GMT) on Thursday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in…