China’s historic attempt to bring samples from Mars to Earth could launch as soon as 2028, two years earlier than previously stated, according to a China National Space Administration official.

The announcement comes just two days after China’s space agency pushed forward its own mission to Mars by two years. The Tianwen-3 sample return mission will now take place in 2028, according to an update from the program’s chief designer.

( NewsNation) — China is set to embark on a mission to Mars in 2028, hoping to bring back Martian soil. Space News reported that the mission’s chief designer, Liu Jizhong, said Thursday the Chinese wanted 21 ounces of Martian soil brought home.

There is now a genuine chance that China could return Martian samples before the U.S.' China has advanced the launch of its Tianwen 3 Mars sample-return mission to 2028. The new timeline, two years sooner than originally planned,

The space race continues apace as China moves up the date for its historic Mars sample return mission while the US slashes its own trip to collect rocks from the Red Planet. As SpaceNews reports, the chief designer of the Tianwen-3 sample return mission,