1 day / second
0.5 AU
Hayabusa2
Spacecraft
A Japanese sample-return mission that visited asteroid Ryugu in 2018, studied its surface with small rovers, collected samples through multiple touchdowns, and successfully returned them to Earth in 2020.
Key Facts
organization | JAXA |
orbital regime | Inner System |
learn more | Wikipedia |
launched | 2014-12-03 |
returned | 2020-12-05 |
launch mass | 600 kg |
power | 2,600 watts |
Mission Timeline
Launched
December 3, 2014 at 04:22 UTC
162173 Ryugu
Orbiter
Hayabusa2 rendezvoused with Ryugu on June 27, 2018, entering a stable orbit and deploying four surface rovers before successfully collecting samples through two touch-and-go maneuvers that created artificial craters on the asteroid's surface.
Returned
December 5, 2020 at 12:00 UTC
The sample return capsule successfully landed in the Australian outback, delivering approximately 5 grams of pristine material collected from asteroid Ryugu's surface and subsurface during its six-year mission.
Related Spacecraft
Hayabusa
Launched in 2003
The robotic spacecraft Hayabusa rendezvoused with asteroid 25143 Itokawa in 2005, making history as the first mission to return samples from an asteroid to Earth despite numerous technical difficulties during its seven-year journey.
