Mission

Hayabusa2

JAXA mission that returned samples from the asteroid Ryugu in 2020, then flew past Torifune in 2026; its extended mission targets 1998 KY26 in 2031.

Hayabusa2 is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission that collected samples from the asteroid Ryugu and brought them to Earth.[1] It followed Hayabusa, which returned the first asteroid sample, and then set out on an extended mission to two more asteroids.[2]

Ryugu

Hayabusa2 launched on an H-IIA rocket on 3 December 2014 and reached Ryugu on 27 June 2018.[1][3] It touched down on 21 February 2019 (22 February in Japan) to collect surface material, fired an impactor into the asteroid on 5 April to make the first artificial crater on an asteroid, and touched down again on 11 July to collect material from beneath the surface.[1] It left Ryugu on 13 November 2019, and its capsule landed in Australia on 5 December 2020 (6 December in Japan) with 5.4 g of sample, far more than the 0.1 g the mission had aimed for.[1] What the sample showed is on the Ryugu page.

The extended mission

With about half of its ion engine fuel left, the spacecraft returned to deep space.[2] On 5 July 2026 it flew past the asteroid Torifune, the first target of the extended mission.[4] Two Earth swing-bys are planned in 2027 and 2028, and arrival at the asteroid 1998 KY26 is scheduled for 2031.[2]

1998 KY26 is only about 11 m across and spins extremely fast, once every 5 minutes.[2] JAXA notes that the extended mission contributes to planetary defense, and that the Torifune flyby served as a technology demonstration for that work.[2]

Milestones

  1. December 3, 2014
    Launch on H-IIA
  2. June 27, 2018
    Arrives at asteroid Ryugu
  3. February 21, 2019
    First sample touchdown on Ryugu
  4. July 11, 2019
    Second touchdown, sampling material from its own crater
  5. December 5, 2020
    Ryugu sample capsule lands in Australia
  6. July 5, 2026
    Flyby of asteroid Torifune
  7. In 2027 expected
    First Earth swing-by
  8. In 2028 expected
    Second Earth swing-by
  9. In 2031 expected
    Rendezvous with asteroid 1998 KY26

Dates marked expected are agency estimates.

All missions and what each does next

Sources

  1. [1]JAXA, Asteroid Explorer Hayabusa2 — global.jaxa.jp, retrieved October 26, 2026
  2. [2]JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Hayabusa2 — isas.jaxa.jp, retrieved October 26, 2026
  3. [3]NASA/JPL Solar System Dynamics, Small-Body Targets of Spacecraft Missions — ssd.jpl.nasa.gov, retrieved October 26, 2026
  4. [4]JAXA, Hayabusa2 Extended Mission: flyby of asteroid Torifune — global.jaxa.jp, retrieved October 26, 2026

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