Hayabusa2
Hayabusa2 (Japanese: はやぶさ2, lit. 'Peregrine falcon 2') is an asteroid sample-return mission operated by the Japanese state space agency JAXA. It is a successor to the Hayabusa mission, which returned asteroid samples for the first time in June 2010. Hayabusa2 was launched on 3 December 2014 and rendezvoused in space with near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu on 27 June 2018. It surveyed the asteroid for a year and a half and took samples. It left the asteroid in November 2019 and returned the samples to Earth on 5 December 2020 UTC. Its mission has now been extended through at least 2031, when it will rendezvous with the small, rapidly-rotating asteroid 1998 KY26.
Artist's impression of Hayabusa2 firing its ion thrusters | |
| Mission type | Asteroid sample-return |
|---|---|
| Operator | JAXA |
| COSPAR ID | 2014-076A |
| SATCAT no. | 40319 |
| Website | www |
| Mission duration | 6 years (planned) (9 years, 2 months and 10 days elapsed) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Hayabusa |
| Manufacturer | NEC |
| Launch mass | 600 kg |
| Dry mass | 490 kg (1,080 lb) |
| Dimensions | Spacecraft bus: 1 × 1.6 × 1.25 m (3 ft 3 in × 5 ft 3 in × 4 ft 1 in) Solar panel: 6 m × 4.23 m (19.7 ft × 13.9 ft) |
| Power | 2.6 kW (at 1 au), 1.4 kW (at 1.4 au) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 3 December 2014, 04:22:04 UTC |
| Rocket | H-IIA 202 |
| Launch site | Tanegashima Space Center, LA-Y |
| Contractor | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | Re-entry capsule: 5 December 2020 UTC |
| Landing site | Woomera, Australia |
| Flyby of Earth | |
| Closest approach | 3 December 2015 |
| Distance | 3,090 km (1,920 mi) |
| Rendezvous with (162173) Ryugu | |
| Arrival date | 27 June 2018, 09:35 UTC |
| Departure date | 12 November 2019 |
| Sample mass | 5.4 grams(including gas samples) |
| (162173) Ryugu lander | |
| Landing date | 21 February 2019 |
| (162173) Ryugu lander | |
| Landing date | 11 July 2019 |
| Flyby of Earth (Sample return) | |
| Closest approach | 5 December 2020 UTC |
Hayabusa2 carries multiple science payloads for remote sensing and sampling, and four small rovers to investigate the asteroid surface and analyze the environmental and geological context of the samples collected.