AntarikshPedia
Hayabusa

2001–2012: Planetary Exploration Becomes Persistent

Hayabusa

First asteroid sample-return mission; returned particles in 2010.

Era 4 of 6 · full record in the catalog

Launch
9 May 2003
Lead / partner
Japan
Target
Asteroid Itokawa
Category
Asteroid sample return
Status
Success
Vehicle
M-V
Mass
510 kg
Orbit / trajectory
unknown

Why it happened

Hayabusa flew during 2001–2012: Planetary Exploration Becomes Persistent, as part of Japan's work toward asteroid itokawa. A sourced write-up of the context around this mission is still on the editorial queue; nothing here is invented to fill the gap.

The mission

The full narrative of this mission is pending research and writing. What is recorded so far: First asteroid sample-return mission; returned particles in 2010.

Results

First asteroid sample-return mission; returned particles in 2010.

Related missions

Hayabusa Mars Express / Beagle 2 — competitor Mars Express … SIRTF / Spitzer — competitor SIRTF / Spitz… SMART-1 — competitor SMART-1 Shenzhou 5 — competitor Shenzhou 5

Sources & image credits

  • Wikimedia Commons, via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · license: public-domain (source, checked 2026-08-24)
  • Mission record: AntarikshPedia canonical dataset (data-sources/missions_timeline.md)
  • Specifications reference: NASA NSSDCA Master Catalog