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Mission record

Hayabusa

Also known as Muses-C

JAXA · Launched

Explore trajectory

Completed · Success

JAXA's Hayabusa, formerly Muses-C, was a sample-return mission to asteroid 25143 Itokawa that returned a re-entry capsule to Earth in 2010.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
M-V-5
Launch site
Kagoshima Space Center (Uchinoura), Japan
Countries
Japan
Mission types
Sample return, Lander

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched from Kagoshima on an M-5 booster

    Earth

  2. Milestone

    Arrived at asteroid Itokawa

    25143 Itokawa

  3. Sample collection

    Made two landings on Itokawa to collect a sample

    25143 Itokawa

  4. Deployment

    Released the MINERVA probing robot

  5. Milestone

    Hayabusa's re-entry capsule entered Earth's atmosphere

    Earth

  6. Sample return

    JAXA retrieved the Hayabusa capsule in South Australia

    Earth

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Hayabusa · Spacecraft

    Destinations: 25143 Itokawa, Earth

    • MINERVA · Lander · Lost after deployment without landing

    • HAYABUSA capsule · Return capsule

      Destinations: Earth

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

No verified trajectory dataset is committed for this mission, so Mission Atlas renders no path.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through September 4, 2026