The Hayabusa2 spacecraft, operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), has been in orbit around 162173 Ryugu, a C or Cg class (carbonaceous) asteroid, since June 2018. After more than 16 months of orbital operations and collection of regolith samples, Hayabusa2 fired its ion engines on November 13 to begin its long journey back home. Hayabusa2 is due to arrive back at Earth at the end of 2020, and a re-entry capsule will deliver its samples to the surface. READ MORE