Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft, tasked with collecting samples from the asteroid Itokawa, has encountered a technical issue, putting the $100 million project at risk of failure.
Hayabusa successfully landed on asteroid Itokawa, located 290 million kilometers from Earth, last Saturday during its second attempt, and scientists were optimistic about successfully retrieving material from the asteroid’s surface.
The six-meter-long unmanned spacecraft was expected to begin its journey back to Earth in mid-December, but the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) reported that they discovered a fault in one of the spacecraft’s position control systems.
According to a JAXA spokesperson, due to this malfunction, they were unable to direct the antenna towards Earth, which means they cannot control the spacecraft’s return without fixing the issue. The spokesperson mentioned that JAXA would have to wait an additional three years if they miss the planned launch window in mid-December, when the distance between Earth and the asteroid is ideal for the return trip.
Hayabusa was launched in May 2003 with a budget exceeding $100 million and was scheduled to return to Earth in June 2007. In February, Japan successfully launched a weather satellite into space for the first time since its failure in 2003.
