Hayabusa2 mission schedule: provisional version (as of June 7, 2018).
The current schedule for Hayabusa2 is shown below. The dates here are all provisional (unless marked "finished") as operation timings are very susceptible to change due to a wide range of factors, including our knowledge about Ryugu expanding as we approach the asteroid.
We will update the table below whenever changes are made.
| Year | Month, date | Event | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | January 10 | Third stage of ion engine operation begins. (Hayabusa2 will use its ion engine to make adjustments to its course) | Complete |
| June 3 | Ion engine operation ends. | Complete | |
| June 3 | Start of asteroid approach. (distance: 3,100 km) | Complete | |
| June 27 | Arrival at asteroid Ryugu (altitude 20 km). | Planning | |
| End of July | Medium altitude observations of Ryugu #1 (altitude 5 km). | Planning | |
| August | Decent to measure gravity of Ryugu (altitude 1 km). | Planning | |
| September - October | Period for touchdown operation #1 (First landing to gather a sample.) | Planning | |
| September - October | Period for rover deployment #1 (One or more MINERVA-II rovers and/or the MASCOT lander may be released to the asteroid surface at this time.) | Planning | |
| November - December | Operation during solar conjunction (Communications are disabled during this period, as the Sun is between the Earth and Hayabusa2.) | Planning | |
| 2019 | January | Medium altitude observations of Ryugu #2 (altitude 5 km). | Planning |
| February | Period for touchdown operation #2 | Planning | |
| March - April | Crater generation operation (Hayabusa2 will drop the explosive small carry-on impactor (SCI) to generate a crater in order to gather subsurface material) | Planning | |
| April - May | Period for touchdown operation #3 | Planning | |
| July | Period for rover deployment #2 (Remaining MINERVA-II rovers will be released onto the asteroid surface) | Planning | |
| August - November | Hayabusa2 remains near the asteroid | Planning | |
| November - December | Departure from asteroid | Planning |
Hayabusa2 project
June 7, 2018
