Orbital operations around small bodies demonstrated by the asteroid explorer Hayabusa2 and future deep space exploration

Abstract

In 2020, the asteroid explorer Hayabusa2, which successfully returned samples from the asteroid Ryugu, carried out an engineering experiment to deploy a rover and landing markers in orbit around the asteroid just before leaving it, and successfully generated the world’s first multiple and smallest asteroid satellites. This paper describes the orbit design strategy around the asteroid, the results of the experiment, and future prospects for orbits around celestial bodies based on JAXA’s future deep space exploration missions.