Japan on Wednesday successfully launched a domestically made H-2A rocket carrying a new probe for its journey to an asteroid that is 300 million kilometers away from Earth.
The rocket lifted off at 1:22 p.m. (0422GMT) from the Tanegashima Space Center in the country's south, and the Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer was put into orbit around 3 p.m., the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said.
The Hayabusa2 probe is expected to arrive at the 900-meter wide asteroid 1999 JU3, which is believed to contain water and organic substances, in mid-2018 and return to Earth in late 2020, the JAXA said. The agency hopes the probe will collect samples from the asteroid, which would help understand the origins of life on Earth.
The 600-kilogram Hayabusa2 is the successor to Hayabusa, which became the first probe to return to Earth in 2010 after collecting surface samples from an asteroid. The launch was postponed from the original schedule of November 30th due to bad weather.