Abstract
Japan's second asteroid explorer Hayabusa2 successfully returned from asteroid 162173 Ryugu to Earth on December 6, 2020, with the asteroid samples. Four xenon ion thrusters based on electron cyclotron resonance discharge propelled the spacecraft for 9514h during the round-trip journey between Earth and Ryugu asteroid. Ion engine system of Hayabusa2 was designed based on the Hayabusa ion engine system with minor improvement for the thrust performance and durability. Hayabusa2 ion engine system met no serious trouble during the round-trip journey, but some unexpected performance degradations due to carbon contamination. We summarize the operations of Hayabusa2 ion engine system.
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