Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft executed a razor-thin flyby of the near-Earth asteroid Torifune on 5 July, passing just 800 metres from the surface at a relative speed of 5 kilometres per second. The refrigerator-sized probe autonomously adjusted its trajectory in the final hours using on-board cameras, demonstrating a high-precision guidance capability that the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) says could one day help nudge a dangerous asteroid off course. Initial data confirmed the spacecraft was healthy and the flyby proceeded as planned; a press conference scheduled for Monday will provide detailed confirmation of the exact distance and science return.

The operation advances a global planetary defence toolkit that has gained momentum since NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) intentionally collided with Dimorphos in 2022, proving that a kinetic impactor can alter an asteroid’s orbit. Hayabusa2’s close pass tests a complementary skill: delicate proximity manoeuvring needed for reconnaissance and, potentially, for a gravity tractor or other low-thrust deflection concepts. Scientists emphasise that each asteroid encounter deepens understanding of surface properties, internal structure and thermal behaviour, all of which feed into models that underpin defence strategies. The probe, which returned samples from asteroid Ryugu in 2020, remains on course for a 2031 rendezvous with the tiny, rapidly spinning 1998 KY26.

The test arrives as international attention turns to the 13 April 2029 close approach of asteroid Apophis, which will skim Earth at just 25,000 kilometres—inside the orbit of geostationary satellites. The United Nations has designated 2029 the International Year of Asteroid Awareness and Planetary Defence, and space agencies from Japan, Europe, the United States and China are preparing a flotilla of missions to scrutinise the 340-metre rock. In a separate but equally audacious undertaking, a small commercial satellite called LINK launched in June is now manoeuvring to capture NASA’s Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Observatory, whose orbit has decayed to 330 km due to heightened solar activity. If successful, it would be the first time a commercial robot rescues a NASA spacecraft not designed for in-space servicing, raising Swift to a safer 600 km altitude and extending its 22-year study of the universe’s most energetic explosions.

On the human front, NASA is recruiting volunteers for a year-long isolation analogue starting in 2027 at the Johnson Space Center, part of the Moon to Mars programme, to test crew resilience in closed habitats and simulated extravehicular activities. From robotic asteroid flybys to orbital rescue and deep-space habitation simulations, the week’s developments reflect a broad push to build the skills and technologies needed for a sustained presence beyond Earth and for protecting the planet from cosmic hazards. The next tangible marker will be the outcome of the LINK rendezvous: if all goes as planned, Swift should resume normal operations by September.