The new observations offer key information for the mission’s operations at the asteroid, just six years out from the spacecraft’s encounter with 1998 KY26. 1998 KY26 is set to be the final target asteroid for the Japanese Aerospace eXploration Agency (JAXA)’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft. In its original mission, Hayabusa2 explored the 900-metre-diameter asteroid 162173 Ryugu in 2018, returning asteroid samples to Earth in 2020. More informationThis research was presented in a paper titled “Hayabusa2 extended mission target asteroid 1998 KY26 is smaller and rotating faster than previously known” to appear in Nature Communications (doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-63697-4). The European Southern Observatory (ESO) enables scientists worldwide to discover the secrets of the Universe for the benefit of all.