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NASA formally concludes OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission

Confirmed1 source · Oct 20, 2026

The spacecraft successfully returned the largest asteroid sample ever collected to Earth on September 24, 2023, after a decade-long mission to asteroid Bennu.

NASA formally concludes OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission
Image via Space.com

What happened

NASA formally concluded the OSIRIS-REx mission on September 30, 2023, marking the end of the first U.S. mission to collect and return an asteroid sample to Earth. The van-sized spacecraft visited asteroid Bennu, an ancient space rock containing organic material and evidence of past liquid water exposure. Despite landing on a treacherous boulder-field surface that differed dramatically from expectations, the spacecraft successfully collected 4.29 ounces (121.6 grams) of material—more than double the mission requirement—and returned it safely to the Utah desert on September 24, 2023, after overcoming obstacles including a jammed sample collector lid and a parachute deployment failure during reentry. The mission team faced two initial NASA rejections before the $1 billion project was approved in 2011 under the New Frontiers Program, with launch occurring on September 8, 2016.

Context

The Bennu sample represents the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space and contains pristine material from the early solar system more than 4.5 billion years old. Scientists have already published over 200 research papers analyzing the returned material, which has revealed amino acids, sugars, and evidence of carbon-bearing compounds—compounds essential for life as we know it. Most of the sample is being preserved for future scientific study with instruments and questions not yet anticipated. The spacecraft's primary mission concluded, but it has been renamed OSIRIS-APEX and repurposed to study a different near-Earth asteroid called Apophis, scheduled for arrival in 2029. The mission demonstrates the value of adaptive engineering in space exploration, as the team repeatedly solved unexpected challenges posed by Bennu's actual surface conditions.