A Japanese spacecraft will be landing on the test range of Woomera in the outback of South Australia in June.

It will be the first spacecraft to get in touch with an asteroid and return to Earth if the mission is successful.

The spacecraft called the Hayabusa spacecraft, which made contact with an asteroid five years back, is thought to be carrying some samples in it that are valuable.

Dr. Michael Green from the Australia Department of Innovations says people in the surrounding area should be able to see the re-entry of the spacecraft. He said that there will be an obvious re-entry trail that will be a visible shooting-star-look-alike in the sky as it enters Woomera.

The area is officially known as the Woomera Prohibited Area and extends about 127,000 square kilometres in the north-west of South Australia.

Considering its size, there should be plenty of room for the well-travelled spacecraft to land safely.

Dr. Green stated that the amount of asteroid that has been collected is unknown, but is estimated around 100 grams.

Also according to Dr. Green, this is the first time for a Japanese space agency to send out a spacecraft to an asteroid to collect and bring sample materials to Earth for scientific analysis.

Hayabusa was first launched on 9th May, 2003.