Tokyo (CNN) Japanese scientists have successfully landed an unmanned spacecraft on the distant asteroid Ryugu for the second time as part of an ongoing mission to help explore the origins of the solar system.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced the news on their social media Wednesday morning.

"The state of the (Hayabusa 2) spacecraft is normal and the touchdown sequence was performed as scheduled. Project Manager Tsuda has declared that the 2nd touchdown was a success!," the agency said on its Twitter.

This Thursday (July 11), Hayabusa2 will touchdown on asteroid Ryugu to collect a 2nd sample. You can tune in to our webcast from 09:30 JST (01:30 BST / Wed. 20:30 EDT / 17:30 PDT) here: 🎥 https://t.co/ich7d4LBXr



And press briefing from 14:00 JST: 🎥 https://t.co/2n37eUhcRt — HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) July 9, 2019

After landing, the Hayabusa 2 is expected to collect samples from beneath the surface of the asteroid, which Japanese scientists hope will shed new light on the evolution of the solar system.

The Agency said the operation, if successful, would mark the first time a space probe has taken samples from below the surface of an asteroid.

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