Nasa is planning to launch its first asteroid sample mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, US, in September.

Under the mission, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will travel to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu and bring a sample back to Earth for research.

Set to reach its destination in 2018, the 2,110kg fully fuelled spacecraft will be launched aboard an Atlas V 411 rocket.

Designed to help scientists study how planets formed and how life started, the Lockheed Martin Space Systems-built spacecraft will return to Earth in 2023, along with nearly 60g to 2,000g of surface material from Bennu.

The mission, which is the third under Nasa's new frontiers programme, will help improve knowledge of asteroids that might impact Earth.

"OSIRIS-REx embodies our directorate’s goal to innovate, explore, discover, and inspire.”

Nasa science mission directorate acting associate administrator Geoff Yoder said: “This mission exemplifies our nation’s quest to boldly go and study our solar system and beyond to better understand the universe and our place in it.

“Nasa science is the greatest engine of scientific discovery on the planet and OSIRIS-REx embodies our directorate’s goal to innovate, explore, discover, and inspire.”

Equipped with five instruments to explore Bennu, OSIRIS-Rex will have two systems for collecting sample and returning from the asteroid.

Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center delivers overall mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-Rex.

Meanwhile, the agency has conducted a major programme review of its asteroid redirect mission (ARM) and approved the mission to begin the next phase of design and development for the mission’s robotic division.

A two-part mission, ARM aims to incorporate robotic and crewed spacecraft operations in the proving ground of deep space to demonstrate major capabilities required for Nasa’s journey to Mars.

Image: OSIRIS-REx will travel to near-Earth asteroid Benn on a sample return mission. Photo: courtesy of Nasa.