Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is set to launch its new explorer Sunday that will shoot out an explosive device on an asteroid to make a small crater, collect its subsurface material and make a round trip of 5.24 billion kilometers before returning to earth.

After its launch from Tanegashima in southwestern Japan, Hayabusa2 explorer will arrive at the 1999 JU3 asteroid in mid-2018 and spend about 18 months surveying the 900-meter object. It will begin its trip back home at the end of 2019 and arrive sometime around at...