A Japanese space probe carrying the first extensive samples of an asteroid has completed its six-year mission, landing safely in the remote Australian outback, Japan's space agency said on Sunday.

Japan space probe carrying asteroid rocks arrives on Earth

Japan's Hayabusa-2 space probe is heading home, but only to drop off its rare asteroid samples before starting a new mission. The space probe, launched in December 2014, has already thrilled scientists by landing on and gathering material from an asteroid some 300 million kilometres (185 million miles) from Earth.

Japan's Hayabusa-2 space probe to bring asteroid dust to Earth

The liftoff of a United Arab Emirates' Mars orbiter, postponed due to bad weather at the launch site in southern Japan, is now scheduled for Monday. The orbiter named Amal, or Hope, is the Arab world's first interplanetary mission.

UAE Mars mission lift-off on Japan rocket now scheduled for July 20

For years, experts have said that future wars will be fought in space. U.S., Russia, China & India have already bolstered their space forces. Now Japan has invested 50.6 Billion Yen on its 'Space Domain Mission'. Details in this report

Gravitas: Japan Prepares Itself For Space War