TOKYO, Dec. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Japan's asteroid probe Hayabusa would return home three years behind schedule due to thruster problem, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said Wednesday.

    Fuel leakage was found after the probe left the asteroid Itokawa in late November. Although repairable, the problem has led to the postponement of its home-bound travel from this month to next autumn, and subsequently its arrival time from 2007 to June 2010.

    Now, scientists have to wait for three more years to see whether the probe has gathered soil examples of the asteroid.

    Launched in May 2003, Hayabusa probe landed on the asteroid Itokawa on Nov. 26 in a bid to realize the first sampling on an asteroid's surface.

    Controllers, however, said the probe was likely to have failed to fire a metal ball to stir up the surface material for gathering.

    JAXA decided to return the probe instead of trying for a second time because they deemed that the landing itself could have kicked up some dusk for collecting. Enditem