This project aims at the development and application of highly sensitive non-destructive methods for the 2D/3D elemental and structural micro-/nano-analysis of the Hayabusa 2 return samples, making use of advanced synchrotron based X-ray hyperspectral-imaging methodologies. As members of the Initial Analysis Team associated with the Hayabusa 2 mission of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), our goal is to establish the necessary experimental and data-analysis protocols for quantitative scanning and full-field 2D/3D X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) for unique extra-terrestrial samples, originating from a carbonaceous (C-type) asteroid called 162173 Ryugu. The materials to be investigated in this project have been successfully collected from Ryugu’s surface in 2019 and are currently on their way to Earth in the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft, which is expected to arrive in December, 2020. The Hayabusa 2 sample return mission will provide scientists with the chemically most pristine and most representative asteroid samples ever collected, which will help in extending our knowledge regarding the origin of our Solar System and its planets, including Earth.