The Frisbee-sized capsule, which parachuted into the Australian Outback after a seven-year space odyssey, was loaded onto a plane and is due back in Japan on Friday ahead of its much-awaited opening.

"JAXA has commenced to transport the retrieved capsule to Japan," Japan's space agency said in a one-line statement.

The heat-proof pod was fired back to Earth by the Hayabusa probe, which burned up on re-entry, on Sunday, after a five billion kilometre (three billion mile) journey which Japan is claiming as the longest on record.

Technical problems plagued Hayabusa, which spun out of control and lost contact with JAXA for seven weeks, delaying the mission for three years until the asteroid and Earth re-aligned.

When it finally latched on to the potato-shaped Itokawa asteroid, a pellet-firing system designed to stir up dust malfunctioned, leaving it unclear how much material the probe was able to gather.

However scientists expect to recover at least some asteroid dust from the world-first mission, which has generated great excitement in Japan with one sake rice wine maker producing a special Hayabusa brew to mark the occasion.

The probe will remain sealed for several weeks as it undergoes rigorous tests, scientists said.