Psyche Asteroid
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For the first time ever, we are
exploring a world made not of rock or ice, but of metal.

Journey to a
Metal World

Deep within the terrestrial planets, including Earth, scientists infer the presence of metallic cores, but these lie unreachably far below the planets’ rocky mantles and crusts. The asteroid Psyche offers a unique window into these building blocks of planet formation and the opportunity to investigate a previously unexplored type of world.

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About Psyche Mission

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Psyche spacecraft onboard is launched from Launch Complex 39A, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, lifts off from Kennedy Space Center’s historic Launch Complex 39A in Florida at 10:19 a.m. EDT on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. The Psyche mission will study a metal-rich asteroid with the same name, located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This is NASA’s first mission to study an asteroid that has more metal than rock or ice. Riding with Psyche is a pioneering technology demonstration – NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment – which will be the first test of laser communications beyond the Moon. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Psyche spacecraft onboard is seen at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Psyche mission, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
Teams transport NASA's encapsulated Psyche spacecraft from the Astrotech Space Operations Facility in Titusville to Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Psyche will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Liftoff is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12. Riding with Psyche is a pioneering technology demonstration, NASA's Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
NASA's Psyche spacecraft is seen in early 2022 on its way to the vacuum chamber at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Technicians begin to retract one of the two solar arrays attached to NASA's Psyche spacecraft. This photo was taken on July 25, 2023, inside the Astrotech Space Operations facility near the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California prepare to integrate four Hall thrusters (beneath red protective covers) into the agency’s Psyche spacecraft in July 2021. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
After Maxar Technologies successfully installed Psyche’s High Gain Antenna, their team moved the Psyche Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) Chassis to the alignment stand at their factory in Palo Alto, CA. Credit: Maxar
This illustration, updated as of March 2021, depicts NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. The image was created by Peter Rubin. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
This illustration, created in March 2021, depicts the 140-mile-wide (226-kilometer-wide) asteroid Psyche, which lies in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The image was created by Peter Rubin. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Where Are We Now?

A space mission typically has six phases, A-F. The Psyche mission is currently in “Phase E.” This phase of the mission encompasses cruise (including a Mars gravity assist), arrival at the asteroid, and orbiting the asteroid.

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Experience the Timeline

Get Involved with Psyche

There are many ways to get involved with NASA and space exploration! NASA’s Psyche mission is developing opportunities for engaging university students and the community in the science, engineering, innovation, and communication of the mission.

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Get Involved

News &
Blogs

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All News

DSOC, an experiment that could transform how spacecraft communicate, has achieved ‘first light,’ sending data via laser to and from far beyond the Moon for the first time. NASA’s Deep Space...

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Oct. 12, 2023, with a new target launch date. Slated to launch on Oct. 13 with the Psyche mission, DSOC will demonstrate technologies enabling the...

My eyes flew open in the dark. I glanced at the digital clock on my bedside table — 3:30 in the morning, nearly two hours before my alarm was set to go off. Knowing there was no way I could...

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is on its voyage to an asteroid of the same name, a metal-rich world that could tell us more about the formation of rocky planets. Psyche successfully launched 10:19...

NASA and SpaceX are standing down from the Oct. 12 launch of the agency’s Psyche mission due to unfavorable weather conditions. NASA and SpaceX are now targeting launch at 10:19 a.m. EDT Friday,...

Weather officials with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron predict a 40% chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch of NASA’s Psyche mission at 10:19 a.m....