Launch

The Psyche mission launch occurs in Phase D. NASA selected SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for the Psyche mission. Psyche successfully launched at 10:19 a.m. EDT Friday, October 13, 2023 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. View the overall launch schedule and coverage information.

Prior to launch, the instruments and spacecraft are assembled and tested.

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

Once the Psyche spacecraft is fully assembled with the solar panels, which fold during transport and launch, the spacecraft is shipped to Kennedy Space Center, Florida. At the launch site, the team conducts an entire re-check of the spacecraft before integrating it with the launch vehicle.

This artist's conception shows the Psyche spacecraft against a starry background orbiting above the heavily cratered surface of the Psyche asteroid.

Watching the Psyche Mission Launch

Psyche successfully launched 10:19 a.m. EDT Friday aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  View the overall launch schedule.. The launch was broadcast and streamed live via NASA TV.

View information from the Virtual Launch Experience

Psyche Quick Facts

    • Mission Name: Psyche
    • Main Job: To determine whether Psyche (the asteroid) is core material from a planetesimal, how old it is, whether it formed in similar ways to the Earth’s core, and what its surface is like.
    • Launch Date: October 13, 2023
    • Launch Location: Launch Complex 39A, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida
    • Arrival at Asteroid: Mid-2029
    • Number of Staging Orbits: 4
    • Primary Mission Duration: 26 months at the Psyche asteroid

Downloadable Psyche Fact Sheet

Psyche Press Kit

 

WHAT LAUNCH VEHICLE WILL THE PSYCHE MISSION USE?

NASA has selected SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for the Psyche mission on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

HOW WILL THE PSYCHE SPACECRAFT GET TO PSYCHE?

Once in space, the Psyche spacecraft travels using solar-electric (low-thrust) propulsion. Solar electric propulsion uses electricity from solar arrays to create electromagnetic fields to accelerate and expel charged atoms (ions) of xenon to create a very low thrust with a very efficient use of propellant.[14] This will be the first use of Hall effect thrusters beyond lunar orbit.

HOW FAR WILL THE PSYCHE SPACECRAFT TRAVEL?

The spacecraft will travel 2.2 billion miles.