NASA will finally launch the Psyche asteroid probe in October 2023 after several delays

NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission, according to agency sources, will launch in October 2023 following a year-long delay due to software problems

The SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is planned to launch in October 2023, according to Project Psyche, according to an update from NASA officials issued on Wednesday, January 25. In addition, a technological demonstration to test high-speed communications in orbit will be carried aboard the powerful Falcon Heavy.

No later than October 2022, the Psyche spacecraft is planned to launch into the unusual metallic asteroid known as Psyche in the main asteroid belt. However issues with Psyche’s flying software foiled that strategy. NASA delayed the launch last summer and gave the mission a “continue/stop” rating.

The Psyche mission’s operating centre, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, was also included in the study as a separate independent probe.

The review team had completed enough work by October 2022 for NASA to decide that the launch mission could proceed in another year. To make the revised launch date, however, there will be some adjustments. Instead of arriving in early 2026, Psyche will arrive at the named asteroid in August 2029 thanks to the 2023 launch.

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NASA stated that this is because of a different orbit. Due to the revised orbit not being suitable for Janus, NASA was forced to remove it off their list of small satellite missions to launch in order to examine two distinct binary asteroid systems.

As it is integrated with the primary asteroid probe, Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) will operate with Psyche as expected. The organisation is analysing how the Psyche mission and the rest of its solar system portfolio will affect its budget.