The NASA Discovery mission Psyche is a planetary mission to explore the biggest M-Class asteroid (16) Psyche that orbits our Sun within the outer region of the main asteroid belt. Launched on October 13, 2023 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the spacecraft will first perform a gravity assist maneuver at Mars in May 2026, using the planet’s gravity to slingshot deeper into our solar system. After a total flight time of nearly six years, the spacecraft is currently scheduled to arrive at asteroid Psyche in August 2029, though this date may slightly change. It will then spend at least 26 months orbiting Psyche until November 2031.

The primary objective of the Psyche mission is to determine whether asteroid Psyche is the exposed metallic core of an early planetesimal – a building block of planets – or, if not, to uncover its most likely origin. By doing so, Psyche aims to provide unprecedented insights into the inaccessible interiors of differentiated planetary bodies.