Psyche (spacecraft)

*Psyche*
	An artist's concept illustration of the Psyche spacecraft as it orbits 16 Psyche
Mission type	Asteroid orbiter
Operator	NASA; ASU;
COSPAR ID	2023-157A
SATCAT no.	58049
Website	NASA: www.nasa.gov/psyche; ASU: psyche.asu.edu;
Mission duration	Cruise: 1 year, 8 months, 3 days (in progress); Science: 21 months in orbit
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Psyche
Manufacturer	Maxar Technologies
Launch mass	2,608 kg (5,750 lb)
Dry mass	1,648 kg (3,633 lb)
Payload mass	30 kg (66 lb)
Power	4.5 kW
Start of mission
Launch date	2023 October 13, 14:19 UTC
Rocket	Falcon Heavy
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A
Contractor	SpaceX
16 Psyche orbiter
Orbital insertion	August 2029
Psyche Multispectral Imager
Instruments
Psyche Multispectral Imager	Multispectral Imager
Gamma Ray and Neutron Spectrometer	Gamma Ray and Neutron Spectrometer
Magnetometer	Magnetometer
Gravity Science	X-band Gravity Science Investigation
	; Psyche mission patch Discovery Program

Psyche (/ˈsaɪki/ SY-kee) is a NASA Discovery Program space mission launched on October 13, 2023, to explore the origin of planetary cores by orbiting and studying the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche beginning in 2029. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) manages the project.

The spacecraft will not land on the asteroid, but will orbit it from August 5, 2029, to October 31, 2031, spending 817 days in orbit. Psyche uses solar-powered Hall-effect thrusters for propulsion and orbital maneuvering, the first interplanetary spacecraft to use that technology. It's also the first mission to use laser optical communications beyond the Earth-Moon system.

Asteroid 16 Psyche is the heaviest known M-type asteroid, and may be an exposed iron core of a protoplanet, the remnant of a violent collision with another object that stripped off its mantle and crust. On January 4, 2017, the Psyche mission was selected for NASA's Discovery #14 mission.