Originally scheduled to launch in September 2022, Psyche was scrubbed last year after delays in development and testing of its flight software.
Located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Psyche is 140 miles/226 kilometers wide, rotates on its side and, according to its reflectivity, appears to be made largely of iron, nickel or gold. As such, planetary scientists think it could be a rare example of the core of a planet exposed to space in a cataclysmic collision.
It’s even been said that Psyche could be technically worth $10,000 quadrillion. That’s way more than the global economy, which is worth about $105 trillion in 2023 according to Statista.
Psyche is now due to launch from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy between Oct. 5-25, 2023, conduct a flyby of Mars for a gravity assist and arrive at the asteroid in August 2029. It will then spend 26 months in orbit, making observations from different altitudes.
Now in an Astrotech Space Operations Facility near Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the spacecraft twill this month begin its final assembly, test and launch operations.