SpaceX Launches NASA's Psyche Bound for Asteroid Mission

It will take the Psyche spacecraft about six years to travel the estimated 2.2 billion miles to reach the metal-rich asteroid targeted for study.

Kimberly Johnson

Friday, October 13, 2023 at 04:09 PM ET

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A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, with the Psyche spacecraft onboard, takes off from Launch Complex 39A on Friday, October 13, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. [Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani]

Key Takeaways:

NASA's Psyche spacecraft launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, embarking on a six-year journey to the metal-rich asteroid Psyche.
This mission is the first NASA endeavor to use the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle.
The spacecraft aims to study the 173-mile-wide asteroid's unique composition (more metal than rock or ice) to understand the formation of Earth's and other terrestrial planets' cores.
Psyche is expected to arrive at the asteroid in late July 2029 and spend about two years orbiting it to collect data.

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NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, on board a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, lifted off at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday morning. Its final destination: the metal-rich asteroid bearing the spacecraft’s name about 2.2 billion miles away.

The 10:19 a.m. EDT launch was the first NASA mission aboard the Falcon Heavy but the fourth launch for side boosters, both of which previously supported the USSF-44, USSF-67, and Hughes Jupiter 3 missions, according to SpaceX.