Recently we talked about some observations of the asteroid Psyche by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope in Chile. In the segment, we said that Psyche would launch in 2022. In a June 24 press conference, NASA said that would no longer be possible and that it would launch in 2023 or 24, arriving at the asteroid in 2029, not 2026. The cause of the delay is the flight software testing simulator. It was supposed to be delivered earlier in the year but was delayed.

After it was delivered, there was a problem with the simulator, which took time to fix. The launch was delayed at first from August to September to give teams time to fix the issue and test the software. The launch window for this year extended to October 11. This software is really important; it controls the spacecraft so that it can point its solar panels at the sun and its antenna at Earth. With the extra time, the simulator was fixed, but there wasn’t enough time to actually test the software. Ensuring it works is not something to do in a rush.

The delay will have more effects beyond simply causing three more years of flight time.

Several missions were planning on riding on the same rocket as Psyche — a pair of CubeSats to Mars and one to solar orbit carrying an atomic clock. These will need a different ride to space now. NASA is also reconsidering the mission itself. Discovery Program missions are cost limited for their entire lifetimes, and Psyche has used a significant amount of its cap so far. NASA is looking at Psyche’s place in the Discovery Program, and a decision on whether to continue it for the 2023 window or do something else will be decided in a few months. The spacecraft itself is fully assembled and ready to go.

More Information

NASA press release