Psyche moves into near-continuous thrust as U.S. mission heads toward its 2029 asteroid target
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is now using its solar-electric propulsion system almost continuously on the journey to its metal-rich asteroid target, according to an October 22 mission update. The sustained cruise phase began September 28, following the Mars gravity assist, with arrival still targeted for summer 2029.
News date: 2026-10-22 · Checked: 2026-10-23 (Asia/Bangkok)
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is now using its solar-electric propulsion system almost continuously on the journey to its metal-rich asteroid target, according to an October 22 mission update. The sustained cruise phase began September 28, following the Mars gravity assist, with arrival still targeted for summer 2029.
Three key points
- The near-continuous propulsion phase began September 28, 2026; the mission update was published October 22.
- Four Hall thrusters are available, but the spacecraft operates one at a time, using electricity and xenon to build speed gradually.
- Arrival at asteroid Psyche remains a summer 2029 target, not a completed rendezvous.
A long push rather than a single engine burn
Mission controllers expect the thrusters to operate nearly 90% of the time until arrival, with interruptions for communications and engineering activities. That is the team’s operating plan, not a claim that the spacecraft has already maintained that percentage throughout the remaining journey.
The system accelerates charged xenon particles using electromagnetic fields. The update gives a maximum thrust of 250 millinewtons: a small force applied for long periods, rather than the short, powerful burns associated with conventional chemical propulsion.
Psyche’s solar arrays provide electricity for the spacecraft and propulsion system. The mission team plans to reduce propulsion power as the craft travels farther from the Sun and the arrays receive less sunlight.
Controllers must also manage the spacecraft’s orientation
Running the thrusters produces a small twisting force that affects pointing. The update describes using reaction wheels and occasional changes in thruster operation to manage the angular momentum that builds up. The photograph accompanying this report shows laboratory hardware, not that procedure being photographed in space.
Psyche launched in October 2023. The U.S. mission is intended to enter orbit around its namesake asteroid and map it during a two-year primary science mission. The possibility that the asteroid exposes part of an early planetary building block’s metallic core is a scientific hypothesis to investigate, not a result already established by a close encounter.
The archive test photographs were published by JPL in September 2021. Their original text contains an older launch plan; this article uses the October 2026 mission update for the launch history and current arrival target. The images show an operating test thruster and a similar inactive unit, not the spacecraft currently in flight.
