Watch the Launch

Additional Media

SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.

A Mission to a Metal World

The Psyche mission will explore, for the first time ever, an asteroid made not of rock or ice, but of metal. The mission will investigate planet formation.

Psyche

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Heliocentric N/A
Mission: Planetary Science

Heliocentric N/A Launch Complex 39A Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA Probability: 85%
B1079 - Atlantic Ocean B1065 - Landing Zone 2 B1064 - Landing Zone 1

Psyche is a NASA interplanetary mission to visit the main belt asteroid of the same name, 16 Psyche. Spacecraft will take 4 years and one Mars flyby to reach the asteroid, which is of particular interest due to being comprised mostly of iron and nickel. Psyche is theorized to be a remnant of an early planet's core, and may offer insights into how solar system formed and evolved. The mission is led by Arizona State University, with NASA JPL being responsible for mission management and operations.

Telemetry

Launch trajectory and telemetry simulations provided by Flight Club - a rocket launch simulator and orbital trajectory visualiser for all things space!

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • Oct. 13, 2023, 3:29 p.m.

Launch success, signals acquired.


Cosmic_Penguin • Oct. 13, 2023, 2:19 p.m.

Liftoff.


LL2 • Oct. 13, 2023, 1:31 p.m.

Livestream has started


Nosu • Oct. 13, 2023, 12:33 p.m.

Weather 85%


Cosmic_Penguin • Oct. 13, 2023, 6:40 a.m.

Weather 60% GO.


Falcon Heavy

Family:
Configuration: Heavy

The Falcon Heavy is a variant of the Falcon 9 full thrust launch vehicle and consists of a standard Falcon 9 rocket core, with two additional boosters derived from the Falcon 9 first stage.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    3
  • Length
    70.0 m
  • Diameter
    12.2 m
  • Fairing Diameter
  • Launch Mass
    1400.0 T
  • Thrust
    22819.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Falcon Heavy
  • Family
  • Variant
    Heavy
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Falcon Heavy
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $90000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    63800.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    26700.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

Booster Info


B1079


Type: Core
Flight Proven: No
First Flight: October 13, 2023
Last Flight: October 13, 2023
Flights: 1

Landing Information

B1079 was expended after its first flight.

Core will be expended.

B1065

Status: Expended


Type: Strap-On Booster
Flight Proven: Yes
First Flight: November 1, 2022
Last Flight: October 14, 2024
Flights: 6
Landings Attempted: 5
Landings Successful: 5
Previous B1065 Flights

Landing Information

B1065 has landed on LZ-2 after its 4th flight.

Result: Successful Return to Launch Site landing at Landing Zone 2.

B1064

Status: Expended


Type: Strap-On Booster
Flight Proven: Yes
First Flight: November 1, 2022
Last Flight: October 14, 2024
Flights: 6
Landings Attempted: 5
Landings Successful: 5
Previous B1064 Flights

Landing Information

B1064 has landed on LZ-1 after its 4th flight.

Result: Successful Return to Launch Site landing at Landing Zone 1.

SpaceX

SpaceX

(SpX)

CEO: Elon Musk Founded: 2002 Successes: 418 Failures: 12 Pending: 116

Agency Type:

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

INFO WIKI

Related News

The Launch Pad

NASA Demonstrates Advanced High-Speed Laser Communication System with Pet Imagery Transmission

NASA Demonstrates Advanced High-Speed Laser Communication System with Pet Imagery Transmission

The Launch Pad

NASA Psyche Captures First Light Images

NASA's Psyche spacecraft has marked a significant milestone on its journey to explore the asteroid Psyche in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupite by turning on its twin cameras, and capturing the spacecraft's "first light" images.

CNBC

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launches $1 billion asteroid mission for NASA

[The livestream has ended. A replay is available in the video player above.]

SpaceNews

NASA launches Psyche mission to metal world

A NASA spacecraft is finally on its way to a metallic main belt asteroid after a successful Falcon Heavy launch Oct. 13.

Teslarati

SpaceX Falcon Heavy aces NASA’s Psyche spacecraft launch

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy successfully launched NASA’s Psyche spacecraft on Friday morning, completing the second-ever interplanetary mission for the rocket, with the first...

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39A


Starship
Success
1 day, 14 hours ago
Integrated Flight Test 6
Orbital Launch Mount A - SpaceX Starbase, TX, USA

Sixth test flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle.


Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 17 hours ago
GSAT-20 (GSAT-N2)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

GSAT-20 is an Indian geostationary Ka-band high-throughput communications satellite. GSAT 20 is reportedly built on the I-6K unified modular bus a…


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 6 hours ago
Starlink Group 9-12
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 20 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 13 hours ago
Optus-X/TD7
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

An unannounced geostationary communication satellite built by Northrop Grumman, alleged for the Australian telecommunications operator Optus. Details…


Long March 7
Success
5 days, 21 hours ago
Tianzhou-8
201 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

Seventh cargo delivery mission to the Chinese space station.


Falcon 9
Success
6 days, 23 hours ago
Starlink Group 6-68
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week ago
Starlink Group 9-11
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 20 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 4B
Success
1 week ago
Haiyang 4-01
Launch Complex 9 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Next generation Chinese ocean salinity measurements satellite to study ocean climatic changes and its effects on ecology and biological cycles.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Starlink Group 6-69
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Koreasat 6A
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

The Koreasat 6A spacecraft, built by Thales Alenia Space, will have 20 transponders for fixed satellite services and six for TV broadcasting to repla…