Asteroid mission timeline

Every spacecraft currently flying to (or being built for) an asteroid, and what each one does next. Milestones marked expected are agency estimates — we firm them up as launch and arrival dates are confirmed.

  1. ~Sep 2026 expected
    Tianwen-2 · CNSA
    Sample collection at Kamo'oalewa
  2. ~Oct 2026 expected
    Hera · ESA
    Final approach to Didymos begins
  3. ~Nov 2026 expected
    Hera · ESA
    Arrival at the Didymos system
  4. Aug 12, 2027
    Lucy · NASA
    Flyby of Trojan asteroid Eurybates and its moon Queta
  5. Sep 15, 2027
    Lucy · NASA
    Flyby of Trojan asteroid Polymele
  6. ~Nov 2027 expected
    Tianwen-2 · CNSA
    Sample capsule returns to Earth
  7. ~Apr 2028 expected
    Ramses · ESA
    Launch toward Apophis
  8. Apr 18, 2028
    Lucy · NASA
    Flyby of Trojan asteroid Leucus
  9. Nov 11, 2028
    Lucy · NASA
    Flyby of Trojan asteroid Orus
  10. ~Feb 2029 expected
    Ramses · ESA
    Arrival at Apophis
  11. Apr 13, 2029
    Ramses · ESA
    Rides alongside Apophis through the Earth flyby
  12. Apr 13, 2029
    OSIRIS-APEX · NASA
    Rendezvous with Apophis after its close Earth flyby
  13. ~Aug 2029 expected
    Psyche · NASA
    Arrival at asteroid Psyche

The missions

Tianwen-2

CNSA
Kamo'oalewa · proximity operations

China's Tianwen-2 is at Kamo'oalewa, a tiny quasi-moon of Earth that may be a chunk blasted off the actual Moon. Next up: grabbing a sample to bring home — from the strangest near-Earth object we know.

Hera

ESA
Didymos & Dimorphos · cruise

Hera arrives at Didymos — the asteroid system we punched with DART in 2022 — to survey the crater and measure exactly how much the impact moved Dimorphos. It's the follow-up visit that turns a one-off deflection test into a repeatable planetary-defense technique.

Lucy

NASA
Jupiter Trojan asteroids · cruise

Lucy is touring the Trojans — two swarms of primordial asteroids trapped in Jupiter's orbit that have barely changed since the solar system formed. Eight targets in twelve years, starting with Eurybates.

Ramses

ESA
Apophis · development

ESA's Ramses aims to reach Apophis before its 2029 Earth flyby and ride along during the encounter, watching in real time as tidal forces from Earth quake and reshape a 350-meter asteroid.

OSIRIS-APEX

NASA
Apophis · cruise

The spacecraft that brought back a piece of Bennu is on its way to Apophis, arriving right after the asteroid's famous 2029 Earth flyby — close enough that Earth's gravity will visibly reshape its surface, and OSIRIS-APEX will be there watching.

Psyche

NASA
(16) Psyche · cruise

Psyche is headed to a metal world — likely the exposed core of a shattered protoplanet. It's the only place we can study a planetary core directly, because it's the only one not buried under thousands of kilometers of rock.

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