NASA postpones mission to study metal-rich Psyche asteroid

Due to delays in the delivery of the spacecraft's flight software and testing equipment, the U.S. space agency NASA has postponed the launch of the Psyche asteroid mission, which was planned for this year.

There is not enough time left to test the software ahead of the remaining launch period this year, which ends on October 11, NASA said on Friday evening.

The Psyche asteroid mission is the agency's first mission designed to study a metal-rich asteroid.

"The decision to delay the launch wasn't easy, but it is the right on," said Laurie Leshin, director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

The 2022 launch period, which runs from August 1 through October 11, would have allowed the spacecraft to arrive at the asteroid Psyche in 2026.

It has not yet been decided when the mission will be launched instead.

"There are possible launch periods in both 2023 and 2024, but the relative orbital positions of Psyche and Earth mean the spacecraft would not arrive at the asteroid until 2029 and 2030, respectively," NASA said.