The delay to visit what is
thought to be the exposed core of a protoplanet is upsetting for two small tag-along satellites to visit other asteroids
Psyche was planned to
launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1 but is now targeting a launch no earlier than Sept. 20
The Janus mission, which
will fly two smallsats as secondary payloads on the Psyche launch, planned to cruise by two different binary asteroid systems
launch delay means the initial
flight plan is no longer possible The mission team is now assessing potential alternative space rocks to fly by
The target asteroids will
be determined by the actual Psyche launch date, which as a rideshare Janus will have to accept, and constraints
Janus is part of the
NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program for low-cost planetary science smallsat missions