Spacewatch: Nasa asteroid mission passes key milestone

Design review stage passed for craft intended to visit iron-and-nickel mini-world in 2026

Nasa's mission to explore a metal-rich asteroid passed a key milestone in its development this week. The critical design review makes sure everyone is satisfied that the spacecraft will work as expected. Now that the review has been passed, engineers can begin making the various bits of spacecraft hardware in earnest, and the clock is ticking.

They must be ready by February 2021 so that assembly and testing of the full spacecraft can begin. The main body of the spacecraft, called the solar electric propulsion (SEP) chassis, is already being built at Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California. The mission is due to launch in August 2026.