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Spacecraft reach several asteroids by following a carefully timed path around the Sun that intersects each asteroid’s future position. Planetary gravity assists can reshape that path and change its heliocentric energy, while close flybys let the spacecraft collect images and measurements without spending the fuel needed to enter orbit around every target. The result is a multi-year tour that trades prolonged study of one object for comparable observations of several asteroids.
NASA’s Lucy mission is the clearest current example. Its route uses Earth encounters to travel between asteroid populations and includes close passes of main-belt and Jupiter Trojan asteroids. The exact target list and schedule have changed as navigation opportunities and science priorities evolved, so current status should be checked on NASA’s Lucy mission page.
The basic idea: make the spacecraft and asteroid meet at the same time
An asteroid is not waiting at a fixed destination. It is orbiting the Sun, usually at a different speed and distance from Earth, while the spacecraft follows its own heliocentric trajectory. Mission designers therefore aim at where the asteroid will be when the spacecraft arrives, not where it appears during planning.
For every encounter, the design team solves a timing and geometry problem. The spacecraft’s path must reach the asteroid’s future position with an acceptable relative speed, approach direction, lighting angle, antenna geometry and instrument pointing opportunity. The route must also fit the launch window, available propulsion, communication schedule, navigation accuracy and spacecraft operating limits. NASA describes Lucy’s trajectory work as comparing the planned spacecraft path with many known asteroid orbits to find reachable scientific opportunities (NASA’s Lucy mission trajectory and target selection).
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Because the targets continue moving, a route is not simply programmed once and forgotten. Tracking measurements refine the spacecraft’s position and velocity. Small trajectory-correction maneuvers then keep the approach inside the corridor needed for a useful encounter. If spacecraft performance, target knowledge or science requirements change, mission planners can revise correction maneuvers and even flyby distances. NASA’s trajectory and navigation overview explains this continuing process (Lucy trajectory and navigation overview).
How a multi-asteroid route is built
1. Select targets that can be connected
Scientists begin with a population or comparison question, such as whether asteroids sharing a broad orbital region have different surfaces, shapes or compositions. Engineers then search for sequences that are physically reachable. Two asteroids may be scientifically attractive but unusable together if their orbital planes, encounter times or required velocity changes exceed the spacecraft’s capabilities.
Lucy’s designers searched known asteroid orbits for opportunities along the spacecraft’s evolving route. This approach produced additional candidates that were not all part of the earliest public mission descriptions. A target can be added when its orbit fits a planned passage and its scientific value justifies the operational work.
2. Choose launch and departure conditions
The launch date determines the spacecraft’s initial direction and speed around the Sun. A narrow launch window can provide the right geometry for the first planetary encounter or asteroid intercept. Missing that window may require waiting for a later alignment, changing the target order or accepting a larger propulsion requirement.
3. Propagate both orbits forward
Navigation teams model the spacecraft and each asteroid under solar gravity and the smaller effects of planets and other bodies. They calculate an encounter time, distance and relative velocity, then examine whether the spacecraft can point its instruments, transmit data and maintain power during the pass.
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4. Reserve correction opportunities
No launch is perfectly precise, and asteroid positions are known with finite accuracy. Planned trajectory-correction maneuvers remove accumulated errors. Observations near an encounter improve the estimate of the target’s position and the spacecraft’s own state, allowing the team to update the final approach.
5. Design the encounter sequence
An encounter plan specifies when the spacecraft turns toward the asteroid, which instruments operate, how images and spectra are prioritized, when the spacecraft returns to its communications attitude and how data are stored for later transmission. A flyby is short, so observations must be scheduled around the seconds or minutes when the target is large enough and sufficiently close for the desired measurements.
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A gravity assist is a controlled planetary flyby used to alter a spacecraft’s path around the Sun. As the spacecraft approaches a moving planet, the planet’s gravity bends the spacecraft’s trajectory in the planet-centered frame. When that deflected path is viewed in the Sun-centered frame, the spacecraft can leave with a different direction and heliocentric speed.
The planet does not create energy for free. There is an equal and opposite exchange of orbital momentum, but the planet is so massive that its change is imperceptible. The spacecraft gains or loses a useful amount of heliocentric energy without burning an equivalent quantity of propellant.
Lucy uses repeated Earth encounters as part of its route between the inner main-belt region and the Jupiter Trojan populations. NASA’s explanation of the Earth swingby describes how the encounters help shape that long route (NASA’s Lucy Earth gravity-assist mission article). Gravity assists are a design choice, not a requirement for every multi-asteroid mission; another spacecraft could use direct propulsion, a different planetary sequence or a rendezvous architecture.
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Why fly past several asteroids instead of orbiting each one?
Entering orbit requires the spacecraft to remove much of its arrival velocity relative to the asteroid. That usually means a large propulsive maneuver or a carefully engineered low-energy approach. To leave for the next asteroid, the spacecraft must then accelerate again. Repeating that process at several targets can exceed the available fuel or make the mission too slow and expensive.
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A flyby keeps the spacecraft on its solar orbit. It approaches, observes the asteroid at close range and continues toward the next target. This makes a broad survey possible with less propulsion, but the spacecraft has only a limited viewing sequence and cannot watch the asteroid from many orbital positions.
| Mission approach | What it enables | Main cost or limitation | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple-target flyby tour | Close snapshots of several asteroids and comparisons across populations | Short observing windows, restricted viewing geometry and demanding navigation | Comparative science and sampling diverse objects |
| Single-asteroid rendezvous or orbit | Repeated passes, long-term monitoring and many viewing angles | Large velocity change, more propellant and a longer commitment to one target | Detailed characterization, surface evolution studies or preparation for landing |
| Landing or sample-return mission | In-situ measurements or material delivered to Earth | Much greater guidance, propulsion, contamination-control and mission-operation complexity | Specific geological, chemical or astrobiological questions |
NASA’s Lucy frequently asked questions describe the fuel challenge of slowing into orbit around more than one asteroid, while planetary-defense architecture work characterizes multi-target flybys as providing less detail per object in exchange for broader coverage (NASA Lucy Frequently Asked Questions).
What happens during an asteroid flyby?
- Refine the approach. Optical navigation images and radio tracking update the spacecraft’s position, velocity and the asteroid’s predicted location. The team executes any final trajectory correction required to place the closest approach within the planned corridor.
- Point the spacecraft. The spacecraft turns so cameras and remote-sensing instruments can keep the moving asteroid in their fields of view. Pointing, power, thermal limits and antenna orientation are balanced because not every system can operate simultaneously.
- Collect the close-range sequence. Cameras record the body’s shape, surface texture, craters, ridges and possible satellites. Infrared observations measure thermal emission, while spectrometers examine reflected or emitted light to infer surface composition. These measurements are complementary: images show morphology, thermal data indicate how the surface responds to heating, and spectra provide clues to minerals and other materials.
- Measure the gravitational effect. Precise radio tracking can detect the spacecraft’s tiny change in velocity caused by the asteroid’s gravity. Combined with the encounter geometry, that signal helps estimate the asteroid’s mass. Shape and mass together improve estimates of bulk density and internal structure, although the precision depends on tracking quality and the asteroid’s size.
- Continue past the target. A flyby is not an orbit insertion or capture. The spacecraft’s velocity remains positive relative to the asteroid, so it departs on the next leg of its heliocentric route.
- Downlink and process the data. The spacecraft stores observations and sends them over a communications link when its antenna can point toward Earth. Distance, available bandwidth and mission priorities mean that the complete data set may take time to arrive and be calibrated.
NASA’s description of Lucy’s payload and science goals covers imaging, thermal properties, composition, shape and mass measurements (Lucy mission science and instruments).
Lucy’s encounters show how the strategy works
Dinkinesh and Selam: an early systems test
Lucy’s first asteroid encounter was with main-belt asteroid Dinkinesh in November 2023. The spacecraft also observed Selam, a small satellite of Dinkinesh. NASA presented this pass as a useful test of the spacecraft, navigation process and encounter operations before the more distant Trojan campaign (NASA Lucy Mission Overview).
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The discovery of a satellite illustrates why a flyby can produce more than a single photograph of a planned target. A close approach can reveal companions, contact-binary structure or other features that were not apparent from Earth-based observations. Those findings can change the science questions for later encounters without requiring the spacecraft to orbit the first object.
Donaldjohanson: rehearsal for the Trojan tour
In April 2025, Lucy flew past asteroid Donaldjohanson. NASA described the event as a rehearsal for the main Trojan encounters, giving the team another opportunity to exercise approach navigation, instrument pointing, data collection and downlink operations before the mission’s primary population of targets (NASA’s second asteroid encounter update).
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How many asteroids will Lucy visit?
The answer depends on the date and on whether a source is describing an original plan or a later mission design. NASA’s 2021 launch-era material described one main-belt asteroid and seven Trojans. Later planning material for the primary mission described two main-belt asteroids and seven Trojans.
NASA’s FY2026 budget technical supplement, published in 2025, states that Lucy’s 12-year primary mission will explore a record number of asteroids by “flying by two main-belt asteroids and seven Trojan asteroids.” That is a NASA planning statement, not a claim that every listed encounter had already been completed at the time of publication (NASA FY 2026 budget technical supplement).
For completed encounters, remaining targets and current dates, use NASA’s live Lucy mission page. Operational schedules can change as navigation solutions, spacecraft condition and target observations are updated.
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What makes a multi-asteroid mission difficult?
Asteroid ephemeris uncertainty
Small errors in an asteroid’s predicted orbit become significant over long time spans. Many asteroids are faint and irregular, so additional observations may be needed to refine their positions. The spacecraft must carry out optical navigation and retain correction-maneuver margin rather than relying entirely on an old catalog position.
Very different encounter geometries
Each target can present a different phase angle, rotation state, illumination condition and relative velocity. A camera sequence that works for one asteroid may need a different exposure time or scan pattern at another. The team must prioritize observations before the brief opportunity closes.
Propulsion and launch-window constraints
A route that reaches one asteroid efficiently may make the next target inaccessible. Planetary assists, correction maneuvers and departure conditions are coupled; changing one leg can move every later encounter. Mission planners therefore evaluate the entire tour rather than optimizing each asteroid independently.
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Communications and data volume
High-resolution images and spectra generate more data than can be transmitted immediately. The spacecraft may record observations first and downlink them over multiple communication sessions. A successful flyby therefore depends not only on getting close but also on having enough memory, antenna time and ground-station support to return the measurements.
Spacecraft health over many years
Lucy’s route spans a 12-year primary mission according to NASA’s FY2026 planning document. Long duration introduces radiation exposure, aging hardware, thermal cycling and the possibility that a component’s performance differs from its launch specification. Navigation and science plans retain alternatives so that an unexpected constraint does not automatically end the tour.
How to interpret the science from a flyby
A flyby produces a time-limited, geometry-dependent sample rather than a complete global survey. The best-resolved images usually cover the hemisphere facing the spacecraft, and thermal or spectral coverage may be uneven. Scientists combine those measurements with the asteroid’s orbit, rotation, light curves and observations from other telescopes.
The strength of the approach is comparison. Observing several bodies lets researchers ask whether differences track asteroid size, location, surface age, family history or membership in a Trojan population. A single orbiting spacecraft could characterize one object more deeply, but it would not provide the same cross-population context on one propulsion budget.
When is a multi-asteroid tour the right mission design?
- Choose a flyby tour when the central question concerns diversity, population trends or direct comparison among several objects.
- Choose rendezvous or orbit insertion when repeated monitoring, global mapping or detailed gravity-field measurements are more important than the number of targets.
- Choose landing or sample return when instruments must touch the surface or laboratory analysis on Earth is essential.
- Use gravity assists when planetary alignments can supply the needed change in heliocentric direction or energy; do not assume every route has a useful assist available.
- Keep target counts and dates tied to a dated mission source, because the list can change as new asteroids are found along the route and operational plans are revised.
The key trade-off
Reaching multiple asteroids is fundamentally an exercise in orbital timing and energy management. Gravity assists and course corrections connect targets that would otherwise be too expensive to visit, while flybys preserve momentum for the next leg. The spacecraft gives up the long, repeated observations of an orbiter, but gains a scientifically valuable sequence of close encounters across different asteroids and populations.
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