DESTINY+

DESTINY+
Names	Demonstration and Experiment of Space Technology for INterplanetary voYage with Phaethon fLyby and dUst Science
Mission type	Asteroid flyby
Operator	ISAS / JAXA
Website	http://destiny.isas.jaxa.jp/
Mission duration	≥4 years (planned); cruise: ≈2 years
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	NEC Corporation
Launch mass	480 kg (1,060 lb); including 60 kg of xenon and 15.4 kg of hydrazine
Power	4.7 kW from solar panels
Start of mission
Launch date	2028 (planned)
Rocket	H3
Launch site	Tanegashima Space Center
Contractor	JAXA
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Highly elliptical orbit
Perigee altitude	230 km (140 mi)
Apogee altitude	40,000 km (25,000 mi)
Inclination	30.0°
Flyby of 3200 Phaethon
Closest approach	2030 (planned)
Distance	500 km (planned)
Transponders
Band	X-band
Instruments
	DESTINY Dust Analyzer (DDA); Telescopic Camera for Phaethon (TCAP); Multiband Camera for Phaethon (MCAP)
	Medium-class Science Program ← SLIM

DESTINY⁺ (Demonstration and Experiment of Space Technology for INterplanetary voYage with Phaethon fLyby and dUst Science) is a planned mission to fly by the Geminids meteor shower parent body 3200 Phaethon, and sample dust originating from the "rock comet". The spacecraft is being developed by the Japanese space agency JAXA and will demonstrate advanced technologies for future deep space exploration. As of October 2024, DESTINY⁺ is planned to be launched in fiscal year 2028.

Overview

As of 2026, DESTINY+ is targeting launch in Japanese fiscal year 2028 from Tanegashima Space Center aboard an H3 rocket, alongside the European Space Agency's Ramses mission. Under the revised mission plan, DESTINY+ will be injected directly into interplanetary space, with a planned flyby of asteroid 99942 Apophis in 2029 followed by a flyby of 3200 Phaethon in fiscal year 2030.

The mission was originally planned to launch aboard an Epsilon S rocket and spend approximately two years gradually raising its Earth orbit using ion thrusters. Following delays in Epsilon S development, JAXA changed the launch vehicle to H3 and eliminated the Earth-orbit phase. The revised trajectory also creates opportunities to investigate additional small bodies during the interplanetary cruise.

The probe's ion engines have the capability to perform another orbit transfer to study additional objects.

Objectives

DESTINY⁺ will be a technology demonstrator to further improve operations of low cost solar electric propulsion in deep space. It will also demonstrate innovative lightweight solar array panel technology. The scientific aspect of this mission is to understand origin and nature of dusts, which are key sources of organic compounds to Earth. It will also observe dusts from comet/asteroid 3200 Phaethon using a dust analyzer and will map its surface using a multiband telescopic camera to understand the mechanisms of dust ejection. The spacecraft will come as close as 500 km (310 mi) from 3200 Phaethon.

Spacecraft

DESTINY⁺ will use ultra light-weight solar panels and heat-actuated folding radiators, along with compact avionics. The spacecraft is designed to tolerate a radiation dose up to approximately 30 krad by using a 3 mm aluminum shield.

Propulsion

The spacecraft will be propelled by four μ10 solar electric ion engines, as used by Hayabusa and Hayabusa2, but while its predecessors operated only up to three engines simultaneously, DESTINY⁺ will use all four simultaneously for a total thrust of 40 mN (specific impulse: 3000 seconds; acceleration: 83 μm/s²; power: 1670 watts.) The total dry mass (excludes xenon propellant) of the ion engine system is 59 kg (130 lb).

Payload

DESTINY⁺ will carry three scientific instruments:

DESTINY Dust Analyzer (DDA) — The DESTINY Dust Analyzer (2.7 kg) will be provided by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and is being developed by the University of Stuttgart.
Telescopic Camera for Phaethon (TCAP) — The telescopic camera has a mass of 15.8 kg.
Multiband Camera for Phaethon (MCAP) — The multiband camera has a mass of 3.5 kg and will detect light in 390 nm, 550 nm, 700 nm, 850 nm wavelengths.

References

1 2 DESTINY Mission Overview Yasuhiro KAWAKATSU JAXA
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Toyota, Hiroyuki; Nishiyama, Kazutaka; Kawakatsu, Yasuhiro (15 August 2017). "DESTINY+: Deep Space Exploration Technology Demonstrator and Explorer to Asteroid 3200 Phaethon" (PDF). Low-Cost Planetary Missions Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
1 2 3 4 "宇宙科学・探査ミッションの進捗状況について" [Space Science and Exploration Mission Progress] (PDF). ISAS (in Japanese). CAO. 9 October 2024. p. 11. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
↑ Ryabova, Galina O.; Asher, David J.; Campbell-Brown, Margaret D. (10 October 2019). Meteoroids: Sources of Meteors on Earth and Beyond. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-42671-8.
↑ "DESTINY+". Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Retrieved 9 October 2026.
↑ "Changes to Launch Year and Rocket". Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. 15 October 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2026.
↑ "DESTINY＋: Technology Demonstration and Exploration of Asteroid 3200 Phaethon" (PDF). Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) / JAXA. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
↑ Studies on Solar System Explorations using DESTINY: the Demonstration and Experiment of Space Technology for Interplanetary Voyage Takahiro Iwata, Yasuhiro Kawakatsu, Go Murakami, Yuichiro Ezoe, Shingo Kameda, Kunihiro Keika, Tomoko Arai, Shuji Matsuura, Takanao Saiki, Takeshi Imamura, Kazunori Ogohara, Akira Oyama, Toshinori Ikenaga; ISTS Special Issue: Selected papers from the 30th International Symposium on Space Technology and Science Vol. 14 (2016) No. ists30; DOI: http://doi.org/10.2322/tastj.14.Pk_111
↑ "DLR-JAXA Joint Statement concerning the bilateral cooperation" (Press release). JAXA. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
↑ "DESTINY+ – Germany and Japan begin new asteroid mission". German Aerospace Center (DLR). 12 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.

External links

Official project site (in Japanese)

[2012_concept-1] 1 2 DESTINY Mission Overview Yasuhiro KAWAKATSU JAXA

[lcpm12-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Toyota, Hiroyuki; Nishiyama, Kazutaka; Kawakatsu, Yasuhiro (15 August 2017). "DESTINY+: Deep Space Exploration Technology Demonstrator and Explorer to Asteroid 3200 Phaethon" (PDF). Low-Cost Planetary Missions Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.

[cao-20241009-3] 1 2 3 4 "宇宙科学・探査ミッションの進捗状況について" [Space Science and Exploration Mission Progress] (PDF). ISAS (in Japanese). CAO. 9 October 2024. p. 11. Retrieved 11 October 2024.

[4] Ryabova, Galina O.; Asher, David J.; Campbell-Brown, Margaret D. (10 October 2019). Meteoroids: Sources of Meteors on Earth and Beyond. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-42671-8.

[5] "DESTINY+". Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Retrieved 9 October 2026.

[6] "Changes to Launch Year and Rocket". Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. 15 October 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2026.

[jaxadlrjointsatement-7] "DESTINY＋: Technology Demonstration and Exploration of Asteroid 3200 Phaethon" (PDF). Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) / JAXA. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2017.

[J-STAGE_2016-8] Studies on Solar System Explorations using DESTINY: the Demonstration and Experiment of Space Technology for Interplanetary Voyage Takahiro Iwata, Yasuhiro Kawakatsu, Go Murakami, Yuichiro Ezoe, Shingo Kameda, Kunihiro Keika, Tomoko Arai, Shuji Matsuura, Takanao Saiki, Takeshi Imamura, Kazunori Ogohara, Akira Oyama, Toshinori Ikenaga; ISTS Special Issue: Selected papers from the 30th International Symposium on Space Technology and Science Vol. 14 (2016) No. ists30; DOI: http://doi.org/10.2322/tastj.14.Pk_111

[9] "DLR-JAXA Joint Statement concerning the bilateral cooperation" (Press release). JAXA. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.

[dlr-20201112-10] "DESTINY+ – Germany and Japan begin new asteroid mission". German Aerospace Center (DLR). 12 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.