DESTINY+
DESTINY+ 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
, DESTINY+ is planned to be launched from Tanegashima Space Center on an H3 launch vehicle together with another asteroid mission, the ESA's Ramses. A launch vehicle change from Epsilon S to H3 delayed the launch date from 2025 to JFY2028, although there's no change of fly-by with 3200 Phaeton in JFY2030.
In previous plan, it was to be launched by Epsilon S into low-Earth orbit in 2025 and to spend 1.5 years raising its orbit with ion engines. A lunar flyby would have accelerated the probe into an interplanetary orbit. During this cruise time it will fly by a few near Earth objects for study, including the transition body 3200 Phaethon in 2030, as well as measure interplanetary and interstellar dust.
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 light-weight 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 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 The total dry mass of the ion engine system is.
Payload
DESTINY+ will carry three scientific instruments:DESTINY Dust Analyzer — The DESTINY Dust Analyzer will be provided by the German Aerospace Center, and is being developed by the University of Stuttgart.Telescopic Camera for Phaethon — The telescopic camera has a mass of 15.8 kg.Multiband Camera for Phaethon — The multiband camera has a mass of 3.5 kg and will detect light in 390 nm, 550 nm, 700 nm, 850 nm wavelengths.