NASA's Lucy becomes the first spacecraft to reach the Jupiter Trojan asteroid region

28 October 2026

NASA says its Lucy spacecraft has entered the region of the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, the first mission ever to do so.
Lucy was launched on 16 October 2021 and has travelled more than 2.2 billion miles to get there.
The Trojans are two swarms of small bodies that share Jupiter's orbit around the Sun, one ahead of the planet and one behind.
Scientists treat them as leftovers from the era when the planets formed, so they hold clues to the early solar system.
Lucy's first Trojan encounter is with the asteroid Eurybates, set for 11 August 2027.
Polymele follows in September 2027, Leucus in April 2028 and Orus in November 2028.
After a gravity assist at Earth in 2030, the spacecraft is to reach the binary pair Patroclus and Menoetius in March 2033.
NASA reports the spacecraft is working as expected as it prepares for the Eurybates flyby.