Asteroid Redirect Mission

The Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), also known as the Asteroid Retrieval and Utilization (ARU) mission and the Asteroid Initiative, was a space mission proposed by NASA in 2013; the mission was later cancelled. The Asteroid Retrieval Robotic Mission (ARRM) spacecraft would rendezvous with a large near-Earth asteroid and use robotic arms with anchoring grippers to retrieve a 4-meter boulder from the asteroid.

This article is about the proposed NASA mission. For asteroid mining and utilization, see Asteroid mining. For the impactor mission, see Double Asteroid Redirection Test.

The spacecraft would characterize the asteroid and demonstrate at least one planetary defense technique before transporting the boulder to a stable lunar orbit, where it could be further analyzed both by robotic probes and by a future crewed mission, Asteroid Redirect Crewed Mission (ARCM). If funded, the mission would have launched in December 2021, with the additional objectives to test a number of new capabilities needed for future human expeditions to deep space, including advanced ion thrusters.

The proposed 2018 NASA budget called for its cancellation, the mission was given its notice of defunding in April 2017, and NASA announced the "close out" on June 13, 2017. Key technologies being developed for ARM have continued, especially the ion thruster propulsion system that would have been flown on the robotic mission.

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