Editing Trans-Neptunian object (section)

== Exploration ==
[[File:UltimaThule CA06 color 20190516.png|thumb|Kuiper belt object 486958 Arrokoth, in images taken by the ''New Horizons'' spacecraft]]

The only mission to date that primarily targeted a trans-Neptunian object was NASA's ''[[New Horizons]]'', which was launched in January 2006 and flew by the Pluto system in July 2015<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/overview/index.html| title = NASA New Horizons Mission Page| work = NASA| date = 25 March 2015| last1 = Talbert| first1 = Tricia}}</ref> and [[486958 Arrokoth]] in January 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20190101|title=New Horizons: News Article?page=20190101|website=pluto.jhuapl.edu|access-date=2019-01-01}}</ref>

In 2011, a design study explored a spacecraft survey of Quaoar, Sedna, Makemake, Haumea, and Eris.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258495993|title=A Survey of Mission Opportunities to Trans-Neptunian Objects|website=ResearchGate|language=en|access-date=2019-09-23}}</ref>

In 2019 one mission to TNOs included designs for orbital capture and multi-target scenarios.<ref>Low-Cost Opportunity for Multiple Trans-Neptunian Object Rendezvous and Capture, AAS Paper 17-777.</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326569409|title=AAS 17-777 LOW-COST OPPORTUNITY FOR MULTIPLE TRANS-NEPTUNIAN OBJECT RENDEZVOUS AND ORBITAL CAPTURE|website=ResearchGate|language=en|access-date=2019-09-23}}</ref>

Some TNOs that were studied in a design study paper were {{mpl|2002 UX|25}}, {{mpl|1998 WW|31}}, and [[47171 Lempo|Lempo]].<ref name=":1"/>

The existence of [[planets beyond Neptune]], ranging from less than an [[Earth mass]] ([[Sub-Earth]]) up to a [[brown dwarf]] has been often postulated<ref>{{cite journal|first=Fernández|last=Julio A.|title=On the Existence of a Distant Solar Companion and its Possible Effects on the Oort Cloud and the Observed Comet Population|journal=[[The Astrophysical Journal]]|date=January 2011|volume=726|issue=1|page=33|doi=10.1088/0004-637X/726/1/33|bibcode=2011ApJ...726...33F|s2cid=121392983 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first1=Lykawka|last1=Patryk S.|first2=Mukai|last2=Tadashi|title=An Outer Planet Beyond Pluto and the Origin of the Trans-Neptunian Belt Architecture|journal=[[The Astronomical Journal]]|date=April 2008|volume=135|issue=4|pages=1161–1200|doi=10.1088/0004-6256/135/4/1161|bibcode=2008AJ....135.1161L|arxiv=0712.2198|s2cid=118414447}}</ref> for different theoretical reasons to explain several observed or speculated features of the [[Kuiper belt]] and the [[Oort cloud]]. It was recently proposed to use ranging data from the ''New Horizons'' spacecraft to constrain the position of such a hypothesized body.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Iorio|last=Lorenzo|title=Perspectives on effectively constraining the location of a massive trans-Plutonian object with the New Horizons spacecraft: a sensitivity analysis|journal=[[Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy]]|date=August 2013|volume=116|issue=4|pages=357–366|doi=10.1007/s10569-013-9491-x|bibcode=2013CeMDA.116..357I|arxiv=1301.3831|s2cid=119219926}}
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NASA has been working towards a dedicated Interstellar Precursor in the 21st century, one intentionally designed to reach the interstellar medium, and as part of this the flyby of objects like Sedna are also considered.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.space.com/42935-nasa-interstellar-probe-mission-idea.html|title=A Wild 'Interstellar Probe' Mission Idea Is Gaining Momentum|last=David |first=Leonard |website=Space.com|date=9 January 2019|language=en|access-date=2025-04-22}}</ref> Overall this type of spacecraft studies have proposed a launch in the 2020s, and would try to go a little faster than the Voyagers using existing technology.<ref name=":0"/> One 2018 design study for an Interstellar Precursor, included a visit of minor planet 50000 Quaoar, in the 2030s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/V2050/eposter/8173.pdf|title=The Interstellar Probe Mission (Graphic Poster)|last=Bradnt|first=P.C.|display-authors=etal|website=hou.usra.edu|access-date=October 13, 2019}}</ref>