Makemake
Dwarf planet 136472 Makemake (2005 FY9)
Introduction
- Type
- Dwarf planet (plutoid); a classical Kuiper belt object beyond Neptune.Source: [1] Wikipedia
- Discovery
- March 31, 2005, at Palomar Observatory, by Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo and David Rabinowitz.Source: [1] Wikipedia, [2] NASA Science
Physical
- Size
- About 1,434 km across the equator and 1,422 km pole to pole (± 14 km), from a 2011 stellar occultation; mean diameter about 1,430 km.Source: [3] M. E. Brown, arXiv 2013, [1] Wikipedia
- Mass
- About 2.69 × 10²¹ kg (± 0.20).Source: [1] Wikipedia
- Rotation
- One spin every 22.83 hours.Source: [4] T. A. Hromakina et al., arXiv 2019
- Surface composition
- Bright methane ice (albedo about 0.81), with ethane and acetylene ices detected by JWST, plus methane gas above the surface.Source: [3] M. E. Brown, arXiv 2013, [5] Silvia Protopapa et al., arXiv 2025
- Moons
- 1 known: S/2015 (136472) 1, nicknamed MK2, found in Hubble images. Preliminary orbit: about 18.0 days at roughly 22,250 km.Source: [6] NASA, [7] Daniel Bamberger, arXiv 2025
Orbit & access
- Orbit
- Average distance about 45.6 AU (38.3 to 52.8 AU); one orbit takes about 306 years; tilted about 29° to the ecliptic.Source: [8] NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics
- Accessibility (Δv / travel time)
- Model assumptionAbout 12.1 km/s of ideal Δv from a 300-km Earth orbit (8.42 km/s to depart + 3.64 km/s to arrive), and about 56 years for an ideal Hohmann transfer.Model calculation from our Space Resource Intelligence (SRI) sample report: ideal two-impulse Hohmann transfer, no gravity assists, circular orbits.
- Mission history
- No spacecraft has visited or is planned. Everything known comes from telescopes such as Hubble and JWST.Source: [2] NASA Science, [5] Silvia Protopapa et al., arXiv 2025
Resources & economy
- Believed resources
- Measured: methane, ethane and acetylene surface ices. Inferred: its methane chemistry fits a warm rocky interior in one model, while another argues the methane is primordial. Water inventory: not measured.Source: [5] Silvia Protopapa et al., arXiv 2025, [9] Christopher R. Glein et al., arXiv 2023, [10] Olivier Mousis et al., arXiv 2025
- Economic outlook
- Model assumptionScientific value now; any resource value is long-horizon option value. Our sample model of in-space water supply gives a negative NPV in every case: about −$1,956M (bear), −$1,045M (base) and −$571M (bull).Model output from our SRI sample valuation model (launch, water price, transit, extraction and discount-rate inputs are scenario assumptions, not forecasts). Not investment advice.
- Business uses
- Information products, science partnerships, and (far-future) in-space water supply. See the Business page. Open →