[citation needed] Exploration of Jupiter Trojans is one of the high-priority goals outlined in the Planetary Science Decadal Survey.

Jupiter Trojans have been observed by ground-based telescopes and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to be "dark with... surfaces that reflect little sunlight".

On 30 September 2015, Lucy was selected as one of five finalist missions, each of which received US$3 million to produce more in-depth concept design studies and analyses.

[25] On 11 February 2019, SpaceX protested the contract award, claiming that it could launch Lucy into the same orbit at a "significantly cheaper cost".

[26] On 28 August 2020, NASA announced that Lucy had passed its Key Decision Point-D (KDP-D) with a "green light" to assemble and test the spacecraft and its instruments.

Because the spacecraft will not leave the Solar System or be intentionally crashed into a planetary body, there is a chance that future generations of humanity will be able to recover it.

If the spacecraft remains operational during the 12-year planned duration, it is likely the mission will be extended and directed to additional asteroid targets.

Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's associate administrator for science, stressed the spacecraft remained "safe and stable".

[51][52] In late January 2022 NASA announced that they had found the cause for the failure of one of the solar arrays to fully deploy and then latch open securely.

This was not intended to fully deploy and latch the array but simply to validate that the team's ground testing adequately represented the array-latch problem.

[59] On the following day, NASA released images from the flyby and announced the discovery of a small satellite orbiting Dinkinesh.

[62] The discovery of Dinkinesh's satellite brought the total number of Lucy's planned asteroid visits up to eleven.