Dragonfly (Titan space probe)
Artist's impression of the Dragonfly spacecraft flying over the surface of Titan | |||||||||||
| Names | New Frontiers 4 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission type | Titan rotorcraft | ||||||||||
| Operator | NASA / APL | ||||||||||
| Website | dragonfly | ||||||||||
| Mission duration | Planned: 10 years Science phase: 3.3 years | ||||||||||
| Spacecraft properties | |||||||||||
| Spacecraft type | Rotorcraft lander | ||||||||||
| Manufacturer | Applied Physics Laboratory | ||||||||||
| Landing mass | ≈450 kg (990 lb) | ||||||||||
| Power | 70 watts (desired) from an MMRTG | ||||||||||
| Start of mission | |||||||||||
| Launch date | 5–25 July 2028 (planned) | ||||||||||
| Rocket | Falcon Heavy | ||||||||||
| Launch site | Kennedy, LC-39A | ||||||||||
| Contractor | SpaceX | ||||||||||
| Titan aircraft | |||||||||||
| Landing date | 2034 | ||||||||||
| Landing site | Shangri-La dune fields | ||||||||||
| Distance flown | 8 km (5.0 mi) per flight (planned) | ||||||||||
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Dragonfly Mission Insignia | |||||||||||
Dragonfly is a planned NASA mission to send a robotic rotorcraft to the surface of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. It is planned to be launched in July 2028 and arrive in 2034. It would be the first aircraft on Titan and is intended to make the first powered and fully controlled atmospheric flight on any moon, with the intention of studying prebiotic chemistry and extraterrestrial habitability. It would then use its vertical takeoffs and landings (VTOL) capability to move between exploration sites.
Titan is unique in having an abundant, complex, and diverse carbon-rich chemistry and a surface dominated by water ice, with an interior water ocean, making it a high-priority target for astrobiology and origin of life studies. The mission was proposed in April 2017 to NASA's New Frontiers program by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), and was selected as one of two finalists (out of twelve proposals) in December 2017 to further refine the mission's concept. On 27 June 2019, Dragonfly was selected to become the fourth mission in the New Frontiers program. In April 2024 the mission was confirmed and moved to its final development stages.