Dragonfly (Titan space probe)

Dragonfly
Artist's impression of the Dragonfly spacecraft flying over the surface of Titan
NamesNew Frontiers 4
Mission typeTitan rotorcraft
OperatorNASA / APL
Websitedragonfly.jhuapl.edu
Mission durationPlanned:
10 years[1]
Science phase:
3.3 years[2]
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeRotorcraft lander
ManufacturerApplied Physics Laboratory
Landing mass≈450 kg (990 lb)[3]
Power70 watts (desired)[3] from an MMRTG
Start of mission
Launch datePlanned:
July 2028[4]
RocketBaseline:
Vulcan Centaur[5]
Falcon Heavy
Titan aircraft
Landing date2034[2]
Landing siteShangri-La dune fields[6]
Distance flown8 km (5.0 mi) per flight (planned)[6]

Dragonfly Mission Insignia
← OSIRIS-REx
(New Frontiers 5) →

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.[7][8][9]

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.[7] 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.[10][11] On 27 June 2019, Dragonfly was selected to become the fourth mission in the New Frontiers program.[12][13] In April 2024 the mission was confirmed and moved to its final development stages.[14]

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