NASA is on track to proceed with the final design and fabrication phase of its Dragonfly rotocraft, which will be sent to Saturn’s moon, Titan, in 2028.
The agency announced Tuesday that the mission’s total cost, schedule and overall formal confirmation will be announced in mid-2024 by its program management council.
The Dragonfly mission will be the first to use a rotocraft-lander to investigate whether Titan is habitable or if hydrocarbon-based life previously existed on the moon.
Modifications to the expedition’s timeline were made after an assessment of projected fiscal year 2024 funding as well as the Biden administration’s FY 2025 budget request.
“The Dragonfly team has successfully overcome a number of technical and programmatic challenges in this daring endeavor to gather new science on Titan,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “I am proud of this team and their ability to keep all aspects of the mission moving toward confirmation.”
The program is led by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, with partners including Lockheed Martin’s space business and Sikorsky subsidiary.
