NASA announced on November 25 that SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket will launch the $3.35 billion Dragonfly helicopter in July 2028, towards Saturn’s moon.
Illustration of a Dragonfly helicopter flying over Saturn’s largest satellite, Titan. Image: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben
The heavy-lift Falcon Heavy rocket launched NASA’s Psyche asteroid probe and NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft in October 2023 and October 2024, respectively. In July 2028, it will continue to send NASA’s Dragonfly helicopter to Saturn’s moon Titan, studying this celestial body’s potential to support life.
If all goes according to plan, Dragonfly, a helicopter the size of a car, will take six years to reach Titan, the second largest moon in the solar system, behind only Jupiter’s moon Ganymede.
Size is not Titan’s only attraction. This icy moon, which has hydrocarbon seas and lakes, is the only known body other than Earth to have stable liquid on its surface. In addition, organic compounds – the carbon-containing building blocks of life – are also common here.
Some scientists think Titan could support life – on the surface or in a potential underground ocean containing liquid water. Dragonfly is designed to explore that problem and shed light on a world still full of mysteries. This nuclear-powered helicopter is expected to operate for about 2.5 years on Titan’s surface, moving from place to place to closely observe many different landscapes.
Dragonfly experienced a number of delays and cost increases during development. When NASA selected this mission in 2019, the cost was limited to 1 billion USD and the launch target was 2027. But now, the cost is up to 3.35 billion USD with the expected launch date pushed back to year 2028.
To date, Falcon Heavy has performed 11 launches. With a thrust of about 2,300 tons, Falcon Heavy is the second most powerful rocket in operation, after NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) lunar rocket. However, SpaceX’s Starship rocket system will win this title when it becomes operational.