It's scientifically ambitious. It's aeronautically daring. And it's unflinchingly expensive. It's NASA's newly approved mission to Saturn's moon, Titan, where the agency will deploy the robotic quadcopter called Dragonfly — successor to the legendary Ingenuity of Mars-mission fame. Approved just last week for a July 2028 launch after doubling its budget to $3.35 billion, the Dragonfly mission is now formally on the books as the agency gears up to make its bold stride across the solar system.
“Dragonfly is a spectacular science mission with broad community interest, and we are excited to take the next steps on this mission," said NASA administrator Nicky Fox, of the agency's Science Mission Directorate, in a recent statement. "Exploring Titan will push the boundaries of what we can do with rotorcraft outside of Earth.”
