Dragonfly Astrobiology Mission Progresses Through Key Development And Test Activities

NASA’s Dragonfly mission has cleared several key design, development and testing milestones and remains on track toward launch in July 2028.

Dragonfly, a car-sized, nuclear-powered rotorcraft being designed and built for NASA at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, will explore Saturn’s moon Titan. Following launch and a six-year journey to Titan, the Dragonfly rotorcraft will spend over three years investigating multiple landing sites across the moon’s diverse surface. Flying a comprehensive science package, Dragonfly seeks to understand Titan habitability and the building blocks of life as we know it.

Hardware is being built and software developed, tests are being completed and analyses verified as the team progresses through its development schedule.

Members of the Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer team inspect their device, part of the Dragonfly Mass Spectrmeter (DraMS) instrument package, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.– NASA

“Dragonfly has moved far beyond a concept on a computer screen – the components of the rotorcraft lander are being built as scientists and engineers transform this bold exploration idea into reality,” said Elizabeth “Zibi” Turtle, Dragonfly principal investigator from APL. “From the cleanrooms to the wind tunnels, we’re performing critical tests that are informing our next steps of development and demonstrating how Dragonfly will perform on and above Titan’s surface.”

Recent tests have included aerodynamic analyses of Dragonfly’s rotors and durability trials of the foam coating that will insulate the rotorcraft from Titan’s frigid temperatures. The science payload is also coming together, with instrument components delivered and set up for additional testing. Flight systems are also being evaluated and the flight radio has been delivered and tested.

Mozany Sosmath prepares a segment of Dragonfly’s foam insulation for testing in the Titan Chamber at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab.– Johns Hopkins APL/Justin Artis

Riding the Wind

APL and NASA engineers are wrapping up a monthlong campaign to confirm the performance of Dragonfly’s rotors in Titan-like conditions at the NASA Langley Research Center’s Transonic Dynamics Tunnel in Virginia.

Bathing the sensor-laden model in a flow of heavy gas that simulates Titan’s thick atmosphere, the testing team has been gathering data on the rotor system’s aeromechanical performance – looking at factors like stress loads on the rotor arms, and effects of vibration on the rotor blades and lander body – information that will eventually feed into Dragonfly’s flight plans and navigation software.

Mass Spectrometer on the Move

Scientists and engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, have completed a critical part of the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS), which will analyze chemical components and processes on Titan, including potentially biologically relevant compounds. The Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer, effectively the “heart” of the DraMS package, has cleared its acceptance review and is being prepared for space-environment tests and integration with other DraMS components.

Keeping Dragonfly Warm

APL engineers have completed structural and thermal testing of the foam insulation for the Dragonfly lander, verifying that the insulation will maintain its shape and protect the lander on Titan, where ambient temperatures get to approximately -300 F (or about -185C). The lander body will be covered in a 3-inch-thick (7.6-centimeter thick) layer of Solimide-based foam, which is designed to cover science instruments and other exterior elements. The team has tested the insulation in the large Titan-environment chamber at APL, as well as in the wind tunnel at NASA Langley.

Dragonfly is using the APL-developed Frontier radio, a versatile telecommunications device that is smaller and needs less power than other deep-space radios, and can send and receive signals in a wide range of frequencies. — Johns Hopkins APL

Long-Distance Communications

Engineers at APL have completed the flight radios that will serve as the communications receiver and transmitter for Dragonfly’s journey to and operations on Titan. The APL-developed Frontier radios are versatile telecommunications devices proven on missions from the Sun to Pluto and beyond. As a software-defined radio — where software is used to customize the radio for specific mission requirements — the Frontier is smaller and needs less power than other deep-space radios, and can send and receive signals in a wide range of frequencies.

Lockheed Martin engineers have completed the fabrication, cure and thermal cycle testing of Dragonfly’s aeroshell heat shield (pictured) and backshell structures, taking a big step toward making sure the casing that will protect the rotorcraft upon arrival at Titan can withstand the extreme conditions of atmospheric entry. — Lockheed Martin

Ensuring Safe Entry

Engineers at Lockheed Martin in Denver have passed the first set of major milestones for the flight aeroshell, taking a big step toward making sure the casing that will protect Dragonfly upon its arrival at Titan can withstand the extreme thermal and structural loads of a ballistic atmospheric entry. This includes fabrication, cure and thermal-cycle testing of the aeroshell heatshield and backshell structures, with a static test campaign and thermal protection system installation up next.

Conical black casing that for rotorcraft to fit inside

Lockheed Martin engineers have completed the fabrication, cure and thermal cycle testing of Dragonfly’s aeroshell heat shield (pictured) and backshell structures, taking a big step toward making sure the casing that will protect the rotorcraft upon arrival at Titan can withstand the extreme conditions of atmospheric entry.

Dragonfly will formally begin its integration and test phase in January 2026. The mission is scheduled to launch in July 2028 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch vehicle from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Astrobiology