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Cassini Saturn Orbiter

The JPL-designed, assembled, and operated Cassini orbiter carried ESA's Huygens probe to Saturn and then conducted a 13-year orbital investigation of Saturn, its rings, atmosphere, magnetosphere, and moons.

Cassini Saturn Orbiter
NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory · NASA/JPL asset; the exact NASA Photojournal record PIA04603 identifies this byte-matched photograph as NASA’s Cassini spacecraft in a Jet Propulsion Laboratory assembly room and credits NASA/JPL. NASA’s current Images and Media Usage Guidelines generally permit factual, informational, or editorial use with NASA attribution and without implying NASA endorsement. ESA, ASI, and other third-party marks or protected rights visible in the mission hardware, plus commercial, promotional, merchandise, or other protected uses, may require separate clearance; verify before such use. · Source
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Identity

Aliases
Cassini spacecraftCassini orbiter
Family Name
Cassini Orbiter
Full Name
Cassini Saturn Orbiter
Roles
interplanetary_probeorbiter
Status
retired
Type
spacecraft

Details

Description
The JPL-designed, assembled, and operated Cassini orbiter carried ESA's Huygens probe to Saturn and then conducted a 13-year orbital investigation of Saturn, its rings, atmosphere, magnetosphere, and moons.
Dimensions
Height
…
Width
…
First Flight Year
1,997
Last Flight Year
2,017
Manufacturer
Operator
Propulsion Configurations
  • Entries
    • Count
      1
      Placement
      spacecraft
      Propulsion System
      Role
      maneuvering
      Stage
      spacecraft
      Variant Notes
      Integrated Cassini orbiter propulsion subsystem: two redundant bipropellant main engines and sixteen redundant hydrazine thrusters, with prime/backup boundaries preserved; exact component product models are not asserted beyond the source-described R4D prime-engine reference.
    Name
    Cassini Saturn Orbiter integrated propulsion installation
    Notes
    Cassini's installed orbiter propulsion subsystem combines two isolated chemical systems: redundant 445 N-class nitrogen-tetroxide/monomethylhydrazine main propulsion and sixteen redundant approximately 1 N hydrazine attitude-control/small-maneuver thrusters. The relationship records one whole-subsystem installation; the component counts and functional split remain in the propulsion identity and notes.
Spacecraft Specs
Reusability
unknown

Links

Official Url
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/cassini/

Assets & Meta

Creation Time
July 17, 2026 at 02:03:07 UTC
Updated Time
September 8, 2026 at 00:39:16 UTC
Image
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