Cassini Mission

completedLaunch 1997-061

Launched 10/15/1997HEOService GSat EEO E

Admin Edit

Payloads

Assets deployed on this mission, enriched from spacecraft records.

2 payloads

Cassini

retired

Science Exploration

Launch Stack

Operator: NASA Glenn Research Center
Launch Vehicle: Titan 401B
Launch Site: Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral (Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida)US

Payload Summary

Payload Count: 2
Payload Status: retired 2
Payload Mission Types: Science Exploration 2

Mentions

All verified mentions of this mission in source documents.

NASA's Cassini mission was launched in 1997 and operated for nearly 20 years.

GeneralValue 3.0Dec 20, 2025Titan interior study points to thick slushy ice shell instead of global ocean

The Cassini mission measured sodium carbonate in plumes on Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

GeneralCapabilityValue 3.8Mar 10, 2025Bennu asteroid reveals its contents to scientists with clues about how the building blocks of life on Earth may have been seeded

NASA’s Cassini mission to Saturn, launched in 1997, relied on Northrop Grumman SSIRU navigation to explore Saturn and several of its moons, including flybys of Titan and Enceladus.

CapabilityGeneralValue 4.0Dec 22, 2022Northrop Grumman Space Navigation Systems achieves 65 million hours and keeps on going