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Dawn

retired
Science ExplorationinterplanetaryCOSPAR 2007-043ALaunched 9/27/2007
Admin Edit
Mission & Launch
Launch Mission
Dawn Mission
Launch Vehicle
Delta 7925H
Launch Date
9/27/2007
Last Contact
10/30/2018
Orbit & Mass
Orbit Class
interplanetary
Altitude
-41,605.5 km
Inclination
28.9 deg
Dry Mass
747 kg
Total Mass
1,218 kg
Payload Classification
Mission Type
Science Exploration
Payload Category
PLAN
Payload Class
C
Organizations
Operator
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Manufacturer
Northrop Grumman
Registry
COSPAR ID
2007-043A
UN Registration
ST/SG/SER.E/524
Track
Mentions
75
All verified mentions of this spacecraft in source documents.
0.0-5.0
Actions

The ERNEST engineering team tested the rover across dawn, dusk, and full nighttime illumination conditions during the desert deployment.

CapabilityPlanValue 2.0Jun 28, 2026NASA Concludes Desert Field Testing for Autonomous Lunar Rover Prototype
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Dawn Aerospace’s refueling service customers include companies aboard Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force satellites equipped with Dawn refueling ports.

RelationshipsCapabilityValue 4.0Jun 16, 2026Dawn Aerospace Raises $25M Series B

Dawn Schaible heads NASA’s Glenn Research Center.

GovernanceValue 4.0May 28, 2026NASA Reorganizes Mission Directorates to Speed National Space Policy Goals

Lunar Outpost is the prime contractor for the Lunar Dawn consortium.

RelationshipsValue 4.0May 27, 2026NASA outlines iterative Moon Base strategy; Lunar Outpost awarded LTV contract with consortium partner MDA Space

The Lunar Dawn consortium includes MDA Space, Leidos, General Motors, and Goodyear.

RelationshipsValue 4.0May 27, 2026NASA outlines iterative Moon Base strategy; Lunar Outpost awarded LTV contract with consortium partner MDA Space

Each Cowboy Space Corporation Stampede satellite is expected to generate one megawatt of usable power from dawn-dusk sun-synchronous orbits between 700 and 1,000 kilometers.

CapabilityPlanGeneralValue 4.5May 18, 2026Cowboy Raises $275M and Files for 20,000 Orbital Data Centers, Forcing the ODC Thesis Into View

MDA Space, Leidos, General Motors, and Goodyear are partners in Lunar Outpost’s Lunar Dawn consortium.

RelationshipsValue 4.5May 11, 2026Lunar Outpost raises $30M Series B for lunar surface mobility; MDA Space is among the consortium partners

Lunar Outpost is the prime contractor for the Lunar Dawn team developing a human-rated lunar terrain vehicle for NASA’s Artemis program.

RelationshipsCapabilityPlanValue 4.0May 11, 2026Lunar Outpost raises $30M Series B for lunar surface mobility; MDA Space is among the consortium partners

The Lunar Dawn lunar terrain vehicle is being developed under a dual-use model that will allow Lunar Outpost to operate it commercially for private clients when NASA astronauts do not require it.

PlanGeneralValue 4.0May 11, 2026Lunar Outpost raises $30M Series B for lunar surface mobility; MDA Space is among the consortium partners

Vantor’s WorldView Legion program doubled collection capacity and introduced dawn-to-dusk monitoring.

CapabilityPlanGrowthValue 4.0Apr 14, 2026Satellite Constellation Expansion Planned by Vantor

Sun-synchronous dawn-dusk orbits form a single orbital plane at a given altitude, making it physically impossible for one million satellites to occupy that single plane without extreme collision risk.

CapabilityGeneralValue 2.0Feb 2, 2026The Fractal Lab – Part II

The launch of the Twilight mission confirms the growing demand for access to specialized orbits, such as dusk-dawn, from operators involved in observation and monitoring services.

PlanGrowthGeneralValue 3.0Jan 12, 2026SpaceX, Falcon 9 in orbita dusk-dawn con la missione Twilight

With the Twilight mission, SpaceX successfully inserted new satellites into dusk-dawn orbit, confirming the operational efficiency of Falcon 9 and the centrality of the rideshare model.

CapabilityGeneralValue 3.8Jan 12, 2026SpaceX, Falcon 9 in orbita dusk-dawn con la missione Twilight

In the Twilight mission context, the dusk-dawn orbit enables satellites to operate with more stable energy management and repeatable observation geometries.

CapabilityValue 2.2Jan 12, 2026SpaceX, Falcon 9 in orbita dusk-dawn con la missione Twilight

SpaceX named the mission Twilight because it placed the satellites in a heliosynchronous orbit between dawn and dusk.

CapabilityGeneralValue 4.0Jan 12, 2026Un cohete Falcon 9 pone en órbita el satélite Hydra-2 de la española Aistech Space

A dusk-dawn orbit is a variant of heliosynchronous orbit, where a satellite crosses the local equator at twilight or dawn.

CapabilityGeneralValue 2.5Jan 12, 2026SpaceX, Falcon 9 in orbita dusk-dawn con la missione Twilight

The Twilight mission inserted its payload into a dusk-dawn orbit, commonly used for Earth observation missions and satellite constellations.

CapabilityGeneralValue 3.3Jan 12, 2026SpaceX, Falcon 9 in orbita dusk-dawn con la missione Twilight

Satellites in the targeted dawn-dusk SSO benefit from near-continuous sunlight for solar power generation.

CapabilityValue 2.0Jan 12, 2026SpaceX ‘Twilight’ Mission Deploys 22 Exolaunch Payloads, Including Kepler and HawkEye 360 Assets

The 'Twilight' rideshare mission delivered a diverse manifest of commercial and government payloads to a dawn-dusk Sun-Synchronous Orbit.

CapabilityValue 3.0Jan 12, 2026SpaceX ‘Twilight’ Mission Deploys 22 Exolaunch Payloads, Including Kepler and HawkEye 360 Assets

The Falcon 9 completed the launch of the Twilight mission, carrying multiple satellites intended to operate in a sun-synchronous dusk-dawn orbit.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Jan 12, 2026SpaceX, Falcon 9 in orbita dusk-dawn con la missione Twilight