Mission Atlas
← Mission directory

Mission record

Cassini-Huygens

Also known as Cassini

NASA, ESA, ASI · Launched

Explore trajectory

Completed · Success

The joint NASA, ESA, and ASI mission placed Cassini in orbit around Saturn and delivered ESA's Huygens probe to the surface of Titan. Unable to be launched directly to Saturn with the propulsion systems available at the time, it flew what NSSDCA calls a VVEJGA (Venus-Venus-Earth-Jupiter Gravity Assist) trajectory, making two flybys of Venus, one of the Earth and one of Jupiter on the way.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Titan IVB-Centaur
Launch site
Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 40
Countries
United States, Italy
Mission types
Orbiter, Lander, Atmospheric probe

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Cassini-Huygens launched

    Earth

  2. Gravity assist

    First Venus gravity assist

    The master catalog records that, unable to be launched directly to Saturn with the propulsion systems available at the time, Cassini took a roundabout route referred to as a VVEJGA (Venus-Venus-Earth-Jupiter Gravity Assist) trajectory, making two flybys of Venus (April 1998 and June 1999), one of the Earth (August 1999), and one of Jupiter (December 2000), and that various observations were made at each of these encounters in order to verify instrument and spacecraft systems as well as to perform calibration observations. The launch/orbital information page prints a Flyby row with Central Body Venus and Closest approach time (UTC) 1998-04-26 13:44:30, and a periapsis of 1.05 RV against that page's own definition of 1 RV = 6052 km.

    Venus

  3. Gravity assist

    Second Venus gravity assist

    The launch/orbital information page prints a second Flyby row with Central Body Venus and Closest approach time (UTC) 1999-06-24 20:29:55, and a periapsis of 1.10 RV against that page's own definition of 1 RV = 6052 km. The master catalog dates the pair only to April 1998 and June 1999.

    Venus

  4. Gravity assist

    Earth gravity assist

    The launch/orbital information page prints a Flyby row with Central Body Earth and Closest approach time (UTC) 1999-08-18 03:28:00, and a periapsis of 1.18 RE against that page's own definition of 1 RE = 6378 km. Recorded at minute precision because the page prints a whole minute with zero seconds; the master catalog dates it only to August 1999.

    Earth

  5. Flyby

    Jupiter flyby

    The master catalog records one flyby of Jupiter (December 2000) and that at Jupiter, numerous simultaneous observations were made using Cassini, Galileo, and the Hubble Space Telescope, among other missions. The launch/orbital information page prints a Flyby row with Central Body Jupiter and a periapsis of 138.00 RJ against its own definition of 1 RJ = 71,398 km, but its Closest approach time (UTC) reads 2000-12-30 00:00:00, the midnight placeholder this catalog does not read as an observed time, so the month the master catalog prints is what this event carries.

    Jupiter

  6. Orbit insertion

    Cassini began orbiting Saturn

    Saturn

  7. Deployment

    Huygens separated for its cruise to Titan

    The NSSDCA master catalog records that the first two orbits around Saturn set up the trajectory for deployment of Huygens on the third orbit and that a maneuver placed the paired spacecraft on an intersect course with Titan. ESA records the probe separation at 02:00 UTC on 25 December 2004 (minute precision). NSSDCA reports a relative separation velocity of 0.3-0.4 m/s; Cassini and Huygens remained in the same orbit for about three weeks.

    Saturn

  8. Milestone

    Huygens entered Titan's atmosphere

    NASA records entry at 09:05:56 UT on 14 January 2005. The predicted ESA coast arc is clipped at this event; the reconstructed descent source begins later at 09:12:19 UTC, leaving the entry and early descent interval explicit.

    Titan

  9. Deployment

    Huygens main parachute deployed

    Nominal DTWG#5 event offset from DDB T0 at 09:10:21 UTC, whose source uncertainty is ±0.3 seconds. Fractional digits preserve the reconstructed epoch and do not imply millisecond physical accuracy.

    Titan

  10. Deployment

    Huygens front heat shield released

    Nominal DTWG#5 event offset from DDB T0 at 09:10:21 UTC, whose source uncertainty is ±0.3 seconds. Fractional digits preserve the reconstructed epoch and do not imply millisecond physical accuracy.

    Titan

  11. Deployment

    Huygens switched to its stabilizer parachute

    Nominal DTWG#5 event offset from DDB T0 at 09:10:21 UTC, whose source uncertainty is ±0.3 seconds. Fractional digits preserve the reconstructed epoch and do not imply millisecond physical accuracy.

    Titan

  12. Landing

    Huygens landed on Titan

    Nominal DTWG#5 event offset from DDB T0 at 09:10:21 UTC, whose source uncertainty is ±0.3 seconds. Fractional digits preserve the reconstructed epoch and do not imply millisecond physical accuracy. The DISR guide adopts 8869.77 seconds after T0 and reports roughly ten seconds of motion after impact.

    Titan

  13. Mission end

    Cassini mission ended at Saturn

    Saturn

  14. Loss of contact

    Earth receives Cassini’s final signal

    The actual final operations report gives04:55:46Pacific Daylight Time, or11:55:46UTC, at Earth. This reception epoch is distinct from spacecraft atmospheric entry and subsequent destruction.

Mission architecture

Vehicles

Trajectory record

Time-dependent navigation trajectory

Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.

J2000 · Sun-centered display · positions interpolated between source states

Coverage: October 15, 1997 to September 15, 2017

Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.

  • Cassini: Reconstructed · October 15, 1997 to September 15, 2017
  • Huygens Probe: Predicted coast and reconstructed descent segments; source quality and phase gaps are retained per segment. · December 25, 2004 to January 14, 2005

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through September 15, 2026