Enceladus Orbilander

Enceladus Orbilander

Artist's impression of the Enceladus Orbilander
Mission type	Enceladus Orbiter and Lander
Operator	NASA
Website	https://space.jhuapl.edu/projects-and-studies/enceladus-orbilander
Mission duration	Overall: ~15 years total 3.5 years at Enceladus En route: 7 year cruise 4 years Saturnian moons tour Science Phase: 1.5 years Enceladus orbit 2 years on Enceladus surface
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	APL (proposed)
Launch mass	6610 kg
Dry mass	2690 kg
Power	(at launch)
Start of mission
Launch date	October 2038 (proposed)
Rocket	Space Launch System Block 2 (proposed)
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center, Pad 39B
Contractor	NASA
Flyby of Jupiter
Closest approach	October 2040 (proposed)
Distance	4,730,000 km (2,940,000 mi)
Saturn orbiter
Orbital insertion	August 2045 (proposed)
Orbital departure	early 2050 (proposed)
Enceladus orbiter
Orbital insertion	early 2050 (proposed)
Orbital departure	mid 2051 (proposed)
Enceladus lander
Landing date	mid 2051 (proposed)

Enceladus' south pole, captured by NASA's Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, 2015

The Enceladus Orbilander is a proposed NASA Flagship mission to Saturn's moon Enceladus. The Enceladus Orbilander would spend a year and a half orbiting Enceladus and sampling its water plumes, which stretch into space, before landing on the surface for a two-year mission to study materials for evidence of life. The mission, with an estimated cost of $4.9 billion, could launch in the late 2030s on a Space Launch System or Falcon Heavy with a landing in the early 2050s. It was proposed in the 2023–2032 Planetary Science Decadal Survey as the third highest priority Flagship mission, after the Uranus Orbiter and Probe and the Mars Sample Return program.

See also

• Abiogenesis
• Astrobiology
• Enceladus Explorer
• Enceladus Life Signatures and Habitability (ELSAH)
• Explorer of Enceladus and Titan (E²T)
• Europa Clipper
• Journey to Enceladus and Titan (JET)
• Life Investigation For Enceladus (LIFE)
• THEO