Design Your Space Mission
Pick your destination, vehicle, crew — get a full mission report
Plan a space mission from concept to completion — define your science objectives, choose a spacecraft bus, select instruments, pick a launch vehicle, and calculate fuel requirements, delta-v budget, and mission cost estimates. Walk through the mission design process step by step: destination, trajectory, power budget, communication links, and the cost envelope — the same framework real mission planners use.
💡 The New Horizons mission to Pluto took 9.5 years and required 4.5 km/s of delta-v just to leave Earth's gravity well fast enough.
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Where are you going?
Choose your mission destination
Frequently asked questions
What is delta-v in space mission design?
Delta-v (Δv) is the change in velocity required to perform an orbital manoeuvre, measured in metres per second. Reaching Low Earth Orbit takes about 9.4 km/s of delta-v from the surface; trans-lunar injection adds another ~3.2 km/s; landing on the Moon another ~2.5 km/s. Delta-v is the single most important budget in any mission plan.
How much does a typical NASA mission cost?
Costs vary widely. A Discovery-class planetary mission like InSight runs around $850 million. A New Frontiers-class mission like Dragonfly is closer to $1 billion. Flagship missions like Mars Sample Return or Europa Clipper cost $4–10 billion. Crewed Artemis missions to the Moon cost $4.1 billion per launch.
How long does it take to plan a space mission?
From mission concept review to launch typically takes 8–12 years for robotic missions and 10–15 years for crewed missions. The James Webb Space Telescope took 25+ years from concept to launch. Smallsats and CubeSats can compress this timeline to 2–3 years thanks to standardised buses and rideshare opportunities.
What are the main phases of a space mission?
NASA mission lifecycle uses Phases A through F: A (concept and technology development), B (preliminary design), C (final design and fabrication), D (integration, test and launch), E (operations), F (closeout and decommissioning). Each phase ends with a formal review before proceeding.