Completed · Success
NASA's Dawn orbited asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres after a Mars gravity assist, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial destinations. Launched in 2007, it completed its successful mission in 2018 after exhausting its hydrazine.
- Destinations
- Launch vehicle
- Delta II Heavy 2925H-9.5 rocket including Star 48 upper stage
- Launch site
- Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, Pad 17B
- Countries
- United States
- Mission types
- Orbiter, Flyby
Chronology
Mission timeline
Mission architecture
Vehicles
Trajectory record
Trajectory dataset not yet available
No verified trajectory dataset is committed for this mission, so Mission Atlas renders no path.
Provenance
Sources
Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.
Data verified through September 3, 2026
- Quick Facts - NASA Science — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- 15 Years Ago: Dawn Begins Voyage to Asteroid Vesta and Dwarf Planet Ceres — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims · destination/body context · event claims
- Mission Status - NASA Science — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Dawn - NASA NSSDCA Master Catalog — NSSDCAMission page · Supports: mission claims
- Planet Sizes and Locations in Our Solar System — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context