Mission Area
Civil Space Flight
From the Sun to Pluto and Beyond
Johns Hopkins APL’s Civil Space Flight Mission Area delivers critical spaceflight hardware to NASA, international partners, and other U.S. government civilian agencies. We are responsible for all APL civil space flight programs in development and operations and are APL’s primary civil space sponsor interface. We pride ourselves on delivering first-of-their-kind, one-of-a-kind spaceflight hardware within cost and schedule constraints.
Since the dawn of the Space Age, APL has pushed the frontiers of space science. We captured the first picture of Earth from space, invented navigation by satellite, dispatched spacecraft across the solar system that are exploring regions around our Sun to Pluto and beyond, and successfully conducted the world’s first planetary defense test mission.
Our work includes design, fabrication, and operation of premier space science instruments, novel space systems, and advanced space technology.
Leadership
Highlights
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Dragonfly
Dragonfly is a NASA New Frontiers mission that will send a rotorcraft lander to explore the prebiotic chemistry and habitability of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
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IMAP
Set to launch in 2025, NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission will help researchers better understand what happens at the boundary of the heliosphere, where the Sun’s protective magnetic field ends.
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EZIE
EZIE will determine the structure and evolution of Earth’s electrojets — electric currents flowing in Earth’s ionosphere that are central to the electrical circuit that couples the planet’s magnetosphere to its atmosphere.
Recent News
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Press Release
Mar 18, 2024NASA Delivers Science Instrument to JAXA’s Martian Moons Mission
Built by Johns Hopkins APL in collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer instrument called MEGANE reached the Japanese spacecraft manufacturer last week for final testing and for integration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Martian Moons Explorer mission spacecraft, on which it will play a significant role in determining the origin of Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos. -
Press Release
Mar 18, 2024Johns Hopkins APL Team Readies Advanced Imager for Integration Onto NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe
Another instrument planned for flight aboard NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) is ready for installation on the spacecraft. -
Press Release
Feb 24, 2024GUSTO Mission Breaks NASA Record for Longest Flight by Heavy Lift Balloon
NASA’s balloon mission GUSTO broke the record for the longest flight time by a heavy lift, long-duration balloon on Feb. 24, topping the previous record holder, which lasted for 55 days, 1 hour and 34 minutes. The new record is 57 days, 7 hours.