Mission Area
Civil Space
From the Sun to Pluto and Beyond
Johns Hopkins APL’s Civil Space Mission Area makes critical contributions to NASA and international missions to meet the challenges of space science, engineering, and exploration.
Since the dawn of the Space Age, APL has pushed the frontiers of space science, engineering, and exploration. We captured the first picture of Earth from space, invented navigation by satellite, dispatched spacecraft across the solar system from our Sun to Pluto and beyond, and successfully conducted the world’s first full-scale planetary defense test mission.
We continue to shape the future by providing our nation with innovative and low-cost solutions to its space challenges. Our work includes conducting research and space exploration; development and application of space science, engineering, and technology; and production of one-of-a-kind spacecraft, instruments, and subsystems.
Leadership
Highlights
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![Artist's rendering of Dragonfly]()
Learn more about DragonflyDragonfly
Dragonfly is a NASA mission that will explore Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Led by APL, this revolutionary rotorcraft-lander expedition will study the atmosphere, carbon-based chemistry, and geology of this cold yet Earthlike moon and ultimately advance our understanding of life’s chemical origins. -
![Artist's rendering of IMAP spacecraft]()
Learn more about Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP)Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (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. -
![DART crashing into an asteroid]()
Learn more about Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)
NASA’s first planetary defense mission—the APL-led Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)—is the first mission to demonstrate what’s known as the kinetic impactor technique, which involves striking an asteroid to shift its orbit and deflect it from Earth.
Recent News
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![Artistic depiction of DART's impact moments before it occurred (Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Jon Emmerich)]()
Learn more about From Impact to Innovation: A Year of Science and Triumph for Historic DART MissionFeature Story
Sep 26, 2023From Impact to Innovation: A Year of Science and Triumph for Historic DART Mission
Last fall, the world watched as the DART spacecraft — the Double Asteroid Redirection Test — guided itself toward the asteroid Dimorphos for a direct collision, a major technical achievement and the first successful planetary defense test in history. As a part of NASA’s overall planetary defense strategy, DART’s impact with the asteroid Dimorphos demonstrated a viable mitigation technique for protecting the planet from an Earth-bound asteroid, if one were discovered. Revisit DART’s triumphant collision with Dimorphos and the resulting year of science analysis and discoveries that followed. -
![The IMAP spacecraft returns to the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.]()
Learn more about IMAP Mission Begins Integration and Testing at Johns Hopkins APL — Public Invited to Follow Along With LivestreamNews
Sep 20, 2023IMAP Mission Begins Integration and Testing at Johns Hopkins APL — Public Invited to Follow Along With Livestream
NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) is embarking on its yearlong integration and testing campaign, during which all of the instruments and components will be added to the spacecraft structure, tested to ensure they will survive the harsh environments of launch and space, and made ready to execute their mission. -
![Members of the DART team celebrate on Sept. 26, 2022, as images live-streamed from the spacecraft show it successfully impacted the asteroid Dimorphos.]()
Learn more about Seven Asteroids Are Named for DART Team MembersNews
Sep 19, 2023Seven Asteroids Are Named for DART Team Members
Seven scientists and engineers who made NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission a smashing success last year recently had asteroids named after them.
