Cassini in 3D: live position and trajectory

Launched in 1997, orbited Saturn from 2004 and ended its mission inside the planet in 2017.The real position of Cassini is shown, from the trajectory computed by NASA JPL Horizons. The view opens on Cassini; you can travel in time, follow its route and compare it with the planets.

Mass

2,523 kg¹

Launch date

October 15, 1997¹

Launch vehicle

Titan IV-Centaur¹

Launch site

Cape Canaveral, United States¹

Trajectory: JPL Horizons, precomputed from October 17, 1997 to September 14, 2017.Instruments

Cassini Orbiter Radio Science Subsystem
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:rss.co

Cassini Orbiter Spacecraft Sensors
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:eng.co

Cassini Oribiter Composite Infrared Spectrometer
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:cirs.co

Cassini Oribiter Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:uvis.co

Cassini Plasma Spectrometer for CO
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:caps.co

Cosmic Dust Analyzer for CO
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:cda.co

Dual Technique Magnetometer for CO
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:mag.co

High Rate Detector for CO
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:hrd.co

Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle for CO
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:issna.co

Imaging Science Subsystem - Wide Angle for CO
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:isswa.co

Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer for CO
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:inms.co

Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument for CO
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:mimi.co

MIMI Charge/Energy Mass Spectrometer for Cassini Orbiter
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:mimi-chems.co

MIMI Ion Neutral Camera for Cassini Orbiter
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:mimi-inca.co

MIMI Low Energy Magnetospheric Measurement Sensor for Cassini Orbiter
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:mimi-lemms.co

Radio and Plasma Wave Science for CO
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:rpws.co

The Cassini Radar (RADAR)
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:radar.co

Visual And Infrared Mapping Spectrometer for CO
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:vims.co

Investigations it appears in

Cassini-Huygens

What the PDS archive declares this spacecraft carries, read on September 30, 2026. Each name is the one the archive publishes, and the identifier below it is its citation.Sources

NASA NSSDCA, Master Catalog. read 2026-09-20. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/

3D Solar System

Galaxy

01 / 06 Initializing...

Display settings

In the scene

A column header sets the whole column, a group row its group, a row one object. Spacecraft and interstellar objects start hidden.

What the scene shows, object by object
Object	Label	Object	Orbit

Asteroid and comet field

Drawn in Exploration mode, one dot per known orbit.

Rendering

Accessibility and units

Offline use

Download every ephemeris file so the app can place the bodies at any date without a network. Nothing is downloaded until you ask.

Navigation

Drag orbit the view
Scroll · pinch zoom in / out
Click a body or its label to travel to it
Educ · Explo compressed overview vs true-scale voyage
Clock · date scroll to time-travel, tap to pick

Textures: USGS Astrogeology / NASA-JPL (public domain) · Solar System Scope (CC BY 4.0) · NOAA ETOPO 2022 · Halley: Philip Stooke / NASA PDS.
Illustrative surfaces: Bodies never mapped globally have an illustrative texture, not a scientific map; the body card says so, and Sources lists them.
3D shape models: NASA PDS: NEAR (Eros), Hayabusa (Itokawa), Galileo (Ida) · ISAS/JAXA: Hayabusa2 (Ryugu) · NASA/Goddard SVS: OSIRIS-REx (Bennu)
Data: Astronomy Engine · NASA/JPL Horizons · JPL SBDB · NASA GIBS · NASA Planetary Data System (mission context products) · IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature · Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · ERA5, Copernicus Climate Change Service (ECMWF)