Saturn Orbit Insertion

The events during the Cassini-Huygens Spacecraft Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) on July 1, 2004 UTC offer an opportunity to learn more about space flight operations. This section of the Basics of Space Flight uses SOI events to understand exactly what it takes to place a robotic spacecraft into orbit at a distant planet.

When you click the miniature SOI Timeline below, you'll see a new page with a much larger image. On that larger image of the SOI Timeline, you may click on any marked event or abbreviation to see a full explanation, with links to pertinent Basics pages.