NASA announced that it has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for its ambitious Dragonfly mission that will place a rotorcraft lander at Saturn's moon of Titan as part of its New Frontiers Program.

The space agency announced a $256.6 million contract with SpaceX to support the launch of the Dragonfly mission – a rotorcraft lander mission under NASA's New Frontiers Program, which funds a series of medium-class spacecraft expeditions to explore the solar system. Dragonfly is the fourth mission in this program, and will cost about $3.35 billion.

Expanding on the success of Ingenuity, NASA will send another first of its kind helicopter mission to explore outside Earth, Saturn’s biggest moon Titan.

NASA's Dragonfly mission to Titan will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy in 2028, exploring prebiotic chemistry and searching for biosignatures.

NASA has selected SpaceX and its Falcon Heavy rocket for an upcoming high-profile science mission that is estimated to cost $3.35 billion.

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy has launched 11 times, all successfully, and is based on the Falcon 9 rocket rated to ferry people into orbit. NASA already certified Falcon Heavy to launch its most expensive robotic missions, such as the Europa Clipper mission, which launched last month.