Mission Lifecycle

The long interplanetary-cruise phase — keeping the spacecraft healthy, performing trajectory-correction manoeuvres, and preparing for arrival.

The final phase — safely disposing of a spacecraft (a controlled re-entry, a graveyard orbit, or a deliberate impact) and preserving its data — closing out the mission responsibly.

The operations phase spanning launch and the critical early days — acquiring the spacecraft, checking it out, and getting it onto its planned trajectory (Launch and Early Orbit Phase, LEOP).

The prime phase in which the spacecraft carries out its science — planning observations, commanding the instruments, and returning the data that is the point of the mission.