DART, or Demonstration for Autonomous Rendezvous Technology, was a NASA spacecraft with the goal to develop and demonstrate an automated navigation and rendezvous capability. At the time of the DART mission, only the Roscosmos and JAXA had autonomous spacecraft navigation. Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) was the prime contractor for construction, launch and operation of the DART spacecraft with a project cost of US$110 million (2005). The contract was awarded in June 2001 and the spacecraft was launched on 15 April 2005. The mission ended prematurely, very shortly after an anomalous slow-velocity collision with its target spacecraft, having completed less than half of the original mission autonomous rendezvous objectives. Mission DART was launched on a Pegasus rocket into a polar orbit of and has International Designator 2005-014A. The craft is and weighs . The maneuvering system comprised 16 nitrogen-fueled thrusters with three hydrazine-fueled thrusters and a reaction control system including six nitrogen-fueled thrusters from the Pegasus fourth stage, which forms an integral part of the spacecraft. The target spacecraft was an OSC MUBLCOM (Multiple-Path Beyond-Line-of-Sight Communications) prototype communications relay satellite weighing approximately launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on 18 May 1999 with International Designator 1999-026B. After launch, DART successfully achieved orbit and within hours made a rendezvous with the target satellite. The automated systems aboard DART successfully acquired the target and began autonomously approaching it. During proximity operations, multiple malfunctions in navigation, propellant management and collision avoidance programming led to a soft collision with the target and premature destruction and retirement of the DART spacecraft. DART had no capability for interactive piloting from the ground or for uploading new programming after launch, thus all on-orbit operations were directed by DART itself based upon pre-programmed criteria. Objectives Automatic orbital transfer maneuvers The craft autonomously navigated via a series of orbit transfer maneuvers to reach the target satellite. No navigational information was relayed to the vehicle after launch; it navigated autonomously and with GPS. Proximity operations with AVGS Once the spacecraft had navigated to the target satellite, it was to have performed a series of proximity maneuvers. The maneuvers would have demonstrated the capabilities of the AVGS (Advanced Video Guidance Sensor). It was planned to demonstrate station keeping, docking axis approach, circumnavigation, and a collision avoidance maneuver. DART would have then departed the vicinity and retired to a final orbit. The entire sequence was to have been accomplished under autonomous control. Additional