By rocket to Saturn: about 2.7 years
By rocket (61,000 km/h) it would take about 2.7 years to get to Saturn – at the average distance of 1.43 billion km, non-stop and in a straight line.
Because the distance keeps changing, the travel time ranges from 2.2 years (closest) to 3.1 years (farthest).
For comparison
The Cassini probe needed almost seven years (1997–2004) because it gained speed at Venus, Earth and Jupiter.
How it is calculated
- Closest distance
- 1.2 billion km
- Average distance
- 1.43 billion km
- Farthest distance
- 1.66 billion km
- Speed
- 61,000 km/h (speed of the Voyager 1 probe)
- Formula
- Travel time = distance ÷ speed
- Result
- 1.43 billion km ÷ 61,000 km/h ≈ 2.7 years
Assumption: constant speed in a straight line, with no stops, acceleration or braking. Real spacecraft fly curved paths and use the gravity of planets.
Good to know: Saturn
Saturn is the ringed planet: its main rings of ice and rock span about 270,000 km but are mostly only ten metres to a kilometre thick. It is about 9.5 times as far from the Sun as Earth, and sunlight needs about 80 minutes to reach it.
→ Fact sheet: SaturnSaturn: travel time by every vehicle
| Vehicle | Speed | Travel time | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car | 100 km/h | 1,600 years | 1,400 years – 1,900 years |
| Airplane | 900 km/h | 180 years | 150 years – 210 years |
| Rocket | 61,000 km/h | 2.7 years | 2.2 years – 3.1 years |
| Speed of light | 1,079,252,849 km/h | 79 minutes | 67 minutes – 1.5 hours |