List of current and future lunar missions
Encyclopedia
Currently, there are several future lunar missions
scheduled or proposed by various nations or organisations.
NB. Launch dates are aspirational and may change drastically as the planning and preparation progresses.
Exploration of the Moon
The physical exploration of the Moon began when Luna 2, a space probe launched by the Soviet Union, made an impact on the surface of the Moon on September 14, 1959. Prior to that the only available means of exploration had been observation. The invention of the optical telescope brought about the...
scheduled or proposed by various nations or organisations.
Recent impacts
– Within a year | – Earlier |
Country | Name | Launch date | Landing date | Area | Mission type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
India | MIP Moon Impact Probe The Moon Impact Probe developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation , India's national space agency, was a lunar probe that was released by ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 lunar remote sensing orbiter which in turn was launched, on 22 October 2008, aboard a modified version of ISRO's Polar Satellite... |
October 22, 2008 | November 14, 2008 | LQ30 | Impactor |
Japan | Okina (RSAT) | September 14, 2007 | February 12, 2009 | LQ08 | Orbiter (crashed at mission end) |
Mainland China | Chang'e 1 | October 24, 2007 | March 1, 2009 | LQ21 | Orbiter (systematically crashed at mission end)http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iZBB3YlRbLgxnFO4CJ0cYG-IQ5qwD96L5NJ82 |
Japan | Kaguya SELENE SELENE , better known in Japan by its nickname after the legendary Japanese moon princess, was the second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft. Produced by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and the National Space Development Agency , both now part of the Japan Aerospace Exploration... |
September 14, 2007 | June 10, 2009 | LQ30 | Orbiter (systematically crashed at mission end) |
United States | LCROSS LCROSS The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA. The mission was conceived as a low-cost means of determining the nature of hydrogen detected at the polar regions of the moon. The main LCROSS mission objective was to explore the presence of water ice... |
June 18, 2009 | October 9, 2009 | LQ30 | Impactor (Centaur) |
Impactor (Shepherding Spacecraft) |
In flight
– En route | – Under extended mission | – Lunar mission complete |
Country | Name | Launch date | Mission lifetime |
---|---|---|---|
Japan | Ouna (VSAT) | September 14, 2007 | 1 year (mission complete at 29 June 2009) |
India | Chandrayaan-1 | October 22, 2008 | 2 years intended (Achieved only 315 days - Mission abruptly terminated due to malfunction and lost contact) |
United States | Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter The Lunar Precursor Robotic Program is a program of robotic spacecraft missions which NASA will use to prepare for future human spaceflight missions to the Moon. Two LPRP missions, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite , were launched in June 2009... |
June 19, 2009 | 1 year (extended mission of up to 5 years) |
United States | ARTEMIS | February 17, 2007 | until 2012 |
Mainland China | Chang'e 2 Chang'e 2 Chang'e 2 is a Chinese unmanned lunar probe that was launched on 1 October 2010. It was a follow-up to the Chang'e 1 lunar probe, which was launched in 2007. Chang'e 2 was part of the first phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, and conducted research from a 100-kilometer-high lunar orbit... |
October 1, 2010 | 6 months, Orbiting Sun-Earth L2 after Aug 2011 |
United States | GRAIL Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory is an American lunar science mission in NASA's Discovery Program, which will use high-quality gravitational field mapping of the Moon to determine its interior structure... |
September 10, 2011 | three to four month travel time. 90 days science phase. |
Under development
Country | Name | Launch due |
---|---|---|
Mainland China | Chang'e 3 Chang'e 3 Chang'e 3 is a Chinese lunar exploration mission, incorporating a robotic lander and rover. Scheduled for launch in 2013 as part of the second phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, it will be China's first lunar rover, and the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon since the... |
2013 |
United States | LADEE Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer is a space exploration mission scheduled for launch in early 2013. To carry out the mission NASA will send a robotic spacecraft into orbit around the Moon, and use instruments aboard the spacecraft to study the Moon's atmosphere and dust in the... |
January 15, 2013 |
(Private Private spaceflight Private spaceflight is flight above Earth altitude conducted by and paid for by an entity other than a government. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology augmented by collaboration with affiliated design... ) |
GLXP Google Lunar X Prize The Google Lunar X PRIZE, abbreviated GLXP, sometimes referred to as Moon 2.0, is a space competition organized by the X Prize Foundation, and sponsored by Google. It was announced at the Wired Nextfest on 13 September 2007... Moon Express Moon Express Moon Express, or MoonEx, is a privately held seed-stage company formed by a group of Silicon Valley and space entrepreneurs, with the goal of winning the Google Lunar X Prize, and ultimately mining the Moon for resources of economic value.-History:... |
2013 |
India | Chandrayaan-2 Chandrayaan-2 Chandrayaan-2 , is a joint lunar exploration mission proposed by the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Russian Federal Space Agency and has a projected cost of... |
2014 |
Russia | Luna-Glob 2 / Luna-Resurs Luna-Glob Luna-Glob is the name of a Moon-exploration program by the Russian Federal Space Agency based on plans dating back to 1997. Due to financial problems, however, the project was put on hold only to be revived a few years later. Initially scheduled for launch in 2012, the mission has been brought... |
2014 |
Russia | Luna-Glob 1 Luna-Glob Luna-Glob is the name of a Moon-exploration program by the Russian Federal Space Agency based on plans dating back to 1997. Due to financial problems, however, the project was put on hold only to be revived a few years later. Initially scheduled for launch in 2012, the mission has been brought... |
2015 |
United States | ILN Node 1 International Lunar Network The International Lunar Network or ILN is a proposed network of a series of landed stations of the United States and the other space-faring countries on the lunar surface in the 2010s. Each of these stations will act as a node in a lunar geophysical network. Ultimately this network could comprise... |
2018 |
United States | ILN Node 2 International Lunar Network The International Lunar Network or ILN is a proposed network of a series of landed stations of the United States and the other space-faring countries on the lunar surface in the 2010s. Each of these stations will act as a node in a lunar geophysical network. Ultimately this network could comprise... |
2018 ? |
Proposed unmanned missions
Country | Name | Launch due |
---|---|---|
MoonLITE MoonLITE The Moon Lightweight Interior and Telecoms Experiment , is a proposed British space mission to explore the Moon and develop techniques for future space exploration. If funded, it will be built by a consortium of UK industry likely including Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, and it is planned to be... |
2014 | |
MoonRaker Moonraker Moonraker is the third novel by British author Ian Fleming featuring the fictional British Secret Service agent Commander James Bond. The book was first published by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1955, bearing a cover based on Fleming's own concept... |
2014 | |
Russia | Luna-Grunt 1 Luna-Glob Luna-Glob is the name of a Moon-exploration program by the Russian Federal Space Agency based on plans dating back to 1997. Due to financial problems, however, the project was put on hold only to be revived a few years later. Initially scheduled for launch in 2012, the mission has been brought... |
2014 |
Luna-Grunt 2 Luna-Glob Luna-Glob is the name of a Moon-exploration program by the Russian Federal Space Agency based on plans dating back to 1997. Due to financial problems, however, the project was put on hold only to be revived a few years later. Initially scheduled for launch in 2012, the mission has been brought... |
2015 | |
India | Chandrayaan-3 Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation is an independent Indian governmental agency established in 1969 for the research and development of vehicles and activities for the exploration of space within and outside of Earth’s atmosphere. Headquartered in Bangalore... |
2015 |
(Private Private spaceflight Private spaceflight is flight above Earth altitude conducted by and paid for by an entity other than a government. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology augmented by collaboration with affiliated design... ) |
Google Lunar X Prize Google Lunar X Prize The Google Lunar X PRIZE, abbreviated GLXP, sometimes referred to as Moon 2.0, is a space competition organized by the X Prize Foundation, and sponsored by Google. It was announced at the Wired Nextfest on 13 September 2007... |
Before 2015 |
(Private Private spaceflight Private spaceflight is flight above Earth altitude conducted by and paid for by an entity other than a government. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology augmented by collaboration with affiliated design... ) |
Astrobotic Technology Astrobotic Technology Astrobotic Technology is a privately held seed-stage company formed by Carnegie Mellon professor Red Whittaker and his associates, with the goal of winning the Google Lunar X Prize... Polar Excavator |
2015 |
(Private Private spaceflight Private spaceflight is flight above Earth altitude conducted by and paid for by an entity other than a government. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology augmented by collaboration with affiliated design... ) |
Astrobotic Technology Astrobotic Technology Astrobotic Technology is a privately held seed-stage company formed by Carnegie Mellon professor Red Whittaker and his associates, with the goal of winning the Google Lunar X Prize... (yet to be named) |
2016 |
United States | ILN Node 3 International Lunar Network The International Lunar Network or ILN is a proposed network of a series of landed stations of the United States and the other space-faring countries on the lunar surface in the 2010s. Each of these stations will act as a node in a lunar geophysical network. Ultimately this network could comprise... |
2016 |
Japan | SELENE-2 Selene-2 SELENE-2 , or the Selenological and Engineering Explorer 2, is a proposed Japanese moon lander to be launched sometime before the middle of the decade as a successor to the 2007 Kaguya moon orbiter.- Penetrators :... |
No earlier than 2016 |
United States | ILN Node 4 International Lunar Network The International Lunar Network or ILN is a proposed network of a series of landed stations of the United States and the other space-faring countries on the lunar surface in the 2010s. Each of these stations will act as a node in a lunar geophysical network. Ultimately this network could comprise... |
2017 |
Mainland China | Chang'e 4 Chinese Lunar Exploration Program Chinese Lunar Exploration Program , also known as the Chang'e program, is a program of robotic and human missions to the Moon undertaken by the China National Space Administration , the space agency of the People's Republic of China... |
2017 |
Europe | MoonNext MoonNext The MoonNext Mission, also known as the ESA Lunar Lander, is a proposal by the European Space Agency to send a high capacity cargo lander to the lunar surface using a full Ariane 5 rocket. The mission would be launched from Kourou in 2018 taking a few days to transfer from Earth to a Low Circular... |
2015–2018 |
Russia | Luniy-Poligon Luna-Glob Luna-Glob is the name of a Moon-exploration program by the Russian Federal Space Agency based on plans dating back to 1997. Due to financial problems, however, the project was put on hold only to be revived a few years later. Initially scheduled for launch in 2012, the mission has been brought... |
2020 |
South Korea | Moon Orbiter | 2020 |
Moon Lander | 2025 |
Proposed manned missions
Country | Name | Nature of proposed mission | |
---|---|---|---|
(Private Private spaceflight Private spaceflight is flight above Earth altitude conducted by and paid for by an entity other than a government. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology augmented by collaboration with affiliated design... ) |
DSE-Alpha DSE-Alpha Deep Space Expedition Alpha , is the name given to the mission proposed in 2005 to take the first space tourists to fly around the Moon. The mission is organized by Space Adventures Ltd., a commercial spaceflight company... |
2015 | Mission to transport the first space tourists Space tourism Space Tourism is space travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. A number of startup companies have sprung up in recent years, hoping to create a space tourism industry... to fly around the Moon using Soyuz; proposed by Space Adventures Space Adventures Space Adventures, Ltd. is a Virginia, USA-based space tourism company founded in 1998 by Eric C. Anderson. , offerings include zero-gravity atmospheric flights, orbital spaceflights , and other spaceflight-related experiences including cosmonaut training, spacewalk training, and launch tours... (2005). |
India | 2020 | Manned moon landing; proposed by ISRO Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation is an independent Indian governmental agency established in 1969 for the research and development of vehicles and activities for the exploration of space within and outside of Earth’s atmosphere. Headquartered in Bangalore... (2009). |
|
Japan | 2020 | Manned moon landing; proposed by JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency The , or JAXA, is Japan's national aerospace agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on October 1, 2003, as an Independent Administrative Institution administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the... (2006). |
|
Aurora programme Aurora Programme The Aurora programme is a human spaceflight programme of the European Space Agency established in 2001 with the primary objectives of creating, and then implementing, a European long-term plan for exploration of the Solar System using robotic spacecraft and human spaceflight... |
2024 | Manned moon landing; proposed by ESA European Space Agency The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states... . |
|
Mainland China | CLEP Chinese Lunar Exploration Program Chinese Lunar Exploration Program , also known as the Chang'e program, is a program of robotic and human missions to the Moon undertaken by the China National Space Administration , the space agency of the People's Republic of China... |
~2025 | Manned moon landing; suggested by various scientists. |
Iran | 2025 | Manned moon landing; proposed by ISA Iranian Space Agency The Iranian Space Agency is Iran's governmental space agency. Iran is an active participant in the Asian space race and became an orbital-launch-capable nation in 2009... (2010). |
|
2025 | Manned moon landing; proposed by RFSA Russian Federal Space Agency The Russian Federal Space Agency , commonly called Roscosmos and abbreviated as FKA and RKA , is the government agency responsible for the Russian space science program and general aerospace research. It was previously the Russian Aviation and Space Agency .Headquarters of Roscosmos are located... (2007). |
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2027–32 | Moonbase; proposed by RFSA (2007). | ||
Japan | 2030 | Moonbase; proposed by JAXA (2006). |
NB. Launch dates are aspirational and may change drastically as the planning and preparation progresses.
Cancelled or indefinitely postponed
Country | Name | Launch due | |
---|---|---|---|
Japan | LUNAR-A LUNAR-A LUNAR-A is a cancelled Japanese spacecraft project that was originally scheduled to be launched in August 2004. After many delays LUNAR-A is a cancelled Japanese spacecraft project that was originally scheduled to be launched in August 2004. After many delays LUNAR-A is a cancelled Japanese... |
August 2004 | Integrated into Russia's Luna-Glob 1 Luna-Glob Luna-Glob is the name of a Moon-exploration program by the Russian Federal Space Agency based on plans dating back to 1997. Due to financial problems, however, the project was put on hold only to be revived a few years later. Initially scheduled for launch in 2012, the mission has been brought... mission |
Germany | LEO LEO (spacecraft) LEO is the name of a proposed German mission to the Moon, announced by the German Aerospace Center Director Walter Doellinger on March 2, 2007. Because the needed money for the year 2009 was diverted elsewhere, the start of the project was delayed indefinitely... |
2012 | Mission postponed indefinitely due to budgetary constraints |
United States | Constellation Program | 2020 | Mission cancelled by Congress |
United States | MoonRise MoonRise The MoonRise mission focuses on the giant South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon between the Moon's South Pole and Aitken Crater, 16° south of the Moon's equator. This basin measures nearly in diameter and in depth... |
2018 | Not funded by NASA NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research... in 2011 funding competition |
See also
- Exploration of the MoonExploration of the MoonThe physical exploration of the Moon began when Luna 2, a space probe launched by the Soviet Union, made an impact on the surface of the Moon on September 14, 1959. Prior to that the only available means of exploration had been observation. The invention of the optical telescope brought about the...
- Robotic exploration of the MoonRobotic exploration of the Moon-Pioneer program:*Pioneer 0 – failure – orbiter*Pioneer 1 – failure – orbiter*Pioneer 2 – failure – orbiter*Pioneer 3 – failure – flyby...
- Apollo program
- Timeline of Solar System explorationTimeline of solar system explorationThis is a timeline of Solar System exploration ordered by date of spacecraft launch. It includes:*All spacecraft that have left Earth orbit for the purposes of Solar System exploration , including lunar probes....
- List of lunar probes
- Google Lunar X PrizeGoogle Lunar X PrizeThe Google Lunar X PRIZE, abbreviated GLXP, sometimes referred to as Moon 2.0, is a space competition organized by the X Prize Foundation, and sponsored by Google. It was announced at the Wired Nextfest on 13 September 2007...