Timeline of solar system exploration
Encyclopedia
This is a timeline of Solar System exploration ordered by date of spacecraft
launch. It includes:
It does not include:
The dates listed are launch dates, but the achievements noted may have occurred some time laterin some cases, a considerable time later (for example, Voyager 2, launched 20 August 1977, did not reach Neptune until 1989).
Missions in italics are unfinished, i.e. have not yet been designated as successes or failures. Some unitalicised missions are nevertheless still operational, some in mission extension phases.
1957 Sputnik 1
– 4 October 1957 – First Earth
orbiter Sputnik 2
– 3 November 1957 – Earth orbiter, first animal in orbit, a dog named Laika
1958 Explorer 1 – 1 February 1958 – Earth orbiter; first American
orbiter, discovered Van Allen radiation belts Vanguard 1
– 17 March 1958 – Earth orbiter
1959 Luna 1
– 2 January 1959 – First lunar flyby (attempted lunar impact?) Pioneer 4
– 3 March 1959 – Lunar flyby Luna 2
– 12 September 1959 – First lunar impact Luna 3
– 4 October 1959 – Lunar flyby; First images of far side of Moon
1960 Pioneer 5
– 11 March 1960 – Interplanetary space investigations
1961 Sputnik 7
– 4 February 1961 – Attempted Venus
impact (failed to escape Earth orbit) Venera 1
– 12 February 1961 – Venus flyby (contact lost) Vostok 1
– 12 April 1961 – First manned Earth orbiter Mercury-Redstone 3
– 5 May 1961 – First American in space Ranger 1
– 23 August 1961 – Attempted lunar test flight Ranger 2
– 18 November 1961 – Attempted lunar test flight
1962 Ranger 3
– 26 January 1962 – Attempted lunar impact (missed Moon) Mercury-Atlas 6
– 20 February 1962 – First American manned Earth orbiter Ranger 4
– 23 April 1962 – Lunar impact (but unintentionally hit lunar farside and returned no data) Sputnik 19
– 25 August 1962 – Attempted Venus lander (failed to escape Earth orbit) Mariner 2
– 27 August 1962 – First successful planetary encounter, First successful Venus flyby Sputnik 20
– 1 September 1962 – Attempted Venus lander (failed to escape Earth orbit) Sputnik 21
– 12 September 1962 – Attempted Venus flyby (exploded) Ranger 5
– 18 October 1962 – Attempted lunar impact (missed Moon) Sputnik 22
– 24 October 1962 – Attempted Mars flyby (exploded) Mars 1
– 1 November 1962 – Mars flyby (contact lost) Sputnik 24
– 4 November 1962 – Attempted Mars lander (broke up)
1963 Sputnik 25
– 4 January 1963 – Attempted lunar lander (failed to escape Earth orbit) Luna 4
– 2 April 1963 – Attempted lunar lander (missed Moon) Cosmos 21
– 11 November 1963 – Attempted Venera test flight?
1964 Ranger 6
– 30 January 1964 – Lunar impact (cameras failed) Cosmos 27
– 27 March 1964 – Attempted Venus flyby (failed to escape Earth orbit) Zond 1
– 2 April 1964 – Venus flyby (contact lost) Ranger 7
– 28 July 1964 – Lunar impact Mariner 3
– 5 November 1964 – Attempted Mars flyby (failed to attain correct trajectory) Mariner 4
– 28 November 1964 – First Mars flyby Zond 2
– 30 November 1964 – Mars flyby (contact lost)
1965 Ranger 8
– 17 February 1965 – Lunar impact Cosmos 60
– 12 March 1965 – Attempted lunar lander (failed to escape Earth orbit) Ranger 9
– 21 March 1965 – Lunar impact Luna 5
– 9 May 1965 – Lunar impact (attempted soft landing) Luna 6
– 8 June 1965 – Attempted lunar lander (missed Moon) Zond 3
– 18 July 1965 – Lunar flyby Luna 7
– 4 October 1965 – Lunar impact (attempted soft landing) Venera 2
– 12 November 1965 – Venus flyby (contact lost) Venera 3
– 16 November 1965 – Venus lander (contact lost) – First spacecraft to reach another planet's surface, First Venus impact Cosmos 96 – 23 November 1965 – Attempted Venus lander (stayed in Earth orbit due to launch failure) Luna 8
– 3 December 1965 – Lunar impact (attempted soft landing?) Pioneer 6 – 16 December 1965 – "Space weather" observations
1966 Luna 9
– 31 January 1966 – First lunar lander Cosmos 111
– 1 March 1966 – Attempted lunar orbiter? (failed to escape Earth orbit) Luna 10
– 31 March 1966 – First lunar orbiter Surveyor 1
– 30 May 1966 – Lunar lander Explorer 33
– 1 July 1966 – Attempted lunar orbiter (failed to attain lunar orbit) Lunar Orbiter 1
– 10 August 1966 – Lunar orbiter Pioneer 7 – 17 August 1966 – "Space weather" observations Luna 11
– 24 August 1966 – Lunar orbiter Surveyor 2
– 20 September 1966 – Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon) Luna 12
– 22 October 1966 – Lunar orbiter Lunar Orbiter 2
– 6 November 1966 – Lunar orbiter Luna 13
– 21 December 1966 – Lunar lander
1967 Lunar Orbiter 3
– 4 February 1967 – Lunar orbiter Surveyor 3
– 17 April 1967 – Lunar lander Lunar Orbiter 4
– 8 May 1967 – Lunar orbiter Venera 4
– 12 June 1967 – First Venus atmospheric probe Mariner 5
– 14 June 1967 – Venus flyby Cosmos 167 – 17 June 1967 – Attempted Venus probe (failed to escape Earth orbit) Surveyor 4
– 14 July 1967 – Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon) Explorer 35 (IMP-E)
– 19 July 1967 – Lunar orbiter Lunar Orbiter 5
– 1 August 1967 – Lunar orbiter Surveyor 5
– 8 September 1967 – Lunar lander Surveyor 6
– 7 November 1967 – Lunar lander Pioneer 8 – 13 December 1967 – "Space weather" observations
1968 Surveyor 7
– 7 January 1968 – Lunar lander Zond 4
– 2 March 1968 – Lunar programme test flight Luna 14
– 7 April 1968 – Lunar orbiter Zond 5
– 15 September 1968 – First lunar flyby and return to Earth Pioneer 9 – 8 November 1968 – "Space weather" observations Zond 6
– 10 November 1968 – Lunar flyby and return to Earth Apollo 8
– 21 December 1968 – First manned lunar orbiter
1969 Venera 5
– 5 January 1969 – Venus atmospheric probe Venera 6
– 10 January 1969 – Venus atmospheric probe Mariner 6 – 25 February 1969 – Mars flyby Apollo 9
– 3 March 1969 – Manned lunar lander (LEM) flight test Mariner 7 – 27 March 1969 – Mars flyby Apollo 10
– 18 May 1969 – Manned lunar orbiter Luna 15
– 13 July 1969 – Lunar orbiter (attempted lunar lander?) Apollo 11
– 16 July 1969 – First manned lunar landing Zond 7
– 7 August 1969 – Lunar flyby and return to Earth Cosmos 300
– 23 September 1969 – Attempted lunar sample return? (failed to escape Earth orbit)Cosmos 305
– 22 October 1969 – Attempted lunar sample return? (failed to escape Earth orbit) Apollo 12
– 14 November 1969 – Manned lunar landing
1970 Apollo 13
– 11 April 1970 – Manned lunar flyby and return to Earth (manned lunar landing aborted) Venera 7
– 17 August 1970 – First Venus lander Cosmos 359 – 22 August 1970 – Attempted Venus probe (failed to escape Earth orbit) Luna 16
– 12 September 1970 – First robotic lunar sample return Zond 8 – 20 October 1970 – Lunar flyby and return to Earth Luna 17/Lunokhod 1
– 10 November 1970 – First lunar rover
1971 Apollo 14
– 31 January 1971 – Manned lunar landing Salyut 1
– 19 April 1971 – First space station Cosmos 419
– 10 May 1971 – Attempted Mars orbiter (failed to escape Earth orbit) Mariner 9
– 30 May 1971 – First Mars orbiter Mars 2
– 19 May 1971 – Mars orbiter and attempted lander; First Mars impact Mars 3
– 28 May 1971 – Mars orbiter, First Mars lander (lost contact after 14.5s) and First Mars atmospheric probe Apollo 15
– 26 July 1971 – Manned lunar landing; First manned lunar rover Luna 18
– 2 September 1971 – Attempted lunar sample return (crashed into Moon) Luna 19
– 28 September 1971 – Lunar orbiter
1972 Luna 20
– 14 February 1972 – Lunar robotic sample return Pioneer 10
– 3 March 1972 – First Jupiter
flyby Venera 8
– 27 March 1972 – Venus lander Cosmos 482
– 31 March 1972 – Attempted Venus probe (failed to escape Earth orbit) Apollo 16
– 16 April 1972 – Manned lunar landing Apollo 17
– 7 December 1972 – Last manned lunar landing
1973 Luna 21/Lunokhod 2
– 8 January 1973 – Lunar rover Pioneer 11
– 5 April 1973 – Jupiter flyby and First Saturn
flyby Skylab
– 14 May 1973 – First American space station Explorer 49 (RAE-B)
– 10 June 1973 – Lunar orbiter/radio astronomy Mars 4 – 21 July 1973 – Mars flyby (attempted Mars orbiter) Mars 5 – 25 July 1973 – Mars orbiter Mars 6 – 5 August 1973 – Mars orbiter and attempted lander (failed due to damage on Mars landing) Mars 7 – 9 August 1973 – Mars flyby and attempted lander (missed Mars) Mariner 10
– 4 November 1973 – Venus flyby and First Mercury flyby
1974 Luna 22
– 2 June 1974 – Lunar orbiter Luna 23
– 28 October 1974 – Attempted lunar sample return (failed due to damage on lunar landing)
Helios-A
– 10 December 1974 – Solar observations
1975 Venera 9
– 8 June 1975 – First Venus orbiter and lander; First images from surface of Venus Venera 10
– 14 June 1975 – Venus orbiter and lander Viking 1
– 20 August 1975 – Mars orbiter and lander; First lander returning data and First pictures from Martian surface Viking 2
– 9 September 1975 – Mars orbiter and lander
1976 Helios-B
– 15 January 1976 – Solar observations, Closest solar approach (0.29 AU) Luna 24
– 9 August 1976 – Lunar robotic sample return
1977
1978 Pioneer Venus 1 – 20 May 1978 – Venus orbiter Pioneer Venus 2 – 8 August 1978 – Venus atmospheric probes
ISEE-3 – 12 August 1978 – Solar wind investigations; later redesignated International Cometary Explorer
and performed Comet Giacobini-Zinner and Comet Halley
flybys – First comet
flyby Venera 11
– 9 September 1978 – Venus flyby and lander Venera 12
– 14 September 1978 – Venus flyby and lander
1981 Venera 13
– 30 October 1981 – Venus flyby and lander Venera 14
– 4 November 1981 – Venus flyby and lander
1983 Venera 15
– 2 June 1983 – Venus orbiter Venera 16
– 7 June 1983 – Venus orbiter
1984 Vega 1
– 15 December 1984 – Venus flyby, lander and balloon; continued on to Comet Halley flyby Vega 2
– 21 December 1984 – Venus flyby, lander and balloon; continued on to Comet Halley flyby
1985
Sakigake
– 7 January 1985 – Comet Halley flyby Giotto – 2 July 1985 – Comet Halley flyby Suisei (Planet-A) – 18 August 1985 – Comet Halley flyby
1988 Phobos 1 – 7 July 1988 – Attempted Mars orbiter/Phobos landers (contact lost) Phobos 2 – 12 July 1988 – Mars orbiter/attempted Phobos landers (contact lost)
1989 Magellan – 4 May 1989 – Venus orbiter Galileo – 18 October 1989 – Venus flyby, first Asteroid
flyby, first Asteroid moon
discovery, first Jupiter
orbiter/atmospheric probe
Hiten
(Muses-A) – 24 January 1990 – Lunar flyby and orbiter
1991
Yohkoh
(Solar-A) – 30 August 1991 – Solar observations
1992 Mars Observer
– 25 September 1992 – Attempted Mars orbiter (contact lost)
1994 Clementine
– 25 January 1994 – Lunar orbiter/attempted asteroid flyby WIND – 1 November 1994 – Solar wind observations
1995 SOHO
– 2 December 1995 – Solar observatory
1996 NEAR Shoemaker
– 17 February 1996 – Eros orbiter, first near-Earth asteroid flyby, first asteroid orbit and first asteroid landing Mars Global Surveyor
– 7 November 1996 – Mars orbiter Mars 96
– 16 November 1996 – Attempted Mars orbiter/landers (failed to escape Earth orbit) Mars Pathfinder
– 4 December 1996 – Mars lander and first planetary rover
1997
ACE
– 25 August 1997 – Solar wind and "space weather" observations
1998 Lunar Prospector
– 7 January 1998 – Lunar orbiter Nozomi (probe) (also known as Planet-B) – 3 July 1998 – Attempted Mars orbiter (failed to enter Mars orbit) Deep Space 1 (DS1) – 24 October 1998 – Asteroid and comet flyby
– 20 November 1998 – International Space Station
Mars Climate Orbiter
– 11 December 1998 – Attempted Mars orbiter (orbit insertion failed)
1999 Mars Polar Lander
/Deep Space 2 (DS2) – 3 January 1999 – Attempted Mars lander/penetrators (contact lost) Stardust
– 7 February 1999 – First comet coma sample return – returned January 15, 2006
2001
2002 CONTOUR
– 3 July 2002 – Attempted flyby of three comet nuclei (lost in space)
2003 Hayabusa
(Muses-C) – 9 May 2003 – Asteroid lander and First sample return from asteroid Mars Exploration Rovers – 10 June/7 July 2003 – Two Mars rover
s ("Spirit" and "Opportunity")
2004
2005 Deep Impact – 12 January 2005 – First comet impact
2006
2007 Phoenix
– 4 August 2007 – Mars polar lander Kaguya
(Selene) – 14 September 2007 – Lunar orbiters
2008 Chandrayaan-1 – 22 October 2008 – Lunar orbiter and impactor – Discovered water on the moon
2009
2011
– Space observatory
2013 LADEE
– 15 January 2013 (scheduled) – Lunar orbiter MAVEN
– November/December 2013 – Mars orbiter Chang'e 3
– Lunar rover Don Quijote – 2013 or 2015 – Asteroid orbiter, impactor
2014 BepiColombo
– July–August 2014 – Mercury orbiters Hayabusa 2
– July 2014 – Asteroid lander and sample return Chandrayaan-2
and Luna-Glob 2 – Lunar orbiter (India), lander & rover (Russia) Luna-Grunt 1 – Lunar orbiter, lander and rover
2015 Luna-Glob 1 – Lunar orbiter, lander and penetrators Luna-Grunt 2 – Lunar lander and sample return SELENE-2
– <2015 – Lunar lander and penetrator
2016 ExoMars
– Mars orbiter and lander OSIRIS-REx
– Asteroid sample return mission Venera-D
– Venus orbiter ISRO Orbital Vehicle
– First Indian manned orbiter
2017 SOLO
– January 2017 – Solar Orbiter Chang'e 4 – Robotic lunar sample return mission
2018 Solar Probe Plus – July 30, 2018 – Solar Orbiter, Closest solar approach (0.04 AU) ExoMars
– Mars Rover MoonNext
– Lunar Lander International Lunar Network
– Lunar lander
2020 MarcoPolo-R
– Asteroid sample return mission Manned landing on Moon Mars sample return mission
Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer
– Mission to explore Jupiter
and its icy moons. Tiangong (Project 921-2) – First Chinese space station Lunnyj Poligon – Russian robotic lunar base Titan Saturn System Mission
– after 2020 – Exploration of Saturn
and its moons Titan and Enceladus. Orbiter, lander, ballon.
2025 Manned landing on an Asteroid Manned landing on Moon (2020–30?) Manned lunar mission
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
launch. It includes:
- All spacecraft that have left Earth orbit for the purposes of Solar SystemSolar SystemThe Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
exploration (or were launched with that intention but failed), including lunar probes. - A small number of pioneering or notable Earth-orbiting craft.
It does not include:
- The great majority of Earth-orbiting satellites.
- Probes leaving Earth orbit that are not concerned with Solar System exploration (such as space telescopes targeted at distant galaxies, cosmic background radiation observatories, and so on).
- Probes that failed at launch.
The dates listed are launch dates, but the achievements noted may have occurred some time laterin some cases, a considerable time later (for example, Voyager 2, launched 20 August 1977, did not reach Neptune until 1989).
Missions in italics are unfinished, i.e. have not yet been designated as successes or failures. Some unitalicised missions are nevertheless still operational, some in mission extension phases.
1950s
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 ) was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957. The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1s success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the Space...
– 4 October 1957 – First Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
orbiter Sputnik 2
Sputnik 2
Sputnik 2 , or Prosteyshiy Sputnik 2 ), was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, on November 3, 1957, and the first to carry a living animal, a dog named Laika. Sputnik 2 was a 4-meter high cone-shaped capsule with a base diameter of 2 meters...
– 3 November 1957 – Earth orbiter, first animal in orbit, a dog named Laika
Laika
Laika was a Soviet space dog that became the first animal to orbit the Earth – as well as the first animal to die in orbit.As little was known about the impact of spaceflight on living creatures at the time of Laika's mission, and the technology to de-orbit had not yet been developed, there...
1958 Explorer 1 – 1 February 1958 – Earth orbiter; first American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
orbiter, discovered Van Allen radiation belts Vanguard 1
Vanguard 1
Vanguard 1 was the fourth artificial Earth satellite launched and the first satellite to be solar powered. Although communication with it was lost in 1964, it remains the oldest manmade satellite still in orbit...
– 17 March 1958 – Earth orbiter
1959 Luna 1
Luna 1
Luna 1 , first known as First Cosmic Ship, then known as Mechta was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and the first of the Luna program of Soviet automatic interplanetary stations successfully launched in the direction of the Moon.While traveling through the outer Van Allen...
– 2 January 1959 – First lunar flyby (attempted lunar impact?) Pioneer 4
Pioneer 4
Pioneer 4 was a spin-stabilized spacecraft launched as part of the Pioneer program on a lunar flyby trajectory and into a heliocentric orbit making it the first U.S. probe to escape from the Earth's gravity. It carried a payload similar to Pioneer 3: a lunar radiation environment experiment using a...
– 3 March 1959 – Lunar flyby Luna 2
Luna 2
Luna 2 was the second of the Soviet Union's Luna programme spacecraft launched to the Moon. It was the first spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon...
– 12 September 1959 – First lunar impact Luna 3
Luna 3
The Soviet space probe Luna 3 of 1959 was the third space probe to be sent to the neighborhood of the Moon, and this mission was an early feat in the spaceborne exploration of outer space...
– 4 October 1959 – Lunar flyby; First images of far side of Moon
1960s
Pioneer 5
Pioneer 5 was a spin-stabilized space probe in the NASA Pioneer program used to investigate interplanetary space between the orbits of Earth and Venus. It was launched on March 11, 1960 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17a at 13:00:00 UTC with an on-orbit dry mass of 43 kg...
– 11 March 1960 – Interplanetary space investigations
1961 Sputnik 7
Sputnik 7
Tyazhely Sputnik, , also known as Venera 1VA No.1, and in the West as Sputnik 7, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was intended to be the first spacecraft to explore Venus. Due to a problem with its upper stage it failed to leave low Earth orbit...
– 4 February 1961 – Attempted Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
impact (failed to escape Earth orbit) Venera 1
Venera 1
On February 12, 1961, 00:34:36 UTC, was the first planetary probe launched to Venus by the Soviet Union. The Venus-1 Automatic Interplanetary Station, or Venera 1, was a 643.5 kg probe consisting of a cylindrical body 1.05 metres in diameter topped by a dome, totalling 2.035 metres...
– 12 February 1961 – Venus flyby (contact lost) Vostok 1
Vostok 1
Vostok 1 was the first spaceflight in the Vostok program and the first human spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA spacecraft was launched on April 12, 1961. The flight took Yuri Gagarin, a cosmonaut from the Soviet Union, into space. The flight marked the first time that a human entered outer...
– 12 April 1961 – First manned Earth orbiter Mercury-Redstone 3
Mercury-Redstone 3
Mercury-Redstone 3 was the first manned space mission of the United States. Astronaut Alan Shepard piloted a 15-minute Project Mercury suborbital flight in the Freedom 7 spacecraft on May 5, 1961 to become the first American in space, three weeks after the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had carried...
– 5 May 1961 – First American in space Ranger 1
Ranger 1
Ranger 1 was a spacecraft in the Ranger program of unmanned space missions. Its primary mission was to test the performance of those functions and parts necessary for carrying out subsequent lunar and planetary missions; a secondary objective was to study the nature of particles and fields in...
– 23 August 1961 – Attempted lunar test flight Ranger 2
Ranger 2
Ranger 2 was a flight test of the Ranger spacecraft system of the NASA Ranger program designed for future lunar and interplanetary missions. Ranger 2 was designed to test various systems for future exploration and to conduct scientific observations of cosmic rays, magnetic fields, radiation, dust...
– 18 November 1961 – Attempted lunar test flight
1962 Ranger 3
Ranger 3
Ranger 3 is a spacecraft of the Ranger program that was launched to study the Moon on January 26, 1962. The space probe was designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface to Earth stations during a period of 10 minutes of flight prior to impacting on the Moon, to rough-land a seismometer...
– 26 January 1962 – Attempted lunar impact (missed Moon) Mercury-Atlas 6
Mercury-Atlas 6
Mercury-Atlas 6 was a human spaceflight mission conducted by NASA, the space agency of the United States. As part of Project Mercury, MA-6 was the successful first attempt by NASA to place an astronaut into orbit. The MA-6 mission was launched February 20, 1962. It made three orbits of the Earth,...
– 20 February 1962 – First American manned Earth orbiter Ranger 4
Ranger 4
Ranger 4 was a spacecraft of the Ranger program designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface to Earth stations during a period of 10 minutes of flight prior to crashing upon the Moon, to rough-land a seismometer capsule on the Moon, to collect gamma-ray data in flight, to study radar...
– 23 April 1962 – Lunar impact (but unintentionally hit lunar farside and returned no data) Sputnik 19
Sputnik 19
Venera 2MV-1 No.1, also known as Sputnik 19 in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was launched in 1962 as part of the Venera programme, and was intended to become the first spacecraft to land on Venus. Due to a problem with its upper stage it failed to leave low Earth orbit, and reentered the...
– 25 August 1962 – Attempted Venus lander (failed to escape Earth orbit) Mariner 2
Mariner 2
Mariner 2 , an American space probe to Venus, was the first space probe to conduct a successful planetary encounter . The first successful spacecraft in the NASA Mariner program, it was a simplified version of the Block I spacecraft of the Ranger program and an exact copy of Mariner 1...
– 27 August 1962 – First successful planetary encounter, First successful Venus flyby Sputnik 20
Sputnik 20
Venera 2MV-1 No.2, also known as Sputnik 20 in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was launched in 1962 as part of the Venera programme, and was intended to become the first spacecraft to land on Venus. Due to a problem with its upper stage it failed to leave low Earth orbit, and reentered the...
– 1 September 1962 – Attempted Venus lander (failed to escape Earth orbit) Sputnik 21
Sputnik 21
Venera 2MV-2 No.1, also known as Sputnik 21 in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was launched in 1962 as part of the Venera programme, and was intended to make a flyby of Venus. Due to a problem with the rocket which launched it, it failed to leave low Earth orbit, and reentered the...
– 12 September 1962 – Attempted Venus flyby (exploded) Ranger 5
Ranger 5
Ranger 5 was a spacecraft of the Ranger program designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface to Earth stations during a period of 10 minutes of flight prior to impacting on the Moon, to rough-land a seismometer capsule on the Moon, to collect gamma-ray data in flight, to study radar...
– 18 October 1962 – Attempted lunar impact (missed Moon) Sputnik 22
Sputnik 22
Mars 2MV-4 No.1 also known as Sputnik 22 in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was launched in 1962 as part of the Mars programme, and was intended to make a flyby of Mars, and transmit images of the planet back to Earth. Due to a problem with the rocket which launched it, it was destroyed in...
– 24 October 1962 – Attempted Mars flyby (exploded) Mars 1
Mars 1
Mars 1, also known as 1962 Beta Nu 1, Mars 2MV-4 and Sputnik 23, was an automatic interplanetary station launched in the direction of Mars on November 1, 1962, the first of the Soviet Mars probe program, with the intent of flying by the planet at a distance of about 11,000 km...
– 1 November 1962 – Mars flyby (contact lost) Sputnik 24
Sputnik 24
Mars 2MV-3 No.1 also known as Sputnik 24 in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was launched in 1962 as part of the Mars programme, and was intended to land on the surface of Mars. Due to a problem with the rocket which launched it, it did not depart low Earth orbit, and it decayed several...
– 4 November 1962 – Attempted Mars lander (broke up)
1963 Sputnik 25
Sputnik 25
Luna E-6 No.2, also identified as No.1, and sometimes known in the West as Sputnik 25, was a Soviet spacecraft which launched in 1963, but was placed into a useless orbit due to a problem with the upper stage of the rocket that launched it...
– 4 January 1963 – Attempted lunar lander (failed to escape Earth orbit) Luna 4
Luna 4
Luna 4 was the USSR's first successful spacecraft of their "second generation" Luna program. The spacecraft, rather than being sent on a straight trajectory toward the Moon, was placed first in a low Earth orbit and then the rocket stage reignited to send it on a curving path towards the...
– 2 April 1963 – Attempted lunar lander (missed Moon) Cosmos 21
Cosmos 21
Kosmos 21 was a Soviet spacecraft with an unknown mission. This mission has been tentatively identified by NASA as a technology test of the Venera series space probes. It may have been an attempted Venus flyby, presumably similar to the later Kosmos 27 mission, or it may have been intended from...
– 11 November 1963 – Attempted Venera test flight?
1964 Ranger 6
Ranger 6
Ranger 6 was designed to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact. The spacecraft carried six television vidicon cameras, 2 wide angle and 4 narrow angle to accomplish these objectives...
– 30 January 1964 – Lunar impact (cameras failed) Cosmos 27
Cosmos 27
Kosmos 27 was a space mission intended as a Venus flyby. The SL-6/A-2-e launcher successfully achieved Earth orbit, but the spacecraft failed to escape orbit for its flight to Venus....
– 27 March 1964 – Attempted Venus flyby (failed to escape Earth orbit) Zond 1
Zond 1
Zond 1 was a member of the Soviet Zond program. It was the second Soviet research spacecraft to successfully reach Venus, although communications had failed by that time...
– 2 April 1964 – Venus flyby (contact lost) Ranger 7
Ranger 7
Ranger 7 was the first US space probe to successfully transmit close images of the lunar surface back to Earth. It was also the first completely successful flight of the Ranger program. Launched on 28 July 1964, Ranger 7 was designed to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and to transmit...
– 28 July 1964 – Lunar impact Mariner 3
Mariner 3
Mariner 3 and 4 were identical spacecraft of the Mariner program designed to carry out the first flybys of Mars and obtain photographs of the planet's surface. Mariner 3 was launched on November 5, 1964 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 13, but the shroud encasing the spacecraft...
– 5 November 1964 – Attempted Mars flyby (failed to attain correct trajectory) Mariner 4
Mariner 4
Mariner 4 was the fourth in a series of spacecraft, launched on November 28, 1964, intended for planetary exploration in a flyby mode and performed the first successful flyby of the planet Mars, returning the first pictures of the Martian surface...
– 28 November 1964 – First Mars flyby Zond 2
Zond 2
Zond 2, a member of the Soviet Zond program, was the fifth Soviet spacecraft to attempt a flyby of Mars. Zond-2 carried a phototelevision camera of the same type later used to photograph the Moon on Zond 3. The camera system also included two ultraviolet spectrometers...
– 30 November 1964 – Mars flyby (contact lost)
1965 Ranger 8
Ranger 8
Ranger 8 was a spacecraft designed to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact. The spacecraft carried six television vidicon cameras, two wide angle and four narrow angle to accomplish these...
– 17 February 1965 – Lunar impact Cosmos 60
Cosmos 60
Kosmos 60 was an E-6 series probe, launched by the Soviet Union on March 12, 1965. It was the sixth attempt at a lunar soft-landing mission, with a design similar to that of Luna 4...
– 12 March 1965 – Attempted lunar lander (failed to escape Earth orbit) Ranger 9
Ranger 9
Ranger 9 was designed to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact. The spacecraft carried six television vidicon cameras, 2 wide angle and 4 narrow angle to accomplish these objectives...
– 21 March 1965 – Lunar impact Luna 5
Luna 5
Luna 5 was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 5. It was designed to continue investigations of a lunar soft landing. The retrorocket system failed, and the spacecraft impacted the lunar surface at the Sea of Clouds....
– 9 May 1965 – Lunar impact (attempted soft landing) Luna 6
Luna 6
Luna 6 was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 6. Luna 6 was intended to travel to the Moon, but, because a mid-course correction failed, it missed the Moon by 159,612.8 km....
– 8 June 1965 – Attempted lunar lander (missed Moon) Zond 3
Zond 3
Zond 3 was a member of the Soviet Zond program sharing designation Zond, while being part of Mars 3MV project. It was unrelated to Zond spacecraft designed for manned circumlunar mission . Zond 3 completed a successful Lunar flyby, taking a number of good quality photographs for its time...
– 18 July 1965 – Lunar flyby Luna 7
Luna 7
Luna 7 was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Luna program, also called Lunik 7. The Luna 7 spacecraft was intended to achieve a soft landing on the Moon...
– 4 October 1965 – Lunar impact (attempted soft landing) Venera 2
Venera 2
Venera 2 was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus.*Launch Date/Time: 1965 November 12 at 05:02:00 UTC*On-orbit Dry Mass: 963 kg...
– 12 November 1965 – Venus flyby (contact lost) Venera 3
Venera 3
Venera 3 was a Venera program space probe that was built and launched by the Soviet Union to explore the surface of Venus. It was launched on November 16, 1965 at 04:19 UTC from Baikonur, Kazakhstan....
– 16 November 1965 – Venus lander (contact lost) – First spacecraft to reach another planet's surface, First Venus impact Cosmos 96 – 23 November 1965 – Attempted Venus lander (stayed in Earth orbit due to launch failure) Luna 8
Luna 8
Luna 8 , also known as Lunik 8, was a lunar space probe of the Luna program. It was launched with the objective of achieving a soft landing on the Moon. However, its retrorocket firing occurred too late, and suffered a hard impact on the lunar surface on the Oceanus Procellarum...
– 3 December 1965 – Lunar impact (attempted soft landing?) Pioneer 6 – 16 December 1965 – "Space weather" observations
1966 Luna 9
Luna 9
Luna 9 was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna program. On February 3, 1966 the Luna 9 spacecraft was the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on any planetary body other than Earth and to transmit photographic data to Earth.The automatic lunar station that achieved the...
– 31 January 1966 – First lunar lander Cosmos 111
Cosmos 111
Kosmos 111 was the first Soviet attempt to orbit a spacecraft around the Moon. The design was probably similar to the later successful Luna 10 spacecraft. It was launched on March 1, 1966. The mission was a failure. The Blok-L upper stage lost roll control and failed to send the spacecraft on a...
– 1 March 1966 – Attempted lunar orbiter? (failed to escape Earth orbit) Luna 10
Luna 10
Luna 10 was a Luna program, robotic spacecraft mission, also called Lunik 10.The Luna 10 spacecraft was launched towards the Moon from an Earth orbiting platform on March 31, 1966. It was the first artificial satellite of the Moon...
– 31 March 1966 – First lunar orbiter Surveyor 1
Surveyor 1
Surveyor 1 was the first lunar soft-lander in the unmanned Surveyor program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration . This lunar soft-lander gathered data about the lunar surface that would be needed for the manned Apollo Moon landings that began in 1969...
– 30 May 1966 – Lunar lander Explorer 33
Explorer 33
Explorer 33 was a spacecraft launched by NASA on July 1, 1966 on a mission of scientific exploration. Originally intended for a lunar orbit, mission controllers worried that the spacecraft's trajectory was too fast to guarantee lunar capture...
– 1 July 1966 – Attempted lunar orbiter (failed to attain lunar orbit) Lunar Orbiter 1
Lunar Orbiter 1
The Lunar Orbiter 1 robotic spacecraft, part of the Lunar Orbiter Program, was designed primarily to photograph smooth areas of the lunar surface for selection and verification of safe landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo missions...
– 10 August 1966 – Lunar orbiter Pioneer 7 – 17 August 1966 – "Space weather" observations Luna 11
Luna 11
Luna 11 was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna program. It is also called Lunik 11.Luna 11 was launched towards the Moon from an earth-orbiting platform and entered lunar orbit on 27 August 1966...
– 24 August 1966 – Lunar orbiter Surveyor 2
Surveyor 2
Surveyor 2 was to be the second lunar lander in the unmanned American Surveyor program to explore the Moon.It was launched September 20, 1966 from Cape Kennedy, Florida aboard an Atlas-Centaur rocket....
– 20 September 1966 – Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon) Luna 12
Luna 12
-External links:*...
– 22 October 1966 – Lunar orbiter Lunar Orbiter 2
Lunar Orbiter 2
The Lunar Orbiter 2 spacecraft was designed primarily to photograph smooth areas of the lunar surface for selection and verification of safe landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo missions...
– 6 November 1966 – Lunar orbiter Luna 13
Luna 13
-External links:* *...
– 21 December 1966 – Lunar lander
1967 Lunar Orbiter 3
Lunar Orbiter 3
The Lunar Orbiter 3 was a spacecraft launched by NASA in 1967, designed primarily to photograph areas of the lunar surface for confirmation of safe landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo missions...
– 4 February 1967 – Lunar orbiter Surveyor 3
Surveyor 3
Surveyor 3 was the third lander of the American unmanned Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon. Launched on April 17, 1967, Surveyor 3 landed on April 20, 1967 at the Mare Cognitum portion of the Oceanus Procellarum...
– 17 April 1967 – Lunar lander Lunar Orbiter 4
Lunar Orbiter 4
Lunar Orbiter 4 was designed to take advantage of the fact that the three previous Lunar Orbiters had completed the required needs for Apollo mapping and site selection...
– 8 May 1967 – Lunar orbiter Venera 4
Venera 4
Venera 4 ) was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus. Venera-4 was the first successful probe to perform in-place analysis of the environment of another planet. It was also the first probe to land on another planet...
– 12 June 1967 – First Venus atmospheric probe Mariner 5
Mariner 5
Mariner 5 was a spacecraft of the Mariner program that carried a complement of experiments to probe Venus' atmosphere by radio occultation, measure the hydrogen Lyman-alpha spectrum, and sample the solar particles and magnetic field fluctuations above the planet...
– 14 June 1967 – Venus flyby Cosmos 167 – 17 June 1967 – Attempted Venus probe (failed to escape Earth orbit) Surveyor 4
Surveyor 4
Surveyor 4 was the fourth lunar lander in the American unmanned Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon.*Launched July 14, 1967; landed July 17, 1967*Weight on landing: 625 lb...
– 14 July 1967 – Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon) Explorer 35 (IMP-E)
Explorer 35
Explorer 35 was a spin-stabilized spacecraft instrumented for interplanetary studies, at lunar distances, of the interplanetary plasma, magnetic field, energetic particles, and solar X rays. It was launched into an elliptical lunar orbit. The spin axis direction was nearly perpendicular to the...
– 19 July 1967 – Lunar orbiter Lunar Orbiter 5
Lunar Orbiter 5
Lunar Orbiter 5, the last of the Lunar Orbiter series, was designed to take additional Apollo and Surveyor landing site photography and to take broad survey images of unphotographed parts of the Moon's far side...
– 1 August 1967 – Lunar orbiter Surveyor 5
Surveyor 5
Surveyor 5 was the fifth lunar lander of the American unmanned Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon.*Launched September 8, 1967; landed September 11, 1967*Weight on landing: 303 kg...
– 8 September 1967 – Lunar lander Surveyor 6
Surveyor 6
Surveyor 6 was the sixth lunar lander of the American unmanned Surveyor program that reached the surface of the Moon.*Launched November 7, 1967; landed November 10, 1967*Mass on landing: 299.6 kg Surveyor 6 landed on the Sinus Medii...
– 7 November 1967 – Lunar lander Pioneer 8 – 13 December 1967 – "Space weather" observations
1968 Surveyor 7
Surveyor 7
Surveyor 7 was the seventh and last lunar lander of the American unmanned Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon.*Launched January 7, 1968; landed January 10, 1968*Weight on landing: 305.7 kg...
– 7 January 1968 – Lunar lander Zond 4
Zond 4
Zond 4, a formal component of the Soviet Zond program and unmanned version of Soyuz 7K-L1 manned Moon-flyby spacecraft, was one of the first Soviet experiments towards manned circumlunar spaceflight. It was launched to test the spaceworthiness of the new capsule and to gather data about flights in...
– 2 March 1968 – Lunar programme test flight Luna 14
Luna 14
-External links:*...
– 7 April 1968 – Lunar orbiter Zond 5
Zond 5
Zond 5, a formal member of the Soviet Zond program and unmanned version of Soyuz 7K-L1 manned moon-flyby spacecraft, was launched from a Tyazheliy Sputnik in Earth parking orbit to make scientific studies during a lunar flyby and to return to Earth....
– 15 September 1968 – First lunar flyby and return to Earth Pioneer 9 – 8 November 1968 – "Space weather" observations Zond 6
Zond 6
Zond 6, a formal member of the Soviet Zond program and unmanned version of Soyuz 7K-L1 manned moon-flyby spacecraft, was launched on a lunar flyby mission from a parent satellite in Earth parking orbit...
– 10 November 1968 – Lunar flyby and return to Earth Apollo 8
Apollo 8
Apollo 8, the second manned mission in the American Apollo space program, was the first human spaceflight to leave Earth orbit; the first to be captured by and escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body; and the first crewed voyage to return to Earth from another celestial...
– 21 December 1968 – First manned lunar orbiter
1969 Venera 5
Venera 5
Venera 5 was a probe in the Soviet space program Venera for the exploration of Venus.Venera 5 was launched from a Tyazheliy Sputnik towards Venus to obtain atmospheric data...
– 5 January 1969 – Venus atmospheric probe Venera 6
Venera 6
Venera 6 was a Soviet spacecraft, launched from a Tyazheliy Sputnik on January 10, 1969 towards Venus to obtain atmospheric data. It had an on-orbit dry mass of 1130 kg....
– 10 January 1969 – Venus atmospheric probe Mariner 6 – 25 February 1969 – Mars flyby Apollo 9
Apollo 9
Apollo 9, the third manned mission in the American Apollo space program, was the first flight of the Command/Service Module with the Lunar Module...
– 3 March 1969 – Manned lunar lander (LEM) flight test Mariner 7 – 27 March 1969 – Mars flyby Apollo 10
Apollo 10
Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the American Apollo space program. It was an F type mission—its purpose was to be a "dry run" for the Apollo 11 mission, testing all of the procedures and components of a Moon landing without actually landing on the Moon itself. The mission included the...
– 18 May 1969 – Manned lunar orbiter Luna 15
Luna 15
-External links:*...
– 13 July 1969 – Lunar orbiter (attempted lunar lander?) Apollo 11
Apollo 11
In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...
– 16 July 1969 – First manned lunar landing Zond 7
Zond 7
This article was originally based on material from ...
– 7 August 1969 – Lunar flyby and return to Earth Cosmos 300
Cosmos 300
Kosmos 300 was the fourth Soviet attempt at an unmanned lunar sample return. It was probably similar in design to the later Luna 16 spacecraft. It was launched, on a Proton rocket, on September 23, 1969. The mission was a failure. The engines on the Block D upper stage failed, leaving the...
– 23 September 1969 – Attempted lunar sample return? (failed to escape Earth orbit)Cosmos 305
Cosmos 305
Kosmos 305 was the fifth Soviet attempt at an unmanned lunar sample return. It was probably similar in design to the Luna 16 spacecraft. It was launched, on a Proton rocket, on October 22, 1969. The engines on the Block D upper stage failed, terminating the mission. This left the spacecraft...
– 22 October 1969 – Attempted lunar sample return? (failed to escape Earth orbit) Apollo 12
Apollo 12
Apollo 12 was the sixth manned flight in the American Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon . It was launched on November 14, 1969 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, four months after Apollo 11. Mission commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L...
– 14 November 1969 – Manned lunar landing
1970s
Apollo 13
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:13 CST. The landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the service module upon which the Command...
– 11 April 1970 – Manned lunar flyby and return to Earth (manned lunar landing aborted) Venera 7
Venera 7
The Venera 7 was a Soviet spacecraft, part of the Venera series of probes to Venus. When it landed on the Venusian surface, it became the first man-made spacecraft to successfully land on another planet and to transmit data from there back to Earth.*Launch date/time: 1970 August 17 at 05:38...
– 17 August 1970 – First Venus lander Cosmos 359 – 22 August 1970 – Attempted Venus probe (failed to escape Earth orbit) Luna 16
Luna 16
-External links:*...
– 12 September 1970 – First robotic lunar sample return Zond 8 – 20 October 1970 – Lunar flyby and return to Earth Luna 17/Lunokhod 1
Luna 17
-External links:*...
– 10 November 1970 – First lunar rover
1971 Apollo 14
Apollo 14
Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission in the American Apollo program, and the third to land on the Moon. It was the last of the "H missions", targeted landings with two-day stays on the Moon with two lunar EVAs, or moonwalks....
– 31 January 1971 – Manned lunar landing Salyut 1
Salyut 1
Salyut 1 was the first space station of any kind, launched by the USSR on April 19, 1971. It was launched unmanned using a Proton-K rocket. Its first crew came later in Soyuz 10, but was unable to dock completely; its second crew launched in Soyuz 11 and remained on board for 23 days...
– 19 April 1971 – First space station Cosmos 419
Cosmos 419
Kosmos 419 was launched by the Soviet Union on May 10, 1971. Mars was at its closest to Earth since 1956 and, in May that year, both the Soviet Union and the United States made new attempts to reach the Red Planet. The payload however failed to separate from the fourth stage of the launch vehicle,...
– 10 May 1971 – Attempted Mars orbiter (failed to escape Earth orbit) Mariner 9
Mariner 9
Mariner 9 was a NASA space orbiter that helped in the exploration of Mars and was part of the Mariner program. Mariner 9 was launched toward Mars on May 30, 1971 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and reached the planet on November 13 of the same year, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit...
– 30 May 1971 – First Mars orbiter Mars 2
Mars 2
The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s.The Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions consisted of identical spacecraft, each with an orbiter and an attached lander; they were the first human artifacts to impact the surface of Mars...
– 19 May 1971 – Mars orbiter and attempted lander; First Mars impact Mars 3
Mars 3
The Mars 3 was an unmanned space probe of the Mars program, a series of unmanned Mars landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s....
– 28 May 1971 – Mars orbiter, First Mars lander (lost contact after 14.5s) and First Mars atmospheric probe Apollo 15
Apollo 15
Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the American Apollo space program, the fourth to land on the Moon and the eighth successful manned mission. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous...
– 26 July 1971 – Manned lunar landing; First manned lunar rover Luna 18
Luna 18
Luna 18 was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 18.Luna 18 was placed in an earth parking orbit after it was launched and was then sent towards the Moon. On September 7, 1971, it entered lunar orbit. The spacecraft completed 85 communications sessions and 54 lunar...
– 2 September 1971 – Attempted lunar sample return (crashed into Moon) Luna 19
Luna 19
Luna 19 , was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program. Luna 19 extended the systematic study of lunar gravitational fields and location of mascons . It also studied the lunar radiation environment, the gamma-active lunar surface, and the solar wind...
– 28 September 1971 – Lunar orbiter
1972 Luna 20
Luna 20
Luna 20 was the second of three successful Soviet lunar sample return missions. It was flown as part of the Luna program, also called Lunik 20, as a robotic competitor to the six successful Apollo lunar sample return missions....
– 14 February 1972 – Lunar robotic sample return Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10 is a 258-kilogram robotic space probe that completed the first interplanetary mission to Jupiter, and became the first spacecraft to achieve escape velocity from the Solar System. The project was managed by the NASA Ames Research Center and the contract for the construction of the...
– 3 March 1972 – First Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
flyby Venera 8
Venera 8
Venera 8 was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus.Venera 8 was a Venus atmospheric probe and lander. Its instrumentation included temperature, pressure, and light sensors as well as an altimeter, gamma ray spectrometer, gas analyzer, and radio transmitters...
– 27 March 1972 – Venus lander Cosmos 482
Cosmos 482
Kosmos 482 , launched March 31, 1972 at 04:02:33 UTC, was an attempted Venus probe which failed to escape low Earth orbit.Beginning in 1962, the name Kosmos was given to Soviet spacecraft which remained in Earth orbit, regardless of whether that was their intended final destination...
– 31 March 1972 – Attempted Venus probe (failed to escape Earth orbit) Apollo 16
Apollo 16
Young and Duke served as the backup crew for Apollo 13; Mattingly was slated to be the Apollo 13 command module pilot until being pulled from the mission due to his exposure to rubella through Duke.-Backup crew:...
– 16 April 1972 – Manned lunar landing Apollo 17
Apollo 17
Apollo 17 was the eleventh and final manned mission in the American Apollo space program. Launched at 12:33 a.m. EST on December 7, 1972, with a three-member crew consisting of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 remains the...
– 7 December 1972 – Last manned lunar landing
1973 Luna 21/Lunokhod 2
Luna 21
-External links:*...
– 8 January 1973 – Lunar rover Pioneer 11
Pioneer 11
Pioneer 11 is a 259-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on April 6, 1973 to study the asteroid belt, the environment around Jupiter and Saturn, solar wind, cosmic rays, and eventually the far reaches of the solar system and heliosphere...
– 5 April 1973 – Jupiter flyby and First Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
flyby Skylab
Skylab
Skylab was a space station launched and operated by NASA, the space agency of the United States. Skylab orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a mass of...
– 14 May 1973 – First American space station Explorer 49 (RAE-B)
Explorer 49
Explorer 49 was a 328 kilogram satellite launched on June 10, 1973 for longwave radio astronomy research. It had four 230-meter long X-shaped antenna elements, which made it one of the largest spacecraft ever built....
– 10 June 1973 – Lunar orbiter/radio astronomy Mars 4 – 21 July 1973 – Mars flyby (attempted Mars orbiter) Mars 5 – 25 July 1973 – Mars orbiter Mars 6 – 5 August 1973 – Mars orbiter and attempted lander (failed due to damage on Mars landing) Mars 7 – 9 August 1973 – Mars flyby and attempted lander (missed Mars) Mariner 10
Mariner 10
Mariner 10 was an American robotic space probe launched by NASA on November 3, 1973, to fly by the planets Mercury and Venus. It was launched approximately two years after Mariner 9 and was the last spacecraft in the Mariner program...
– 4 November 1973 – Venus flyby and First Mercury flyby
1974 Luna 22
Luna 22
Luna 22 was an unmanned space mission, part of the Soviet Luna program, also called Lunik 22.Luna 22 was a lunar orbiter mission...
– 2 June 1974 – Lunar orbiter Luna 23
Luna 23
Luna 23 was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 23.Luna 23 was a Moon lander mission which was intended to return a lunar sample to Earth. Launched to the Moon by a Proton SL-12/D-1-e booster, the spacecraft was damaged during landing in Mare Crisium...
– 28 October 1974 – Attempted lunar sample return (failed due to damage on lunar landing)
Helios-AHelios probes
Helios-A and Helios-B , were a pair of probes launched into heliocentric orbit for the purpose of studying solar processes. A joint venture of the Federal Republic of Germany and NASA, the probes were launched from the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Dec. 10, 1974,...
– 10 December 1974 – Solar observations
1975 Venera 9
Venera 9
Venera 9 was a USSR unmanned space mission to Venus. It consisted of an orbiter and a lander. It was launched on June 8, 1975 02:38:00 UTC and weighed 4,936 kg...
– 8 June 1975 – First Venus orbiter and lander; First images from surface of Venus Venera 10
Venera 10
Venera 10 was a USSR unmanned space mission to Venus. It consisted of an orbiter and a lander. It launched on June 14, 1975 03:00:31 UTC.-Orbiter:The orbiter entered Venus orbit on October 23, 1975...
– 14 June 1975 – Venus orbiter and lander Viking 1
Viking 1
Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program. It was the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars and perform its mission, and until May 19, 2010 held the record for the second longest Mars surface mission of 6 years and 116 days .- Mission :Following...
– 20 August 1975 – Mars orbiter and lander; First lander returning data and First pictures from Martian surface Viking 2
Viking 2
The Viking 2 mission was part of the American Viking program to Mars, and consisted of an orbiter and a lander essentially identical to that of the Viking 1 mission. The Viking 2 lander operated on the surface for 1,281 Mars days and was turned off on 11 April 1980 when its batteries failed...
– 9 September 1975 – Mars orbiter and lander
1976
Helios-BHelios probes
Helios-A and Helios-B , were a pair of probes launched into heliocentric orbit for the purpose of studying solar processes. A joint venture of the Federal Republic of Germany and NASA, the probes were launched from the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Dec. 10, 1974,...
– 15 January 1976 – Solar observations, Closest solar approach (0.29 AU) Luna 24
Luna 24
-External links:*...
– 9 August 1976 – Lunar robotic sample return
1977
- Voyager 2Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
– 20 August 1977 – Jupiter/Saturn/first UranusUranusUranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
/first NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
flyby - Voyager 1Voyager 1The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA in 1977, to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space. Operating for as of today , the spacecraft receives routine commands and transmits data back to the Deep Space Network. At a distance of as of...
– 5 September 1977 – Jupiter/Saturn flyby, Furthest human-made object – currently (2011) over 117 AUAstronomical unitAn astronomical unit is a unit of length equal to about or approximately the mean Earth–Sun distance....
1978 Pioneer Venus 1 – 20 May 1978 – Venus orbiter Pioneer Venus 2 – 8 August 1978 – Venus atmospheric probes
ISEE-3 – 12 August 1978 – Solar wind investigations; later redesignated International Cometary ExplorerInternational Cometary Explorer
The International Cometary Explorer spacecraft was originally known as International Sun/Earth Explorer 3 satellite, launched August 12, 1978. It was part of the ISEE international cooperative program between NASA and ESRO/ESA to study the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the...
and performed Comet Giacobini-Zinner and Comet Halley
Comet Halley
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley is the best-known of the short-period comets, and is visible from Earth every 75 to 76 years. Halley is the only short-period comet that is clearly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the only naked-eye comet that might appear twice in a human lifetime...
flybys – First comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
flyby Venera 11
Venera 11
The Venera 11 was a USSR unmanned space mission part of the Venera program to explore the planet Venus. Venera 11 was launched on 9 September 1978 at 3:25:39 UTC....
– 9 September 1978 – Venus flyby and lander Venera 12
Venera 12
The Venera 12 was an USSR unmanned space mission to explore the planet Venus. Venera 12 was launched on 14 September 1978 at 02:25:13 UTC. Separating from its flight platform on December 19, 1978, the lander entered the Venus atmosphere two days later at 11.2 km/s. During the descent, it...
– 14 September 1978 – Venus flyby and lander
1980s
Venera 13
Venera 13 was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus.Venera 13 and 14 were identical spacecraft built to take advantage of the 1981 Venus launch opportunity and launched 5 days apart, Venera 13 on 1981-10-30 at 06:04:00 UTC and Venera 14 on 1981-11-04 at 05:31:00 UTC,...
– 30 October 1981 – Venus flyby and lander Venera 14
Venera 14
Venera 14 was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus.Venera 14 was identical to the Venera 13 spacecraft and built to take advantage of the 1981 Venus launch opportunity and launched 5 days apart...
– 4 November 1981 – Venus flyby and lander
1983 Venera 15
Venera 15
Venera 15 was a spacecraft sent to Venus by the Soviet Union. This unmanned orbiter was to map the surface of Venus using high resolution imaging systems...
– 2 June 1983 – Venus orbiter Venera 16
Venera 16
Venera 16 was a spacecraft sent to Venus by the Soviet Union. This unmanned orbiter was to map the surface of Venus using high resolution imaging systems...
– 7 June 1983 – Venus orbiter
1984 Vega 1
Vega 1
Vega 1 is a Soviet space probe part of the Vega program. The spacecraft was a development of the earlier Venera craft...
– 15 December 1984 – Venus flyby, lander and balloon; continued on to Comet Halley flyby Vega 2
Vega 2
Vega 2 is a Soviet space probe part of the Vega program. The spacecraft was a development of the earlier Venera craft. They were designed by Babakin Space Center and constructed as 5VK by Lavochkin at Khimki...
– 21 December 1984 – Venus flyby, lander and balloon; continued on to Comet Halley flyby
1985
Sakigake
Sakigake , pre-launch codename MS-T5, was Japan's first interplanetary spacecraft, and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the USA or the Soviet Union...
– 7 January 1985 – Comet Halley flyby Giotto – 2 July 1985 – Comet Halley flyby Suisei (Planet-A) – 18 August 1985 – Comet Halley flyby
1988 Phobos 1 – 7 July 1988 – Attempted Mars orbiter/Phobos landers (contact lost) Phobos 2 – 12 July 1988 – Mars orbiter/attempted Phobos landers (contact lost)
1989 Magellan – 4 May 1989 – Venus orbiter Galileo – 18 October 1989 – Venus flyby, first Asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
flyby, first Asteroid moon
Asteroid moon
A minor planet moon is an astronomical body that orbits a minor planet as its natural satellite. It is thought that many asteroids and Kuiper belt objects may possess moons, in some cases quite substantial in size...
discovery, first Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
orbiter/atmospheric probe
1990s
1990Hiten
The Hiten Spacecraft , given the English name Celestial Maiden and known before launch as MUSES-A , part of the MUSES Program, was built by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of Japan and launched on January 24, 1990...
(Muses-A) – 24 January 1990 – Lunar flyby and orbiter
- Hubble Space TelescopeHubble Space TelescopeThe Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
– Orbital space telescope Ulysses – 6 October 1990 – Solar polar orbiter
1991
YohkohYohkoh
Yohkoh , known before launch as Solar-A, was a Solar observatory spacecraft of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science with United States and United Kingdom collaboration...
(Solar-A) – 30 August 1991 – Solar observations
1992 Mars Observer
Mars Observer
The Mars Observer spacecraft, also known as the Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter, was a 1,018-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on September 25, 1992 to study the Martian surface, atmosphere, climate and magnetic field...
– 25 September 1992 – Attempted Mars orbiter (contact lost)
1994 Clementine
Clementine mission
Clementine was a joint space project between the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and NASA...
– 25 January 1994 – Lunar orbiter/attempted asteroid flyby WIND – 1 November 1994 – Solar wind observations
1995
SOHOSolar and Heliospheric Observatory
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is a spacecraft built by a European industrial consortium led by Matra Marconi Space that was launched on a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS launch vehicle on December 2, 1995 to study the Sun, and has discovered over 2100 comets. It began normal operations in May...
– 2 December 1995 – Solar observatory
1996 NEAR Shoemaker
NEAR Shoemaker
The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous - Shoemaker , renamed after its 1996 launch in honor of planetary scientist Eugene M. Shoemaker, was a robotic space probe designed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for NASA to study the near-Earth asteroid Eros from close orbit over a...
– 17 February 1996 – Eros orbiter, first near-Earth asteroid flyby, first asteroid orbit and first asteroid landing Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Global Surveyor
The Mars Global Surveyor was a US spacecraft developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. It began the United States's return to Mars after a 10-year absence. It completed its primary mission in January 2001 and was in its third extended mission phase when, on 2...
– 7 November 1996 – Mars orbiter Mars 96
Mars 96
Mars 96 was a failed Mars mission launched in 1996 to investigate Mars by the Russian Space Forces and not directly related to the Soviet Mars probe program of the same name. After failure of the second fourth-stage burn, the probe assembly re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, breaking up over a...
– 16 November 1996 – Attempted Mars orbiter/landers (failed to escape Earth orbit) Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder was an American spacecraft that landed a base station with roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight wheeled robotic rover named Sojourner.Launched on December 4, 1996 by NASA aboard a Delta II booster a...
– 4 December 1996 – Mars lander and first planetary rover
1997
Advanced Composition Explorer
Advanced Composition Explorer is a NASA space exploration mission being conducted as part of the Explorer program to study matter in situ, comprising energetic particles from the solar wind, the interplanetary medium, and other sources. Real-time data from ACE is used by the Space Weather...
– 25 August 1997 – Solar wind and "space weather" observations
- Cassini–Huygens – 15 October 1997 – First Saturn orbiter and first outer planet lander AsiaSat 3/HGS-1HGS-1PAS-22, previously known as AsiaSat 3 and then HGS-1, was a geosynchronous communications satellite which was salvaged from an unusable geosynchronous transfer orbit by means of the Moon's gravity....
– 24 December 1997 – Lunar flyby
1998 Lunar Prospector
Lunar Prospector
The Lunar Prospector mission was the third selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program. At a cost of $62.8 million, the 19-month mission was designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon, including mapping of surface composition and possible...
– 7 January 1998 – Lunar orbiter Nozomi (probe) (also known as Planet-B) – 3 July 1998 – Attempted Mars orbiter (failed to enter Mars orbit) Deep Space 1 (DS1) – 24 October 1998 – Asteroid and comet flyby
– 20 November 1998 – International Space StationInternational Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
Mars Climate Orbiter
Mars Climate Orbiter
The Mars Climate Orbiter was a 338 kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on December 11, 1998 to study the Martian climate, atmosphere, surface changes and to act as the communications relay in the Mars Surveyor '98 program, for Mars Polar Lander...
– 11 December 1998 – Attempted Mars orbiter (orbit insertion failed)
1999 Mars Polar Lander
Mars Polar Lander
The Mars Polar Lander, also referred to as the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander, was a 290-kilogram robotic spacecraft lander, launched by NASA on January 3, 1999, to study the soil and climate of Planum Australe, a region near the south pole on Mars, as part of the Mars Surveyor '98 mission...
/Deep Space 2 (DS2) – 3 January 1999 – Attempted Mars lander/penetrators (contact lost) Stardust
Stardust (spacecraft)
Stardust is a 300-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on February 7, 1999 to study the asteroid 5535 Annefrank and collect samples from the coma of comet Wild 2. The primary mission was completed January 15, 2006, when the sample return capsule returned to Earth...
– 7 February 1999 – First comet coma sample return – returned January 15, 2006
2000s
- 2001 Mars Odyssey2001 Mars Odyssey2001 Mars Odyssey is a robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. The project was developed by NASA, and contracted out to Lockheed Martin, with an expected cost for the entire mission of US$297 million. Its mission is to use spectrometers and electronic imagers to hunt for evidence of past or...
– 7 April 2001 – Mars orbiter GenesisGenesis (spacecraft)The Genesis spacecraft was a NASA sample return probe which collected a sample of solar wind and returned it to Earth for analysis. It was the first NASA sample return mission to return material since the Apollo Program, and the first to return material from beyond the orbit of the Moon...
– 8 August 2001 – First solar wind sample return
2002 CONTOUR
CONTOUR
The COmet Nucleus TOUR was a NASA Discovery-class space probe that failed shortly after its July 2002 launch. It had as its primary objective close flybys of two comet nuclei with the possibility of a flyby of a third known comet or an as-yet-undiscovered comet.The two comets scheduled to be...
– 3 July 2002 – Attempted flyby of three comet nuclei (lost in space)
2003 Hayabusa
Hayabusa
was an unmanned spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis....
(Muses-C) – 9 May 2003 – Asteroid lander and First sample return from asteroid Mars Exploration Rovers – 10 June/7 July 2003 – Two Mars rover
Mars Rover
A Mars rover is an automated motor vehicle which propels itself across the surface of the planet Mars after landing.Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny positions to...
s ("Spirit" and "Opportunity")
- Mars ExpressMars ExpressMars Express is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency . The Mars Express mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally referred to the speed and efficiency with which the spacecraft was...
/Beagle 2Beagle 2Beagle 2 was an unsuccessful British landing spacecraft that formed part of the European Space Agency's 2003 Mars Express mission. All contact with it was lost upon its separation from the Mars Express six days before its scheduled entry into the atmosphere...
– 1 June 2003 – Mars orbiter/lander (lander failure)
SMART-1SMART-1SMART-1 was a Swedish-designed European Space Agency satellite that orbited around the Moon. It was launched on September 27, 2003 at 23:14 UTC from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. "SMART" stands for Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology...
– 27 September 2003 – Lunar orbiter Shenzhou 5Shenzhou 5Shenzhou 5 — was the first human spaceflight mission of the People's Republic of China , launched on October 15, 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous flights of unmanned Shenzhou missions since 1999...
– 15 October 2003 – China's first manned Earth orbiter
2004
- RosettaRosetta (spacecraft)Rosetta is a robotic spacecraft of the European Space Agency on a mission to study the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta consists of two main elements: the Rosetta space probe and the Philae lander. The spacecraft was launched on 2 March 2004 on an Ariane 5 rocket and will reach the comet by...
– 2 March 2004 – Comet orbiter and lander (expected arrival 2014) - MESSENGERMESSENGERThe MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging space probe is a robotic NASA spacecraft in orbit around the planet Mercury. The spacecraft was launched aboard a Delta II rocket in August 2004 to study the chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field of Mercury...
– 3 August 2004 – First Mercury orbiter (achieved orbit 18 March 2011)
2005 Deep Impact – 12 January 2005 – First comet impact
- Mars Reconnaissance OrbiterMars Reconnaissance OrbiterMars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a NASA multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and Exploration of Mars from orbit...
– 12 August 2005 – Mars orbiter - Venus ExpressVenus ExpressVenus Express is the first Venus exploration mission of the European Space Agency. Launched in November 2005, it arrived at Venus in April 2006 and has been continuously sending back science data from its polar orbit around Venus. Equipped with seven science instruments, the main objective of the...
– 9 November 2005 – Venus polar orbiter
2006
- New HorizonsNew HorizonsNew Horizons is a NASA robotic spacecraft mission currently en route to the dwarf planet Pluto. It is expected to be the first spacecraft to fly by and study Pluto and its moons, Charon, Nix, Hydra and S/2011 P 1. Its estimated arrival date at the Pluto-Charon system is July 14th, 2015...
– 19 January 2006 – First PlutoPlutoPluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
/Charon and Kuiper Belt flyby (expected arrival 14 July 2015) - HinodeHinodeHinode , formerly Solar-B, is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Solar mission with United States and United Kingdom collaboration. It is the follow-up to the Yohkoh mission and it was launched on the final flight of the M-V-7 rocket from Uchinoura Space Center, Japan on 22 September 2006 at...
(Solar-B) – 22 September 2006 – Solar orbiter - STEREOSTEREOSTEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
– 26 October 2006 – Two spacecraft, solar orbiters
2007 Phoenix
Phoenix (spacecraft)
Phoenix was a robotic spacecraft on a space exploration mission on Mars under the Mars Scout Program. The Phoenix lander descended on Mars on May 25, 2008...
– 4 August 2007 – Mars polar lander 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...
(Selene) – 14 September 2007 – Lunar orbiters
- Dawn – 27 September 2007 – Asteroid Ceres and Vesta orbiter (entered orbit around Vesta on 16 July 2011) Chang'e 1 – 24 October 2007 – Lunar orbiter
2008 Chandrayaan-1 – 22 October 2008 – Lunar orbiter and impactor – Discovered water on the moon
2009
- Lunar Reconnaissance OrbiterLunar Reconnaissance OrbiterThe 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...
/LCROSSLCROSSThe 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...
– 18 June 2009 – Lunar polar orbiter and lunar impactor
2010s
2010- Solar Dynamics ObservatorySolar Dynamics ObservatoryThe Solar Dynamics Observatory is a NASA mission which will observe the Sun for over five years. Launched on February 11, 2010, the observatory is part of the Living With a Star program...
– 11 February 2010 – Continuous solar monitoring - Akatsuki (Planet-C) – 20 May 2010 – Venus orbiter (orbit insertion failed in 2010 / postponed to 2016–17)
PICARD – 15 June 2010 – Solar orbiter
Chang'e 2Chang'e 2Chang'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...
– 1 October 2010 – Lunar orbiter
2011
- JunoJuno (spacecraft)Juno is a NASA New Frontiers mission to the planet Jupiter. Juno was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 5, 2011. The spacecraft is to be placed in a polar orbit to study the planet's composition, gravity field, magnetic field, and polar magnetosphere...
– 5 August 2011 – Jupiter orbiter - GRAILGravity Recovery and Interior LaboratoryThe 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...
– 10 September 2011 – Two spacecraft, Lunar orbiters - Fobos-Grunt and Yinghuo-1 – 8 November 2011 – Phobos orbiter, lander and sample return (Russia), Mars orbiter (China) - failed to escape Earth orbit
- Mars Science LaboratoryMars Science LaboratoryThe Mars Science Laboratory is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration mission with the aim to land and operate a rover named Curiosity on the surface of Mars. The MSL was launched November 26, 2011, at 10:02 EST and is scheduled to land on Mars at Gale Crater between August 6 and 20, 2012...
(Curiosity Rover) – 26 November 2011 – large Mars Rover (900 kg)
Planned or scheduled
2012 Aditya – Solar observations AstrosatAstrosat
Astrosat is India's first dedicated astronomy satellite and is scheduled to launch on board the PSLV in 2012. After the success of the satellite-borne Indian X-ray Astronomy Experiment , which was launched in 1996, the Indian Space Research Organization has approved further development for a full...
– Space observatory
2013 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...
– 15 January 2013 (scheduled) – Lunar orbiter MAVEN
Maven
A maven is a trusted expert in a particular field, who seeks to pass knowledge on to others. The word maven comes from Hebrew, via Yiddish, and means one who understands, based on an accumulation of knowledge.-History:...
– November/December 2013 – Mars orbiter 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...
– Lunar rover Don Quijote – 2013 or 2015 – Asteroid orbiter, impactor
2014
BepiColomboBepiColombo
BepiColombo is a joint mission of the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to the planet Mercury, due to launch in 2014. The mission is still in the planning stages so changes to the current description are likely over the next few years...
– July–August 2014 – Mercury orbiters Hayabusa 2
Hayabusa 2
Hayabusa 2 is the follow-on mission to the Hayabusa mission as proposed by the Japanese space agency, JAXA. The goal for Hayabusa 2 is to build upon the legacy of the original mission, by strengthening the shown weak points...
– July 2014 – Asteroid lander and sample return
Chandrayaan-2Chandrayaan-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...
and Luna-Glob 2 – Lunar orbiter (India), lander & rover (Russia) Luna-Grunt 1 – Lunar orbiter, lander and rover
2015 Luna-Glob 1 – Lunar orbiter, lander and penetrators Luna-Grunt 2 – Lunar lander and sample return 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 :...
– <2015 – Lunar lander and penetrator
2016
ExoMarsExoMars
ExoMars is a European-led robotic mission to Mars currently under development by the European Space Agency with collaboration by NASA...
– Mars orbiter and lander OSIRIS-REx
OSIRIS-REx
Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer is a planetary science mission, the third selected in the New Frontiers Program. The mission will study and return a sample of a carbonaceous asteroid to Earth for detailed analyses in about 2023...
– Asteroid sample return mission Venera-D
Venera-D
The Venera-D probe is a proposed Russian space probe to Venus, to be launched around 2016. Venera-D's prime purpose is to make remote-sensing observations around the planet Venus in a manner similar to that of the U.S. Magellan spacecraft in the 1990s, but with the use of more powerful radar....
– Venus orbiter ISRO Orbital Vehicle
ISRO Orbital Vehicle
The Indian manned spacecraft temporarily named Orbital Vehicle is intended to be the basis of the indigenous Indian human spaceflight program. The capsule will be designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capability.In its maiden...
– First Indian manned orbiter
2017 SOLO
Solar Orbiter
Solar Orbiter is a planned Sun-observing satellite, under development by the European Space Agency . The main mission scenario is a launch by an Atlas V from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in January 2017...
– January 2017 – Solar Orbiter Chang'e 4 – Robotic lunar sample return mission
2018 Solar Probe Plus – July 30, 2018 – Solar Orbiter, Closest solar approach (0.04 AU) ExoMars
ExoMars
ExoMars is a European-led robotic mission to Mars currently under development by the European Space Agency with collaboration by NASA...
– Mars Rover 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...
– Lunar Lander International Lunar Network
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...
– Lunar lander
2020 MarcoPolo-R
MarcoPolo-R
MarcoPolo-R is a proposed space mission to return a sample of material to Earth from the surface of a Near Earth asteroid for detailed study in laboratories...
– Asteroid sample return mission Manned landing on Moon
Mars sample return missionMars Sample Return Mission
A Mars sample return mission would be a spaceflight mission to collect rock and dust samples from Mars and to return them to Earth for analysis...
Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer
Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer
The Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer is an ESA-led reformulation of the former Europa Jupiter System Mission - Laplace . It is a candidate to become the first L class mission of the ESA Cosmic Vision Programme.-External links:*...
– Mission to explore Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
and its icy moons. Tiangong (Project 921-2) – First Chinese space station Lunnyj Poligon – Russian robotic lunar base
Titan Saturn System MissionTitan Saturn System Mission
Titan Saturn System Mission was a joint NASA/ESA proposal for an exploration of Saturn and its moons Titan and Enceladus, where many complex phenomena have been revealed by the recent Cassini–Huygens mission...
– after 2020 – Exploration of Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
and its moons Titan and Enceladus. Orbiter, lander, ballon.
2025 Manned landing on an Asteroid Manned landing on Moon (2020–30?) Manned lunar mission
See also
- Discovery and exploration of the Solar SystemDiscovery and exploration of the Solar SystemFor many thousands of years, civilizations, with a few notable exceptions, did not recognize the existence of the Solar System. It was believed the Earth to be stationary at the centre of the universe and categorically different from the divine or ethereal objects that moved through the sky...
- List of current and future lunar missions
- New Frontiers programNew Frontiers programThe New Frontiers program is a series of space exploration missions being conducted by NASA with the purpose of researching several of the Sun's planets including Jupiter, Venus, and the dwarf planet Pluto...
- Outer solar system
- Space RaceSpace RaceThe Space Race was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space exploration. Between 1957 and 1975, Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national...
- Timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their moons
- Timeline of first orbital launches by country
- Timeline of space travel by nationality