This is a timeline of Solar System exploration ordering events in the exploration of the Solar System 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 later—in some cases, a considerable time later (for example, Voyager 2, launched 20 August 1977, did not reach Neptune until 1989).
Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Sputnik 1 | 4 October 1957 | First Earth orbiter | [1][2] |
Sputnik 2 | 3 November 1957 | Earth orbiter, first animal in orbit, a dog named Laika | [2][3][4] |
Explorer 1 | 1 February 1958 | Earth orbiter; discovered Van Allen radiation belts | [5] |
Vanguard 1 | 17 March 1958 | Earth orbiter; oldest spacecraft still in Earth orbit | [6] |
Luna 1 | 2 January 1959 | First lunar flyby (attempted lunar impact?); first artificial satellite in heliocentric orbit. | [7][8][9][10] |
Pioneer 4 | 3 March 1959 | Lunar flyby | [11][12] |
Luna 2 | 12 September 1959 | First extraterrestrial impact and lunar impact, First artificial object on Moon | [10][13] |
Luna 3 | 4 October 1959 | Lunar flyby; First images of another celestial body taken from space, most notably, the far side of Moon | [10][14] |
Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Pioneer 5 | 11 March 1960 | Interplanetary space investigations | [15][16] |
Venera 1 | 12 February 1961 | First probe to another planet; Venus flyby (contact lost before flyby) | [17][18][19] |
Vostok 1 | 12 April 1961 | First crewed Earth orbiter (Yuri Gagarin) | [20][21] |
Ranger 1 | 23 August 1961 | Attempted lunar test flight (failed to leave Earth orbit) | [22][23][24] |
Ranger 2 | 18 November 1961 | Attempted lunar test flight (failed to leave Earth orbit) | [24][25][26] |
Ranger 3 | 26 January 1962 | Attempted lunar impact (missed Moon) | [24][27][28] |
Ranger 4 | 23 April 1962 | Lunar impact (but unintentionally became the first spacecraft to hit the lunar farside and returned no data) | [24][29][30][31] |
Mariner 2 | 27 August 1962 | First successful planetary encounter, First successful Venus flyby | [32][33][34] |
Ranger 5 | 18 October 1962 | Attempted lunar impact (missed Moon) | [24][35][36] |
Mars 1 | 1 November 1962 | First probe to Mars: flyby (contact lost) | [37][38] |
Luna 4 | 2 April 1963 | Attempted lunar lander (missed Moon) | [39][40] |
Cosmos 21 | 11 November 1963 | Attempted Venera test flight? | [41] |
Ranger 6 | 30 January 1964 | Lunar impact (cameras failed) | [42][43] |
Zond 1 | 2 April 1964 | Venus flyby (contact lost) | [44][45][46] |
Ranger 7 | 28 July 1964 | Lunar impact (success) | [47][48][49] |
Voskhod 1 | 12 October 1964 | First orbiter with multimember crew | [50][51] |
Mariner 3 | 5 November 1964 | Attempted Mars flyby (failed to attain correct trajectory) | [52][53] |
Mariner 4 | 28 November 1964 | First successful Mars flyby | [54][55] |
Zond 2 | 30 November 1964 | Mars flyby (contact lost) | [46][56][57] |
Ranger 8 | 17 February 1965 | Lunar impact | [58][59] |
Voskhod 2 | 18 March 1965 | First space walk, by Alexei Leonov | [51][60] |
Ranger 9 | 21 March 1965 | Lunar impact | [61][62] |
Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1 | 6 May 1965 | Oldest spacecraft still in use[citation needed] | [63] |
Luna 5 | 9 May 1965 | Lunar impact (attempted soft landing) | [64] |
Luna 6 | 8 June 1965 | Attempted lunar lander (missed Moon) | [65] |
Zond 3 | 18 July 1965 | Lunar flyby | [46][66][67] |
Luna 7 | 4 October 1965 | Lunar impact (attempted soft landing) | [68] |
Venera 2 | 12 November 1965 | Venus flyby (contact lost) | [69][18] |
Venera 3 | 16 November 1965 | Venus lander (contact lost) – First spacecraft to reach another planet's atmosphere and surface, First Venus impact | [70][18] |
Luna 8 | 3 December 1965 | Lunar impact (attempted soft landing?) | [71] |
Pioneer 6 | 16 December 1965 | "Space weather" observations | [72][73][74][75] |
Luna 9 | 31 January 1966 | First extraterrestrial lander and lunar lander | [10][76] |
Luna 10 | 31 March 1966 | First extraterrestrial orbiter and first lunar orbiter | [77] |
Surveyor 1 | 30 May 1966 | Lunar lander | [78][79][80] |
Explorer 33 | 1 July 1966 | Attempted lunar orbiter (failed to attain lunar orbit) | [81][82] |
Lunar Orbiter 1 | 10 August 1966 | Lunar orbiter | [83][84][85] |
Pioneer 7 | 17 August 1966 | "Space weather" observations | [75][86][87] |
Luna 11 | 24 August 1966 | Lunar orbiter | [88] |
Surveyor 2 | 20 September 1966 | Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon) | [89][90] |
Luna 12 | 22 October 1966 | Lunar orbiter | [91] |
Lunar Orbiter 2 | 6 November 1966 | Lunar orbiter | [92][93] |
Luna 13 | 21 December 1966 | Lunar lander | [94] |
Lunar Orbiter 3 | 5 February 1967 | Lunar orbiter | [95][96] |
Surveyor 3 | 17 April 1967 | Lunar lander | [97][98] |
Lunar Orbiter 4 | 4 May 1967 | Lunar orbiter | [99][100] |
Venera 4 | 12 June 1967 | First functioning extraterrestrial atmospheric probe (Venus) | [18][101] |
Mariner 5 | 14 June 1967 | Venus flyby | [102][103] |
Surveyor 4 | 14 July 1967 | Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon) | [104][105] |
Explorer 35 (IMP-E) | 19 July 1967 | Lunar orbiter | [106] |
Lunar Orbiter 5 | 1 August 1967 | Lunar orbiter | [85][107][108] |
Surveyor 5 | 8 September 1967 | Lunar lander | [109][110] |
Surveyor 6 | 7 November 1967 | Lunar lander, first lift-off from an extraterrestrial body | [79][111][112] |
Apollo 4 | 9 November 1967 | Lunar programme test flight in Earth orbit (uncrewed) | [113] |
Pioneer 8 | 13 December 1967 | "Space weather" observations | [75][114][115] |
Surveyor 7 | 7 January 1968 | Lunar lander | [116][117] |
Apollo 5 | 22 January 1968 | Lunar programme test flight in Earth orbit (uncrewed) | [118][119] |
Zond 4 | 2 March 1968 | Lunar programme test flight out of Earth orbit (uncrewed) | [46][120][121][122] |
Luna 14 | 7 April 1968 | Lunar orbiter | [123] |
Zond 5 | 14 September 1968 | First lunar flyby and return to Earth, first life forms to circle the Moon | [46][124][125][126][127] |
Apollo 7 | 11 October 1968 | Lunar programme test flight in Earth orbit (crewed) | [128][129] |
Pioneer 9 | 8 November 1968 | "Space weather" observations | [75][130][131] |
Zond 6 | 10 November 1968 | Lunar flyby and return to Earth | [46][132][133] |
Apollo 8 | 21 December 1968 | First crewed spacecraft to leave Earth orbit, first crewed lunar orbiter | [129][134][135] |
Venera 5 | 5 January 1969 | Venus atmospheric probe | [18][136] |
Venera 6 | 10 January 1969 | Venus atmospheric probe | [18][137] |
Mariner 6 | 25 February 1969 | Mars flyby | [138][139] |
Apollo 9 | 3 March 1969 | Crewed lunar lander (LEM) flight test in Earth orbit | [129][140] |
Mariner 7 | 27 March 1969 | Mars flyby | [141][142] |
Apollo 10 | 18 May 1969 | Crewed lunar orbiter | [129][143][144] |
Luna 15 | 13 July 1969 | Second attempted lunar sample return | [145][146] |
Apollo 11 | 16 July 1969 | First crewed lunar landing and first successful sample return mission | [147][148][149][150][151] |
Zond 7 | 7 August 1969 | Lunar flyby and return to Earth | [46][152][153] |
Apollo 12 | 14 November 1969 | Crewed lunar landing | [154][155][156] |
Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Apollo 13 | 11 April 1970 | Crewed lunar flyby and return to Earth (crewed lunar landing aborted). Farthest from Earth a human has gone (401,056 km) | [157][158][159][160] |
Venera 7 | 17 August 1970 | First Venus lander and the first spacecraft to "soft" land on another planet (with some data returned from the surface) | [18][161][162] |
Luna 16 | 12 September 1970 | First robotic lunar sample return | [10][163] |
Zond 8 | 20 October 1970 | Lunar flyby and return to Earth | [46][164][165] |
Luna 17/Lunokhod 1 | 10 November 1970 | First remote controlled rover | [10][166] |
Apollo 14 | 31 January 1971 | Crewed lunar landing | [167][168][169] |
Salyut 1 | 19 April 1971 | First space station | [170][171] |
Mars 2 | 19 May 1971 | First Mars impact, Mars orbiter and attempted lander; First rover (Prop-M) sent to another planet (Mars) | [172][173][174][175][176] |
Mars 3 | 28 May 1971 | Mars orbiter, First Mars lander (first image taken from the surface of another planet, though the received image did not show anything); First rover (Prop-M) to be landed but not deployed on another planet (Mars) | [177][178][179][180][181] |
Mariner 9 | 30 May 1971 | First to orbit another planet (Mars) | [182][183] |
Apollo 15 | 26 July 1971 | Crewed lunar landing; First crewed lunar rover | [129][184][185][186] |
Luna 18 | 2 September 1971 | Attempted lunar sample return (crashed into Moon) | [187][188] |
Luna 19 | 28 September 1971 | Lunar orbiter | [189] |
Luna 20 | 14 February 1972 | Lunar robotic sample return | [190] |
Pioneer 10 | 3 March 1972 | First Jupiter flyby | [191][192][74] |
Venera 8 | 27 March 1972 | Venus lander | [18][193][194] |
Apollo 16 | 16 April 1972 | Crewed lunar landing | [195][196][197] |
Apollo 17 | 7 December 1972 | Last crewed lunar landing | [198][199][200][201] |
Luna 21/Lunokhod 2 | 8 January 1973 | Lunar rover | [202] |
Pioneer 11 | 5 April 1973 | Jupiter flyby and First Saturn flyby | [74][203][204] |
Explorer 49 (RAE-B) | 10 June 1973 | Lunar orbiter/radio astronomy | [205][206] |
Mars 4 | 21 July 1973 | Mars flyby (attempted Mars orbiter) | [207][208] |
Mars 5 | 25 July 1973 | Mars orbiter | [209][210] |
Mars 6 | 5 August 1973 | Mars flyby and attempted lander (failed due to damage on Mars landing) | [211][212] |
Mars 7 | 9 August 1973 | Mars flyby and attempted lander (missed Mars) | [213][214] |
Mariner 10 | 3 November 1973 | Lunar and Venus flybys in addition to the First Mercury flyby | [215][216][217][218] |
Luna 22 | 29 May 1974 | Lunar orbiter | [10][219] |
Luna 23 | 28 October 1974 | Attempted lunar sample return (failed due to damage on lunar landing) | [220] |
Helios-A | 10 December 1974 | Solar observations | [221][222] |
Venera 9 | 8 June 1975 | First Venus orbiter and lander; First successful images from the surface of another planet (Venus) | [18][223][224][225] |
Venera 10 | 14 June 1975 | Venus orbiter and lander | [18][226][227][228] |
Viking 1 | 20 August 1975 | Mars orbiter and lander; First clear pictures from Martian surface | [229][230][231][232] |
Viking 2 | 9 September 1975 | Mars orbiter and lander | [232][233][234][235] |
Helios-B | 15 January 1976 | Solar observations | [236][237] |
Luna 24 | 9 August 1976 | Lunar robotic sample return | [10][238] |
Voyager 2 | 20 August 1977 | Jupiter/Saturn/first Uranus/first Neptune flyby | [239][240][241] |
Voyager 1 | 5 September 1977 | Jupiter/Saturn flyby, first to exit the heliosphere | [241][242][243] |
Pioneer Venus 1 | 20 May 1978 | Venus orbiter | [244][245] |
Pioneer Venus 2 | 8 August 1978 | Venus atmospheric probes | [246][247] |
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 | [248][249][250] |
Venera 11 | 9 September 1978 | Venus flyby and lander | [18][251][252][253] |
Venera 12 | 14 September 1978 | Venus flyby and lander | [18][254][255][256] |
Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Venera 13 | 30 October 1981 | Venus flyby and lander. First recording of sound on another planet. | [18][257][258][259] |
Venera 14 | 4 November 1981 | Venus flyby and lander | [18][260][261][262] |
Venera 15 | 2 June 1983 | Venus orbiter | [18][263][264] |
Venera 16 | 7 June 1983 | Venus orbiter | [18][265][266] |
Vega 1 | 15 December 1984 | Venus flyby, lander and first extraterrestrial aircraft (aerostat balloon); continued on to Comet Halley flyby | [267][268][269][270][271] |
Vega 2 | 21 December 1984 | Venus flyby, lander and balloon; continued on to Comet Halley flyby | [271][272][273][274][275] |
Sakigake | 8 January 1985 | Comet Halley flyby | [276][277] |
Giotto | 2 July 1985 | First close observation of comet (distance 596 kilometers), Comet Halley flyby | [278][279][280] |
Suisei (Planet-A) | 18 August 1985 | Comet Halley flyby | [281][282] |
Mir | 19 February 1986 | First modular space station (operational 1986–2000; final module added 1996) | [283][284][285] |
Phobos 1 | 7 July 1988 | Attempted Mars orbiter/Phobos landers (contact lost) | [286][287] |
Phobos 2 | 12 July 1988 | Mars orbiter/attempted Phobos landers (contact lost) | [288][289] |
Magellan | 4 May 1989 | Venus orbiter | [290][291] |
Galileo | 18 October 1989 | Venus flyby, first Asteroid flyby (Gaspra), first Asteroid moon discovery (Dactyl), first Jupiter orbiter, first Jupiter atmospheric probe | [292][293][294][295] |
Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Hiten (MUSES-A) | 24 January 1990 | Lunar flyby and orbiter | [296][297] |
Hubble Space Telescope | 24 April 1990 | Orbital space telescope (operational since 1990[needs update]) | [298][299][300] |
Ulysses | 6 October 1990 | Solar polar orbiter | [301][302][303] |
Yohkoh (Solar-A) | 30 August 1991 | Solar observations (1991–2001) | [304][305] |
Mars Observer | 25 September 1992 | Attempted Mars orbiter (contact lost) | [306][307] |
Clementine | 25 January 1994 | Lunar orbiter/attempted asteroid flyby (contact lost) | [308][309][310] |
WIND | 1 November 1994 | Solar wind observations | [311][312] |
SOHO | 2 December 1995 | Solar observatory (operational since 1996[needs update]) | [313][314][315] |
NEAR Shoemaker | 17 February 1996 | Eros orbiter, first near-Earth asteroid flyby, first asteroid orbit and first asteroid landing | [316][317][318] |
Mars Global Surveyor | 7 November 1996 | Mars orbiter | [319][320] |
Mars 96 | 16 November 1996 | Attempted Mars orbiter/landers (failed to escape Earth orbit) | [321][322] |
Mars Pathfinder | 4 December 1996 | Mars lander and first successful planetary rover | [323][324][325] |
ACE | 25 August 1997 | Solar wind and "space weather" observations (operational since 1998) | [326][327] |
Cassini–Huygens | 15 October 1997 | First Saturn orbiter and first outer planet moon lander (on Titan) | [328][329][330][331][332] |
Lunar Prospector | 7 January 1998 | Lunar orbiter | [333][334] |
Nozomi (Planet-B) | 3 July 1998 | Attempted Mars orbiter (failed to enter Mars orbit) | [335][336] |
Deep Space 1 (DS1) | 24 October 1998 | Asteroid and comet flyby | [337][338] |
ISS | 20 November 1998 | International space station | [339][340] |
Mars Climate Orbiter | 11 December 1998 | Attempted Mars orbiter (orbit insertion failed; entered atmosphere and was destroyed) | [341][342] |
Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2 (DS2) | 3 January 1999 | Attempted Mars lander/penetrators (contact lost) | [343][344][345] |
Stardust | 7 February 1999 | First comet coma sample return (returned 15 January 2006) | [346][347][348] |
Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|
2001 Mars Odyssey | 7 April 2001 | Mars orbiter | [349][350] |
Genesis | 8 August 2001 | First solar wind sample return | [351][352][353][354] |
CONTOUR | 3 July 2002 | Attempted flyby of comet nuclei (Encke, Schwassmann-Wachmann-3, and optionally a third one; lost in space) | [355][356] |
Hayabusa (MUSES-C) | 9 May 2003 | Asteroid lander and first sample return from asteroid | [357][358][359] |
Mars Express/Beagle 2 | 2 June 2003 | Mars orbiter/attempted lander (lander failure) | [360][361][362][363] |
Mars Exploration Rover Spirit | 10 June 2003 | Mars rover | [364][365] |
Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity | 8 July 2003 | Mars rover | [366][367] |
SMART-1 | 27 September 2003 | Lunar orbiter | [368][369] |
Rosetta/Philae | 2 March 2004 | Asteroid Šteins and Lutetia flybys; first comet orbiter and lander (Landed in November 2014) | [370][371][372][373] |
MESSENGER | 3 August 2004 | First Mercury orbiter (Achieved orbit 18 March 2011) | [374][375][376] |
Deep Impact | 12 January 2005 | Comet flyby and impact | [377][378][379][380] |
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter | 12 August 2005 | Mars orbiter | [381][382] |
Venus Express | 9 November 2005 | Venus polar orbiter | [383][384] |
New Horizons | 19 January 2006 | First Pluto/Charon flyby (on 14 July 2015); continued on to 486958 Arrokoth flyby (on 1 January 2019) | [385][386][387][388] |
Hinode (Solar-B) | 22 September 2006 | Solar orbiter | [389][390] |
STEREO | 26 October 2006 | Two spacecraft, solar orbiters | [391][392][393] |
Phoenix | 4 August 2007 | Mars polar lander (Mars landing on 25 May 2008) | [394][395] |
SELENE (Kaguya) | 14 September 2007 | Lunar orbiters | [396][397][398][399] |
Dawn | 27 September 2007 | Asteroid Ceres and Vesta orbiter (Entered orbit around Vesta on 16 July 2011 and around Ceres on 6 March 2015) | [400][401][402] |
Chang'e 1 | 24 October 2007 | Lunar orbiter | [403][404][405] |
Chandrayaan-1 | 22 October 2008 | Lunar orbiter and impactor; discovered water on the Moon | [406][407][408] |
Herschel Space Observatory | 14 May 2009 | Infrared space telescope at Sun–Earth L2 Lagrange point | [409][410] |
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/LCROSS | 18 June 2009 | Lunar polar orbiter and lunar impactor | [411][412][413][414] |
WISE (NEOWISE) | 14 December 2009 | Infrared survey of celestial sky (WISE mission); later Near-Earth object survey (NEOWISE mission) | [415][416][417] |
Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Solar Dynamics Observatory | 11 February 2010 | Continuous solar monitoring | [418][419] |
Akatsuki (Planet-C) | 20 May 2010 | Venus orbiter (orbit insertion failed in 2010 / successful orbit insertion on 7 December 2015) | [420][421][422] |
PICARD | 15 June 2010 | Solar monitoring | [423][424] |
Chang'e 2 | 1 October 2010 | Lunar orbiter, asteroid 4179 Toutatis flyby | [405][425][426] |
Juno | 5 August 2011 | Jupiter orbiter | [427][428] |
GRAIL | 10 September 2011 | Two spacecraft, Lunar orbiters | [429][430][431] |
Fobos-Grunt and Yinghuo-1 | 8 November 2011 | Attempted Phobos sample return and Mars orbiter, respectively; both failed to escape Earth orbit | [432][433] |
Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover) | 26 November 2011 | Mars rover (landed 6 August 2012) | [434][435] |
Van Allen Probes (RBSP) | 30 August 2012 | Earth Van Allen radiation belts study | [436][437][438] |
IRIS | 28 June 2013 | Solar observations | [439] |
LADEE | 7 September 2013 | Lunar orbiter | [440][441] |
Hisaki | 14 September 2013 | Planetary atmosphere observatory | [442] |
Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) | 5 November 2013 | Mars orbiter | [443][444][445] |
MAVEN | 18 November 2013 | Mars orbiter | [446][447] |
Chang'e 3 | 1 December 2013 | Lunar lander and rover (first lander since Soviet Luna 24 in 1976) | [405][448][449][450] |
Chang'e 5-T1 | 23 October 2014 | Circumlunar mission and Earth reentry; technology demonstration to prepare for Chang'e 5 mission | [451] |
Hayabusa2 / MASCOT | 3 December 2014 | Asteroid lander and sample return (sample returned 5 December 2020), first asteroid rover | [359][452][453] |
PROCYON | 3 December 2014 | Comet observer and attempted asteroid flyby (engine failure) | [454] |
DSCOVR | 11 February 2015 | Solar observation | [455][456] |
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and EDM lander | 14 March 2016 | Mars orbiter and attempted lander (lander failure) | [457][458] |
OSIRIS-REx | 8 September 2016 | Asteroid sample return mission (sample returned 24 September 2023[needs update]) | [459][460] |
InSight | 5 May 2018 | Mars lander | [461][462] |
Queqiao | 20 May 2018 | Relay satellite for Chang'e 4 in Halo orbit around Earth–Moon L2 Lagrange point | [463] |
Parker Solar Probe | 12 August 2018 | Solar corona probe, closest solar approach (0.04 AU) | [464][465] |
BepiColombo | 19 October 2018 | Two Mercury orbiters (orbit insertion planned in December 2025) | [466][467] |
Chang'e 4 | 7 December 2018 | Lunar lander and rover, first landing on the lunar far side | [405][468][469] |
Beresheet | 22 February 2019 | Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon) | [470][471] |
Chandrayaan-2 | 22 July 2019 | Lunar orbiter; attempted lander and rover (contact lost during final stage of descent) | [472][473] |
Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Solar Orbiter | 10 February 2020 | Sun-observing satellite | [474][475][476] |
Mars Hope | 19 July 2020 | Mars orbiter | [477] |
Tianwen-1 (Zhurong rover) | 23 July 2020 | Mars orbiter, lander, and rover | [478] |
Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter) | 30 July 2020 | Mars rover and helicopter drone; first powered flight on another planet | [479][480][481] |
Chang'e 5 | 23 November 2020 | Lunar sample return | [405][482] |
Lucy | 16 October 2021 | Flyby of six Jupiter trojans and two main belt asteroids | [483][484] |
DART / LICIACube | 24 November 2021 | Asteroid 65803 Didymos flyby, asteroid moon Dimorphos impactor | [485][486] |
James Webb Space Telescope | 25 December 2021 | Infrared space telescope at Sun–Earth L2 | [487][488] |
CAPSTONE | 28 June 2022 | Lunar orbiter | [489] |
Danuri (KPLO) | 5 August 2022 | Lunar orbiter | [490] |
Artemis 1 and 10 cubesats | 16 November 2022 | Uncrewed lunar orbital test of Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System. The cubesats are launched as rideshares and will execute their own missions. | [491] |
Hakuto-R Mission 1 (Rashid rover) and Lunar Flashlight | 11 December 2022 | Lunar lander technology demonstration, lunar rover, and lunar orbiter launched together (crashed into Moon) | [492][493][494] |
JUICE | 14 April 2023 | Jupiter/Ganymede orbiter | [495] |
Chandrayaan-3 | 14 July 2023 | Lunar orbiter, lander and rover; first soft landing near the lunar South Pole | [496][497] |
Luna 25 | 10 August 2023 | Attempted lunar south pole lander (crashed into Moon) | [498][499] |
Aditya-L1 | 2 September 2023 | Sun-observing spacecraft at Sun–Earth L1 | [500] |
SLIM (LEV-1, LEV-2) | 6 September 2023 | Lunar flyby, lander and rovers | [501][502] |
Psyche | 13 October 2023 | Asteroid 16 Psyche orbiter | [503] |
Peregrine Mission One (including Iris and Colmena rovers) | 8 January 2024 | Lunar lander and rovers (landing precluded) | [504] |
IM-1 Nova-C Odysseus (including EagleCam deployable camera) | 15 February 2024 | Lunar landers | [505] |
DRO A/B | 13 March 2024 | Lunar orbiters | [506] |
Queqiao-2 (including Tiandu-1 and 2) | 20 March 2024 | Lunar orbiters | [507] |
Chang'e 6 (including Pakistan's ICUBE-Q cubesat) | 3 May 2024 | Lunar sample return, rover and orbiters; first sample return from the lunar far side | [508][509] |
Hera (3 orbiters) | 7 October 2024 | Asteroid 65803 Didymos rendezvous | [510] |
Europa Clipper | 14 October 2024 | Jupiter orbiter, Europa multiple flyby | [511][512][513] |
the first living organisms to have made a circumlunar flight
Mars 3 became the first successful soft landing on the Red Planet, but stopped transmitting after just 14.5 seconds for unknown reasons.
As of November, 1998 the global participants, in addition to the United States, included Russia, Canada, Japan, Brazil, and ESA (Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland).
Aside from the United States and Russia, station construction involved Canada, Japan, Brazil, and 11 ESA members.
Chodas said that Europa Clipper now has a launch readiness date of 2024, a year later than plans announced last year.