Timeline of Solar System exploration

Updated on Oct 07, 2024

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1974 flyby 1979 flyby 1979 flyby 1981 flyby 1986 flyby 1989 flyby		1979 flyby 1980 flyby 1981 flyby 1986 flyby

2000 gravity assist 2004– orbiter;2005 Titan lander

This is a timeline of Solar System exploration ordered by date of spacecraft launch. It includes:

All spacecraft that have left Earth orbit for the purposes of Solar System exploration (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.

Space 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 later—in 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.

1940s

1944

MW 18014 – 20 June 1944 – First artificial object to cross the boundary of space

1950s

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; oldest spacecraft still in Earth orbit

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

1960s

1960

Pioneer 5 – 11 March 1960 – Interplanetary space investigations

1961

Venera 1 – 12 February 1961 – Venus flyby (contact lost before flyby)

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)

Mariner 2 – 27 August 1962 – First successful planetary encounter, First successful Venus flyby

Ranger 5 – 18 October 1962 – Attempted lunar impact (missed Moon)

Mars 1 – 1 November 1962 – Mars flyby (contact lost)

1963

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)

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

Ranger 9 – 21 March 1965 – Lunar impact

Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1 - 6 May 1965 - Oldest spacecraft still in use

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

Luna 8 – 3 December 1965 – Lunar impact (attempted soft landing?)

Pioneer 6 – 16 December 1965 – "Space weather" observations

1966 AS-201

Luna 9 – 31 January 1966 – First lunar lander

AS-201 – 26 February 1966 – Lunar programme test flight

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

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

Apollo 4 – 9 November 1967 – Lunar programme test flight

Pioneer 8 – 13 December 1967 – "Space weather" observations

1968

Surveyor 7 – 7 January 1968 – Lunar lander

Apollo 5 – 22 January 1968 – Lunar programme test flight

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

Apollo 7 – 22 October 1968 – Lunar programme test flight (manned)

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 E-8-5 No.402 – 14 June 1969 – Attempted lunar sample return, first attempted sample return mission

Luna 15 – 13 July 1969 – Second attempted lunar sample return

Apollo 11 – 16 July 1969 – First manned lunar landing and first successful sample return mission

Zond 7 – 7 August 1969 – Lunar flyby and return to Earth

Apollo 12 – 14 November 1969 – Manned lunar landing

1970s

1970

Apollo 13 – 11 April 1970 – Manned lunar flyby and return to Earth (manned lunar landing aborted) Farthest from Earth a human has gone

Venera 7 – 17 August 1970 – First Venus lander

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

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

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

Voyager 2 – 20 August 1977 – Jupiter/Saturn/first Uranus/first Neptune flyby

Voyager 1 – 5 September 1977 – Jupiter/Saturn flyby, Farthest human-made object – currently (2016) about 135 AU

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

1980s

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 first 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

1986

Mir – 20 February 1986 – First modular space station (completion 1996)

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

1990s

1990

Hiten (MUSES-A) – 24 January 1990 – Lunar flyby and orbiter

Hubble Space Telescope – Orbital space telescope

Ulysses – 6 October 1990 – Solar polar 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

Cassini–Huygens – 15 October 1997 – First Saturn orbiter and first outer planet lander

AsiaSat 3/HGS-1 – 24 December 1997 – Lunar flyby

1998

Lunar Prospector – 7 January 1998 – Lunar orbiter

Nozomi (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 (planned completion 2013)

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 15 January 2006

2000s

2001

2001 Mars Odyssey – 7 April 2001 – Mars orbiter

Genesis – 8 August 2001 – First solar wind sample return

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 Express/Beagle 2 – 1 June 2003 – Mars orbiter/lander (lander failure)

Mars Exploration Rover Spirit – 10 June 2003 – Mars rover

Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity – 7 July 2003 – Mars rover

SMART-1 – 27 September 2003 – Lunar orbiter

Shenzhou 5 – 15 October 2003 – China's first manned Earth orbiter

2004

Rosetta/Philae – 2 March 2004 – First comet orbiter and lander (Landed in November 2014)

MESSENGER – 3 August 2004 – First Mercury orbiter (Achieved orbit 18 March 2011)

2005

Deep Impact – 12 January 2005 – First comet impact

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter – 12 August 2005 – Mars orbiter

Venus Express – 9 November 2005 – Venus polar orbiter

2006

New Horizons – 19 January 2006 – First Pluto/Charon flyby (on 14 July 2015)

Hinode (Solar-B) – 22 September 2006 – Solar orbiter

STEREO – 26 October 2006 – Two spacecraft, solar orbiters

2007

Phoenix – 4 August 2007 – Mars polar lander (Mars landing on 25 May 2008)

SELENE (Kaguya) – 14 September 2007 – Lunar orbiters

Dawn – 27 September 2007 – Asteroid Ceres and Vesta orbiter (Entered orbit around Vesta on 16 July 2011 and around Ceres on 6 March 2015)

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 Orbiter/LCROSS – 18 June 2009 – Lunar polar orbiter and lunar impactor

2010s

2010

Solar Dynamics Observatory – 11 February 2010 – Continuous solar monitoring

Akatsuki (Planet-C) – 20 May 2010 – Venus orbiter (orbit insertion failed in 2010 / successful orbit insertion on 7 December 2015)

PICARD – 15 June 2010 – Solar monitoring

Chang'e 2 – 1 October 2010 – Lunar orbiter, Asteroid 4179 Toutatis flyby

2011

Juno – 5 August 2011 – Jupiter orbiter

GRAIL – 10 September 2011 – Two spacecraft, Lunar orbiters

Tiangong (Project 921-2) - 29 September 2011 - First Chinese space station

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 Laboratory (Curiosity Rover) – 26 November 2011 – large Mars 900 kg Rover (landed 6 August 2012)

2012

Van Allen Probes (RBSP) - 30 August 2012 - Earth Van Allen radiation belts study

2013

IRIS – 27 June 2013 – Solar observations

LADEE – 6 September 2013 – Lunar orbiter

Hisaki - 14 September 2013 - Planetary atmosphere observatory

Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) – 5 November 2013 – Mars orbiter

MAVEN – 18 November 2013 – Mars orbiter

Chang'e 3 – 1 December 2013 - First Chinese lunar lander and rover (most recent lander since Russian Luna 24 in 1976)

2014

Chang'e 5-T1 – 23 October 2014 - Lunar flyby/orbiter and Earth reentry probe; technology demonstration to prepare for Chang'e 5 mission

Hayabusa 2 / MASCOT and PROCYON – 3 December 2014 – Asteroid lander and sample return / mobile Asteroid lander, Asteroid flyby (flyby cancelled due to engine failure)

Exploration Flight Test 1 – 5 December 2014 – Unmanned Earth orbital test of Orion interplanetary vehicle.

2015

DSCOVR – 11 February 2015 – Solar observation

Astrosat – 28 September 2015 – Space observatory

2016

ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and EDM lander – 14 March 2016 – Mars orbiter and lander (lander failure)

OSIRIS-REx – 8 September 2016 – Asteroid sample return mission

Planned or scheduled

2017

Chang'e 5 – China's first lunar sample return mission

Team Indus – 28 December 2017 – Private Lunar Rover, part of the Google Lunar X Prize

Hakuto – 28 December 2017 – Private Lunar Rover, part of the Google Lunar X Prize

SpaceIL – Late 2017 – Private Lunar Lander, part of the Google Lunar X Prize

Moon Express – Late 2017 – Private Lunar Lander, part of the Google Lunar X Prize

Synergy Moon – Late 2017 – Private Lunar Rover, part of the Google Lunar X Prize

2018

InSight – 5 May – Mars lander

Solar Probe Plus – 30 July 2018 – Solar orbiter, closest solar approach (0.04 AU)

BepiColombo – October 2018 – Mercury orbiters

SOLO – October 2018 – Solar orbiter

James Webb Space Telescope - October 2018 - Orbital space telescope

Exploration Mission 1 – November 2018 – Unmanned lunar orbital test of Orion interplanetary vehicle and Space Launch System.

Chang'e 4 – end of 2018 - Lunar lander and rover, the first landing on the lunar far side

SELENE-2 – Lunar orbiter and lander

Chandrayaan-2 – Lunar orbiter and rover

2019

SLIM – Japanese lunar lander and rover

Luna-Glob lander (Luna-25) – Lunar orbiter, lander

Aditya - 2017/2018 - Solar observations (2019 or 2020)

Astrobotic Technology – Private lunar lander and rover mission

2020

Chang'e 6 – Lunar sample return mission

2020 Chinese Mars Mission – Mars orbiter, lander and rover

ExoMars rover – July 2020 – Russian Mars lander and European rover

SpaceX Red Dragon – Unmanned Mars lander, first private mission to Mars

Mars 2020 rover mission

Mars sample return mission

Mars Hope - Emirati Mars orbiter

Luna-Resurs 1 (Luna-26) – Lunar orbiter

2021

ISRO Orbital Vehicle – First Indian manned orbiter

Asteroid Redirect Mission - Remove a boulder from an asteroid and put into lunar orbit

Luna-Luna-Resurs 2 (Luna-27) – Lunar lander

Lucy - Flyby six Jupiter Trojan asteroids

2022

Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer – Mission to explore Jupiter and its icy moons.

Europa Mission launch

2023

Psyche - Orbit the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche

Exploration Mission 2 - manned lunar flyby and return to Earth

2024

Luna-Grunt (Luna-28) – Lunar sample return mission

Venera-D – Venus orbiter, lander

2025

Manned landing on an asteroid

Luna-Grunt sample return vehicle (Luna-29) – Lunar sample return mission

2028

Manned lunar orbiter

2030

Manned lunar landing

Manned landing on the Moon (2020–30)

2031

Mercury-P – First Mercury lander

2037

Lunnyj Poligon – Completion of robotic lunar base

first Human mission to Mars

2040–60

Crewed phase of the Chinese Mars exploration program

Crewed phase of the Russian Mars exploration program

References

Timeline of Solar System exploration Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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