Timeline of Solar System exploration

 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.^[vague]

Charted timeline of Solar System exploration, as of December 2014

It does not include:

• Centuries of terrestrial telescopic observation.
• 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).

1950sEdit

Sputnik 1 – First Earth orbiter

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 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]

1960sEdit

Vostok 1 – First crewed Earth orbiter

Mariner 2 – First successful Venus flyby

Mariner 4 – First successful Mars flyby

Luna 9 – First lunar lander

Zond 5 – First lunar flyby and return to Earth, first terrestrials to circle the Moon

Apollo 8 – First crewed lunar orbiter

Apollo 11 – First crewed lunar landing

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 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 lunar lander	[10][76]
Luna 10	31 March 1966	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 Venus atmospheric probe	[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]

1970sEdit

Mars 3 – First Mars lander

Pioneer 10 – First Jupiter flyby

Mariner 10 – First Mercury flyby

Voyager 2 – First Uranus/first Neptune flyby

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 land on another planet	[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 on Martian surface (Prop-M unsuccessful)	[172][173][174][175][176]
Mars 3	28 May 1971	Mars orbiter, First Mars lander (lost contact after 14.5s)	[177][178][179][180][181]
Mariner 9	30 May 1971	First Mars orbiter	[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 images from surface of 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]

1980sEdit

Giotto – Comet Halley flyby

Galileo – Mission to Jupiter

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 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]

1990sEdit

Mars Pathfinder – Mars lander and the first successful Mars rover, Sojourner

Cassini–Huygens – First Saturn orbiter and first Titan lander

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 lander	[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]

2000sEdit

Mars Express/Beagle 2 – First planetary mission by the ESA

MESSENGER – First Mercury orbiter

Chandrayaan-1 – Water Around Fresh Moon Crater

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]

2010sEdit

Mars Science Laboratory – Mars lander and large rover

Mangalyaan – First Indian Mars orbiter

Trace Gas Orbiter – ESA/Roscosmos Mars orbiter

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 return scheduled for September 2023)	[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]

2020sEdit

NASA's Perseverance rover

Mission name	Launch date	Description	Ref(s)
SolO	10 February 2020	Sun-observing satellite	[474][475][476]
Mars Hope	19 July 2020	Mars orbiter	[477]
Tianwen-1	23 July 2020	Mars orbiter, lander, and rover	[478]
Mars 2020	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]

Planned or scheduledEdit

Main article: List of proposed Solar System spacecraft

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