The following table is a list of all unmanned spacecraft to explore beyond Earth orbit (along with the first few Soviet and American spacecraft to go into orbit). I have tried to make this list as comprehensive as possible, but undoubtedly I have missed a few. If you are aware of any such omission, feel free to contact me with this information. Many of the spacecraft are hyperlinked to individual pages which go into detail about their missions. Eventually, I intend to have such a page for all of the spacecraft in the list, but that will take some time. In the mean time, I hope you find the information that is here both informative and interesting.
|
(USSR) |
Oct. 4, 1957 |
Satellite |
First artificial satellite. |
|
|
Sputnik 2 |
(USSR) |
Nov. 3, 1957 |
Satellite |
Carried first animal into space. |
|
(USA) |
Jan. 31, 1958 |
Satellite |
First successful U.S. satellite. Also discovered Earth's radiation belt. |
|
|
Pioneer 0 |
(USA) |
Aug. 17, 1958 |
Lunar orbiter |
First stage exploded. |
|
Pioneer 1 |
(USA) |
Oct. 11, 1958 |
Lunar orbiter |
Failed to reach escape velocity. |
|
Pioneer 3 |
(USA) |
Dec. 6, 1958 |
Lunar flyby |
Failed to reach escape velocity. |
|
Luna 1 |
(USSR) |
Jan. 2, 1959 |
Lunar flyby |
Intended for impact, but missed lunar surface and is now in a solar orbit. |
|
Pioneer 4 |
(USA) |
Mar. 3, 1959 |
Lunar flyby |
Still in a solar orbit. |
|
Luna 2 |
(USSR) |
Sep. 12, 1959 |
Lunar lander |
Impacted Moon on Sep 13, 1959, becoming first man-made object to reach another body in our universe. |
|
Luna 3 |
(USSR) |
Oct. 4, 1959 |
Lunar flyby |
Reached the Moon on Oct. 7 and returned the first photograph of its far side. |
|
Pioneer 5 |
(USA) |
Mar. 11, 1960 |
Solar monitor |
Still in a solar orbit. |
|
Mars 1960A |
(USSR) |
Oct. 10, 1960 |
Mars probe |
Failed to reach Earth orbit. |
|
Mars 1960B |
(USSR) |
Oct. 14, 1960 |
Mars probe |
Failed to reach Earth orbit. |
|
Venera 1 |
(USSR) |
Feb. 12, 1961 |
Venus flyby |
Now in a solar orbit. |
|
Ranger 3 |
(USA) |
Jan. 26, 1962 |
Lunar lander |
Missed the Moon and is now in a solar orbit. |
|
Ranger 4 |
(USA) |
Apr. 23, 1962 |
Lunar lander |
First U.S. impact on the Moon. |
|
Mariner 2 |
(USA) |
Aug. 27, 1962 |
Venus flyby |
Arrived at Venus on Dec. 14, 1962 becoming the first successful interplanetary spacecraft. Now in a solar orbit. |
|
Ranger 5 |
(USA) |
Oct. 18, 1962 |
Lunar flyby |
Intended for impact on lunar surface but became a fly-by due to spacecraft failure. |
|
Mars 1962A |
(USSR) |
Oct. 24, 1962 |
Mars flyby |
Failed to leave Earth orbit. |
|
Mars 1 |
(USSR) |
Nov. 1, 1962 |
Mars flyby |
Communications failed en route. |
|
Mars 1962B |
(USSR) |
Nov. 4, 1962 |
Mars lander |
Failed to leave Earth orbit. |
|
Luna 4 |
(USSR) |
Apr. 2, 1963 |
Lunar probe |
Missed the Moon and is now in an Earth-Moon orbit. |
|
Ranger 6 |
(USA) |
Jan. 30, 1964 |
Lunar lander |
Impacted lunar surface but returned no photographs due to camera failure. |
|
Zond 1 |
(USSR) |
Apr. 2, 1964 |
Venus flyby |
Communications lost en route. |
|
Ranger 7 |
(USA) |
July 28, 1964 |
Lunar lander |
Returned pictures of lunar surface before impact on July 31, 1964. |
|
Mariner 3 |
(USA) |
Nov. 5, 1964 |
Mars flyby |
Mission failed when solar panels did not open. Now in a solar orbit. |
|
Mariner 4 |
(USA) |
Nov. 28, 1964 |
Mars flyby |
Arrived on Jul. 14, 1965 and returned close-up photos of Martian surface. Now in a solar orbit. |
|
Zond 2 |
(USSR) |
Nov. 30, 1964 |
Mars flyby |
Contact lost en route. |
|
Ranger 8 |
(USA) |
Feb. 17, 1965 |
Lunar lander |
Returned photographs of lunar surface before impact on Feb. 20, 1965. |
|
Ranger 9 |
(USA) |
Mar. 21, 1965 |
Lunar lander |
Returned photographs of lunar surface before impact on Mar. 24, 1965. |
|
Luna 5 |
(USSR) |
May 9, 1965 |
Lunar lander |
Destroyed upon impact with lunar surface. |
|
Luna 6 |
(USSR) |
June 8, 1965 |
Lunar lander |
Missed the Moon and is now in solar orbit. |
|
Zond 3 |
(USSR) |
July 18, 1965 |
Lunar flyby |
Transmitted pictures of the Moon's far side. |
|
Luna 7 |
(USSR) |
Oct. 4, 1965 |
Lunar lander |
Destroyed upon impact with lunar surface. |
|
Venera 2 |
(USSR) |
Nov. 12, 1965 |
Venus flyby |
Communications failed. Now in a solar orbit. |
|
Venera 3 |
(USSR) |
Nov. 16, 1965 |
Venus probe |
Communications failed. Impacted Venus. |
|
Luna 8 |
(USSR) |
Dec. 3, 1965 |
Lunar lander |
Destroyed upon impact with lunar surface. |
|
Pioneer 6 |
(USA) |
Dec. 16, 1965 |
Solar probe |
Still transmitting from a solar orbit. |
|
Luna 9 |
(USSR) |
Jan. 31, 1966 |
Lunar lander |
Performed first successful soft landing on the Moon, on Feb. 3, 1966, and transmitted the first photographs from its surface. |
|
Luna 10 |
(USSR) |
Mar. 31, 1966 |
Lunar orbiter |
Studied Moon's gravity and radiation. Now in a lunar orbit. |
|
Surveyor 1 |
(USA) |
Apr. 30, 1966 |
Lunar lander |
First U.S. soft landing on the Moon. |
|
Lunar Orbiter 1 |
(USA) |
Aug. 10, 1966 |
Lunar orbiter |
Orbited the Moon, returning photographs of its surface before impacting on command. |
|
Pioneer 7 |
(USA) |
Aug. 17, 1966 |
Solar probe |
Still in a solar orbit. |
|
Luna 11 |
(USSR) |
Aug. 24, 1966 |
Lunar orbiter |
Studied Moon's gravity and chemical composition. Now in a lunar orbit. |
|
Surveyor 2 |
(USA) |
Sep. 20, 1966 |
Lunar lander |
Failed and impacted the Moon. |
|
Luna 12 |
(USSR) |
Oct. 22, 1966 |
Lunar orbiter |
Photographed surface of the Moon. Now in a lunar orbit. |
|
Lunar Orbiter 2 |
(USA) |
Nov. 6, 1966 |
Lunar orbiter |
Orbited the Moon, returning photographs of its surface before impacting on command. |
|
Luna 13 |
(USSR) |
Dec. 21, 1966 |
Lunar lander |
Arrived on Dec. 24, 1966 and transmitted panoramic photographs of surface. |
|
Lunar Orbiter 3 |
(USA) |
Feb. 5, 1967 |
Lunar orbiter |
Orbited the Moon, returning photographs of its surface before impacting on command. |
|
Surveyor 3 |
(USA) |
Apr. 17, 1967 |
Lunar lander |
Landed safely on lunar surface. |
|
Lunar Orbiter 4 |
(USA) |
May 4, 1967 |
Lunar orbiter |
Orbited the Moon, returning photographs of its surface before impacting on command. |
|
Venera 4 |
(USSR) |
June 12, 1967 |
Venus probe |
Arrived on Oct. 18, 1967. Returned atmospheric data but was crushed by pressure before reaching surface. |
|
Mariner 5 |
(USA) |
June 14, 1967 |
Venus flyby |
Arrived on Oct. 19, 1967 and studied Venusian magnetic field. Now in a solar orbit. |
|
Surveyor 4 |
(USA) |
July 14, 1967 |
Lunar lander |
Failed and impacted the Moon. |
|
Lunar Orbiter 5 |
(USA) |
Aug. 1, 1967 |
Lunar orbiter |
Orbited the Moon, returning photographs of its surface before impacting on command. |
|
Surveyor 5 |
(USA) |
Sep. 8, 1967 |
Lunar lander |
Landed safely on lunar surface. |
|
Surveyor 6 |
(USA) |
Nov. 7, 1967 |
Lunar lander |
Landed safely on lunar surface and performed brief take-off. |
|
Pioneer 8 |
(USA) |
Dec. 13, 1967 |
Solar probe |
Still transmitting from a solar orbit. |
|
Surveyor 7 |
(USA) |
Jan. 7, 1968 |
Lunar lander |
Landed safely on lunar surface. |
|
Luna 14 |
(USSR) |
Apr. 7, 1968 |
Lunar probe |
Studied Moon's motion and its gravity. |
|
Zond 5 |
(USSR) |
Sep. 14, 1968 |
Lunar flyby |
Flew around the Moon and returned to Earth. |
|
Pioneer 9 |
(USA) |
Nov. 8, 1968 |
Solar probe |
Still in a solar orbit. |
|
Zond 6 |
(USSR) |
Nov. 10, 1968 |
Lunar flyby |
Flew around the Moon and returned to Earth. |
|
Venera 5 |
(USSR) |
Jan. 5, 1969 |
Venus probe |
Arrived on May 17, 1969. Collected data on atmospheric composition before being crushed by pressure. |
|
Venera 6 |
(USSR) |
Jan. 10, 1969 |
Venus probe |
Arrived on May 16, 1969. Collected data on atmospheric composition before being crushed by pressure. |
|
Mariner 6 |
(USA) |
Feb. 24, 1969 |
Mars flyby |
Arrived on May 17, 1969 and flew along Mars equator, returning information on temperature, pressure, and surface composition. Now in a solar orbit. |
|
Mariner 7 |
(USA) |
Mar. 27, 1969 |
Mars flyby |
Arrived on Aug. 5, 1969 and flew near south pole of Mars, returning pictures and measurements of temperature, pressure, and surface composition. Now in a solar orbit. |
|
Luna 15 |
(USSR) |
July 13, 1969 |
Lunar lander |
Destroyed upon impact with lunar surface. |
|
Zond 7 |
(USSR) |
Aug. 8, 1969 |
Lunar flyby |
Flew around the Moon and returned to Earth. |
|
Venera 7 |
(USSR) |
Aug. 17, 1970 |
Venus lander |
First successful landing on another planet on Dec. 15, 1970. Returned 23 minutes of data, including measurement of surface temperature. |
|
Luna 16 |
(USSR) |
Sep. 12, 1970 |
Lunar lander |
Landed on Sep. 20, 1970 and returned lunar soil samples. |
|
Zond 8 |
(USSR) |
Oct. 20, 1970 |
Lunar flyby |
Flew around the Moon and returned to Earth. |
|
Luna 17 |
(USSR) |
Nov. 10, 1970 |
Lunar lander |
Deployed automated rover upon landing on lunar surface, which took pictures and conducted soil analysis. |
|
Mariner 8 |
(USA) |
May 8, 1971 |
Mars flyby |
Spacecraft never reached Earth orbit. |
|
(USSR) |
May 19, 1971 |
Mars orbiter & lander |
Lander became first man-made object to reach Mars surface, on Nov. 27, 1971 |
|
|
(USSR) |
May 28, 1971 |
Mars orbiter & lander |
Lander completed the first successful landing on Mars, on Dec. 2, 1971, and returned 20 seconds of video data. |
|
|
(USA) |
May 30, 1971 |
Mars orbiter |
First spacecraft to orbit another planet, and is still revolving around Mars. Also returned first close range photos of moons Phobos and Deimos. |
|
|
Luna 18 |
(USSR) |
Sep. 2, 1971 |
Lunar lander |
Destroyed upon impact with lunar surface. |
|
Luna 19 |
(USSR) |
Sep. 28, 1971 |
Lunar orbiter |
Still in a lunar orbit. |
|
Luna 20 |
(USSR) |
Feb. 14, 1972 |
Lunar lander |
Soft landed on Feb. 21, 1972, and launched lunar soil samples back to Earth. |
|
(USA) |
Mar. 3, 1972 |
Jupiter flyby |
Passed Jupiter on Dec. 1, 1973 and has now left the solar system. Returned over 500 images of Jupiter and data on its magnetic field. |
|
|
Venera 8 |
(USSR) |
Mar. 27, 1972 |
Venus lander |
Arrived on July 22, 1972. Returned information on wind speed variations through atmosphere and 50 minutes of data after landing. |
|
Luna 21 |
(USSR) |
Jan. 8, 1973 |
Lunar lander |
Deployed second automated rover upon landing, which traveled 37 km while exploring the lunar surface. |
|
(USA) |
Apr. 6, 1973 |
Jupiter & Saturn flyby |
Visited Saturn on gravity assist from Jupiter and has now left the solar system. Returned images of both planets, especially Jupiter's Red Spot and Saturn's Rings. |
|
|
Mars 4 |
(USSR) |
July 21, 1973 |
Mars orbiter |
Failed to insert itself in Martian orbit. |
|
Mars 5 |
(USSR) |
July 25, 1973 |
Mars orbiter |
Entered orbit on Feb. 12, 1974. |
|
Mars 6 |
(USSR) |
Aug. 5, 1973 |
Mars orbiter & lander |
Entered orbit on Mar. 12, 1974, but lander failed on its way down. |
|
Mars 7 |
(USSR) |
Aug. 9, 1973 |
Mars orbiter & lander |
Orbiter failed and lander missed the planet. |
|
(USA) |
Nov. 3, 1973 |
Mercury & Venus flyby |
First spacecraft to visit Mercury, using a gravity assist from Venus. After producing over 10,000 pictures of the planet's surface it was placed in a solar orbit. |
|
|
Luna 22 |
(USSR) |
May 29, 1974 |
Lunar orbiter |
Studied Moon and surrounding region from orbit. |
|
Luna 23 |
(USSR) |
Oct. 28, 1974 |
Lunar probe |
Destroyed upon impact with lunar surface. |
|
Helios 1 |
(USA & W. Germany) |
Dec. 10, 1974 |
Solar probe |
Now in a solar orbit. |
|
Venera 9 |
(USSR) |
June 8, 1975 |
Venus orbiter & lander |
Arrived on Oct. 22, 1975. Returned 53 minutes of data, including the first black & white photographs of Venusian surface. |
|
Venera 10 |
(USSR) |
June 14, 1975 |
Venus orbiter & lander |
Arrived on Oct. 25, 1975. Returned 65 minutes of data, including black and white photos of planet surface. |
|
(USA) |
Aug. 20, 1975 |
Mars orbiter & lander |
Searched for life on Mars and monitored the planet's weather. Communication with the orbiter was shut down in 1980, after 1489 orbits. |
|
|
(USA) |
Sep. 9, 1975 |
Mars orbiter & lander |
Searched for life on Mars and monitored the planet's weather. The orbiter ran out of power in 1978 and the lander stopped transmitting in 1980. |
|
|
Helios 2 |
(USA & W. Germany) |
Jan. 16, 1976 |
Solar probe |
Came within 43 million km of the Sun. |
|
Luna 24 |
(USSR) |
Aug. 9, 1976 |
Lunar lander |
Returned lunar soil samples after landing. |
|
(USA) |
Aug. 20, 1977 |
Multi- planet flyby |
Flew by Jupiter in 1979, Saturn in 1981, Uranus in 1986, and Neptune in 1989, studying their satellites, rings, and magnetospheres. Still transmitting from beyond our solar system. |
|
|
(USA) |
Sep. 5, 1977 |
Jupiter & Saturn flyby |
Flew by Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980, studying their satellites, rings, and magnetospheres. Still transmitting from beyond our solar system. |
|
|
(USA) |
May 20, 1978 |
Venus orbiter |
Used radar to map Venutian surface. Shut down in 1992. |
|
|
(USA) |
Aug. 8, 1978 |
Venus probe |
Arrived on Dec. 9, 1978, deploying four atmospheric probes, which descended by parachute and learned that the lower atmosphere was clear. |
|
|
Venera 11 |
(USSR) |
Sep. 9, 1978 |
Venus lander |
Arrived on Dec 25, 1978. Returned data for 95 minutes. |
|
Venera 12 |
(USSR) |
Sep. 14, 1978 |
Venus lander |
Arrived on Dec. 21, 1978. Returned data for 110 minutes, including evidence of lightning. |
|
Venera 13 |
(USSR) |
Oct. 30, 1981 |
Venus lander |
Landed on Mar. 1, 1982. Returned first color photographs of planet surface and conducted soil analysis, finding rocks rare on Earth. |
|
Venera 14 |
(USSR) |
Nov. 4, 1981 |
Venus lander |
Arrived on Mar. 5, 1982. Returned panoramic photos and conducted soil analysis. |
|
Venera 15 |
(USSR) |
June 2, 1983 |
Venus orbiter |
Arrived on Oct. 10, 1983. Mapped part of northern hemisphere using radar. |
|
Venera 16 |
(USSR) |
June 7, 1983 |
Venus orbiter |
Arrived on Oct. 14, 1983. Mapped part of northern hemisphere using radar. |
|
(USSR) |
Dec. 15, 1984 |
Venus & Halley flyby |
Flew by Venus and dropped lander which failed. Encountered Comet Halley on Mar. 6, 1986. Now in a solar orbit. |
|
|
(USSR) |
Dec. 21, 1984 |
Venus & Halley probe |
Flew by Venus and dropped lander which sampled soil, finding rocks rare on Earth. Encountered Comet Halley on Mar. 9, 1986. Now in a solar orbit. |
|
|
(Japan) |
Jan. 7, 1985 |
Halley flyby |
Encountered Comet Halley on Mar. 1, 1986. |
|
|
(Europe) |
July 2, 1985 |
Comet flyby |
Encountered Halley's comet on Mar. 13, 1986 and comet Grigg-Skjellerup on July 10, 1992. |
|
|
(Japan) |
Aug. 18, 1985 |
Halley flyby |
Encountered Comet Halley on Mar. 8, 1986. |
|
|
Phobos 1 |
(USSR) |
July 7, 1988 |
Phobos orbiter & lander |
Intended to study Mars' moon, Phobos, but contact was lost en route. |
|
Phobos 2 |
(USSR) |
July 12, 1988 |
Phobos orbiter & lander |
Inserted into orbit around Mars but lander failed to make it to Phobos. |
|
(USA) |
May 4, 1989 |
Venus orbiter |
Mapped Venusian surface using radar. Plunged into its atmosphere and was crushed by pressure after four years in orbit. |
|
|
(USA & Europe) |
Oct. 18, 1989 |
Jupiter orbiter & probe |
Designed to explore and study Jovian system. Probe entered Jupiter's atmosphere on Dec. 7, 1995 and orbiter is still transmitting data. |
|
|
Muses-A |
(Japan) |
Jan. 24, 1990 |
Lunar orbiters |
Consisted of two small orbiters, but failed to send back data from orbit around Moon. |
|
(USA & Europe) |
Oct. 6, 1990 |
Solar flyby |
Used gravity assist from Jupiter to achieve polar orbit around the Sun. Viewed Sun from high latitudes and studied its surrounding environment. |
|
|
Mars Observer |
(USA) |
Sep. 25, 1992 |
Mars orbiter |
Contact was lost just before it was to be inserted into Mars orbit. |
|
(USA) |
Jan. 25, 1994 |
Lunar orbiter |
Designed to test new space technology for the Department of Defense. It collected data which should allow scientists to create the first topographic map of the Moon. |
|
|
(USA and Europe) |
December 2, 1995 |
Solar probe |
Designed to investigate (1) the physical processes that form and heat the Sun's corona, maintain it and give rise to the expanding solar wind and (2) the interior structure of the Sun. |
|
|
(USA) |
Feb. 17, 1996 |
Asteroid flyby and orbiter |
Arrived at Mathilde for flyby on June 27, 1997. Missed orbit insertion opportunity at Eros on Jan. 10, 1999 due to lost communication prior to critical burn. Orbit was recalculated, and NEAR arrived at Eros for orbit insertion on Feb. 14, 2000 to become the first spacecraft to orbit a small body. |
|
|
(USA) |
Nov. 7, 1996 |
Mars Orbiter |
Arrived on Sept. 12, 1997. First spacecraft to use aerobraking to establish its orbit. It accomplished this despite having a damaged solar panel. It is still transmitting data. |
|
|
Mars 96 |
(Russia) |
Nov. 16, 1996 |
Mars Orbiter & Lander |
Failed. |
|
(USA) |
Dec. 4, 1996 |
Mars Lander and Rover |
Arrived July 4, 1997. First lander to use an airbag landing system, and the first spacecraft to deploy a rover on Mars. Contact lost with lander on Sept. 27, 1997 for unknown reasons. |
|
|
(USA) |
Oct. 15, 1997 |
Saturn Orbiter & Titan Probe |
Still en route to Saturn using VVEJGA trajectory. |
|
|
(USA) |
Aug. 25, 1997 |
Satellite in L1 Halo orbit |
The ACE spacecraft is sampling low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles. It also provides near-real-time reports of space weather. |
|
|
(USA) |
Jan. 7, 1998 |
Lunar orbiter |
Discovered strong evidence for water in polar craters. |
|
|
(USA) |
Oct. 24, 1998 |
Asteroid and Comet flyby |
Designed to test new space technology for NASA. Arrived at asteroid 9969 Braille (formerly 1992KD) on July 29, 1999, but obtained limitted data due to spacecraft safing. Currently en route to comet Borelly, still operating despite failure of spacecraft's star tracker. |
|
|
Mars Climate Orbiter |
(USA) |
Dec. 11, 1998 |
Mars Orbiter |
Spacecraft burned up in Martian atmosphere during orbit insertion due to error caused from confusion about unit system. |
|
Mars Polar Lander/DS2 |
(USA) |
Jan. 3, 1999 |
Mars lander and subsurface probes |
All three craft failed during encounter with Mars for unkown reasons. |
|
(USA) |
Feb. 7, 1999 |
Comet flyby and sample return |
The primary objective of the Discovery class Stardust mission is to fly by the comet P/Wild 2 and collect samples of dust and volatiles in the coma of the comet. It will then return these samples to Earth for detailed study. |