Timeline of Solar System exploration
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This is a timeline of Solar System exploration ordering events in the exploration of the Solar System 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 spacecraft.
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).
1950s
| Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soviet Union Sputnik 1 | 4 October 1957 | First Earth orbiter | |
| Soviet Union Sputnik 2 | 3 November 1957 | Earth orbiter, first animal in orbit, a dog named Laika | |
| United States Explorer 1 | 1 February 1958 | Earth orbiter; discovered Van Allen radiation belts | |
| United States Vanguard 1 | 17 March 1958 | Earth orbiter; oldest spacecraft still in Earth orbit | |
| Soviet Union Luna 1 | 2 January 1959 | First lunar flyby (attempted lunar impact?); first artificial satellite in heliocentric orbit. | |
| United States Pioneer 4 | 3 March 1959 | Lunar flyby | |
| Soviet Union Luna 2 | 12 September 1959 | First extraterrestrial impact and lunar impact, First artificial object on Moon | |
| Soviet Union Luna 3 | 4 October 1959 | Lunar flyby; First images of another celestial body taken from space, most notably, the far side of Moon |
1960s
| Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States Pioneer 5 | 11 March 1960 | Interplanetary space investigations | |
| Soviet Union Venera 1 | 12 February 1961 | First probe to another planet; Venus flyby (contact lost before flyby) | |
| Soviet Union Vostok 1 | 12 April 1961 | First crewed Earth orbiter (Yuri Gagarin) | |
| United States Ranger 1 | 23 August 1961 | Attempted lunar test flight (failed to leave Earth orbit) | |
| United States Ranger 2 | 18 November 1961 | Attempted lunar test flight (failed to leave Earth orbit) | |
| United States Ranger 3 | 26 January 1962 | Attempted lunar impact (missed Moon) | |
| United States Ranger 4 | 23 April 1962 | Lunar impact (but unintentionally became the first spacecraft to hit the lunar farside and returned no data) | |
| United States Mariner 2 | 27 August 1962 | First successful planetary encounter, First successful Venus flyby | |
| United States Ranger 5 | 18 October 1962 | Attempted lunar impact (missed Moon) | |
| Soviet Union Mars 1 | 1 November 1962 | First probe to Mars: flyby (contact lost) | |
| Soviet Union Luna 4 | 2 April 1963 | Attempted lunar lander (missed Moon) | |
| Soviet Union Cosmos 21 | 11 November 1963 | Attempted Venera test flight? | |
| United States Ranger 6 | 30 January 1964 | Lunar impact (cameras failed) | |
| Soviet Union Zond 1 | 2 April 1964 | Venus flyby (contact lost) | |
| United States Ranger 7 | 28 July 1964 | Lunar impact (success) | |
| Soviet Union Voskhod 1 | 12 October 1964 | First orbiter with multimember crew | |
| United States Mariner 3 | 5 November 1964 | Attempted Mars flyby (failed to attain correct trajectory) | |
| United States Mariner 4 | 28 November 1964 | First successful Mars flyby (taking the first close-up image of another planet) | |
| Soviet Union Zond 2 | 30 November 1964 | Mars flyby (contact lost) | |
| United States Ranger 8 | 17 February 1965 | Lunar impact | |
| Soviet Union Voskhod 2 | 18 March 1965 | First space walk, by Alexei Leonov | |
| United States Ranger 9 | 21 March 1965 | Lunar impact | |
| United States Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1 | 6 May 1965 | Oldest spacecraft still in use[citation needed] | |
| Soviet Union Luna 5 | 9 May 1965 | Lunar impact (attempted soft landing) | |
| Soviet Union Luna 6 | 8 June 1965 | Attempted lunar lander (missed Moon) | |
| Soviet Union Zond 3 | 18 July 1965 | Lunar flyby | |
| Soviet Union Luna 7 | 4 October 1965 | Lunar impact (attempted soft landing) | |
| Soviet Union Venera 2 | 12 November 1965 | Venus flyby (contact lost) | |
| Soviet Union Venera 3 | 16 November 1965 | Venus lander (contact lost) – First spacecraft to reach another planet's atmosphere and surface, First Venus impact | |
| Soviet Union Luna 8 | 3 December 1965 | Lunar impact (attempted soft landing?) | |
| United States Pioneer 6 | 16 December 1965 | "Space weather" observations | |
| Soviet Union Luna 9 | 31 January 1966 | First extraterrestrial lander and lunar lander | |
| Soviet Union Luna 10 | 31 March 1966 | First extraterrestrial orbiter (except heliocentric) and first lunar orbiter | |
| United States Surveyor 1 | 30 May 1966 | Lunar lander | |
| United States Explorer 33 | 1 July 1966 | Attempted lunar orbiter (failed to attain lunar orbit) | |
| United States Lunar Orbiter 1 | 10 August 1966 | Lunar orbiter | |
| United States Pioneer 7 | 17 August 1966 | "Space weather" observations | |
| Soviet Union Luna 11 | 24 August 1966 | Lunar orbiter | |
| United States Surveyor 2 | 20 September 1966 | Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon) | |
| Soviet Union Luna 12 | 22 October 1966 | Lunar orbiter | |
| United States Lunar Orbiter 2 | 6 November 1966 | Lunar orbiter | |
| Soviet Union Luna 13 | 21 December 1966 | Lunar lander | |
| United States Lunar Orbiter 3 | 5 February 1967 | Lunar orbiter | |
| United States Surveyor 3 | 17 April 1967 | Lunar lander | |
| United States Lunar Orbiter 4 | 4 May 1967 | Lunar orbiter | |
| Soviet Union Venera 4 | 12 June 1967 | First functioning extraterrestrial atmospheric probe (Venus) | |
| United States Mariner 5 | 14 June 1967 | Venus flyby | |
| United States Surveyor 4 | 14 July 1967 | Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon) | |
| United States Explorer 35 (IMP-E) | 19 July 1967 | Lunar orbiter | |
| United States Lunar Orbiter 5 | 1 August 1967 | Lunar orbiter | |
| United States Surveyor 5 | 8 September 1967 | Lunar lander | |
| United States Surveyor 6 | 7 November 1967 | Lunar lander, first lift-off from an extraterrestrial body | |
| United States Apollo 4 | 9 November 1967 | Lunar programme test flight in Earth orbit (uncrewed) | |
| United States Pioneer 8 | 13 December 1967 | "Space weather" observations | |
| United States Surveyor 7 | 7 January 1968 | Lunar lander | |
| United States Apollo 5 | 22 January 1968 | Lunar programme test flight in Earth orbit (uncrewed) | |
| Soviet Union Zond 4 | 2 March 1968 | Lunar programme test flight out of Earth orbit (uncrewed) | |
| Soviet Union Luna 14 | 7 April 1968 | Lunar orbiter | |
| Soviet Union Zond 5 | 14 September 1968 | First lunar flyby and return to Earth, first life forms to circle the Moon | |
| United States Apollo 7 | 11 October 1968 | Lunar programme test flight in Earth orbit (crewed) | |
| United States Pioneer 9 | 8 November 1968 | "Space weather" observations | |
| Soviet Union Zond 6 | 10 November 1968 | Lunar flyby and return to Earth | |
| United States Apollo 8 | 21 December 1968 | First crewed spacecraft to leave Earth orbit, first crewed lunar orbiter | |
| Soviet Union Venera 5 | 5 January 1969 | Venus atmospheric probe | |
| Soviet Union Venera 6 | 10 January 1969 | Venus atmospheric probe | |
| United States Mariner 6 | 25 February 1969 | Mars flyby | |
| United States Apollo 9 | 3 March 1969 | Crewed lunar lander (LEM) flight test in Earth orbit | |
| United States Mariner 7 | 27 March 1969 | Mars flyby | |
| United States Apollo 10 | 18 May 1969 | Crewed lunar orbiter | |
| Soviet Union Luna 15 | 13 July 1969 | Second attempted lunar sample return | |
| United States Apollo 11 | 16 July 1969 | First crewed lunar landing and first successful sample return mission | |
| Soviet Union Zond 7 | 7 August 1969 | Lunar flyby and return to Earth | |
| United States Apollo 12 | 14 November 1969 | Crewed lunar landing |
1970s
| Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States Apollo 13 | 11 April 1970 | Crewed lunar flyby and return to Earth (crewed lunar landing aborted). | |
| Soviet Union 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) | |
| Soviet Union Luna 16 | 12 September 1970 | First robotic lunar sample return | |
| Soviet Union Zond 8 | 20 October 1970 | Lunar flyby and return to Earth | |
| Soviet Union Luna 17/Lunokhod 1 | 10 November 1970 | First remote controlled rover | |
| United States Apollo 14 | 31 January 1971 | Crewed lunar landing | |
| Soviet Union Salyut 1 | 19 April 1971 | First space station | |
| Soviet Union Mars 2 | 19 May 1971 | First Mars impact, Mars orbiter and attempted lander; First rover (Prop-M) sent to another planet (Mars) | |
| Soviet Union Mars 3 | 28 May 1971 | Mars orbiter (arrived after Mariner 9); 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) | |
| United States Mariner 9 | 30 May 1971 | First to orbit another planet (Mars) | |
| United States Apollo 15 | 26 July 1971 | Crewed lunar landing; First crewed lunar rover | |
| Soviet Union Luna 18 | 2 September 1971 | Attempted lunar sample return (crashed into Moon) | |
| Soviet Union Luna 19 | 28 September 1971 | Lunar orbiter | |
| Soviet Union Luna 20 | 14 February 1972 | Lunar robotic sample return | |
| United States Pioneer 10 | 3 March 1972 | First Jupiter flyby | |
| Soviet Union Venera 8 | 27 March 1972 | Venus lander | |
| United States Apollo 16 | 16 April 1972 | Crewed lunar landing | |
| United States Apollo 17 | 7 December 1972 | Last crewed lunar landing | |
| Soviet Union Luna 21/Lunokhod 2 | 8 January 1973 | Lunar rover | |
| United States Pioneer 11 | 5 April 1973 | Jupiter flyby and First Saturn flyby | |
| United States Explorer 49 (RAE-B) | 10 June 1973 | Lunar orbiter/radio astronomy | |
| Soviet Union Mars 4 | 21 July 1973 | Mars flyby (attempted Mars orbiter) | |
| Soviet Union Mars 5 | 25 July 1973 | Mars orbiter | |
| Soviet Union Mars 6 | 5 August 1973 | Mars flyby and attempted lander (failed due to damage on Mars landing) | |
| Soviet Union Mars 7 | 9 August 1973 | Mars flyby and attempted lander (missed Mars) | |
| United States Mariner 10 | 3 November 1973 | Lunar and Venus flybys in addition to the First Mercury flyby | |
| Soviet Union Luna 22 | 29 May 1974 | Lunar orbiter | |
| Soviet Union Luna 23 | 28 October 1974 | Attempted lunar sample return (failed due to damage on lunar landing) | |
| United States West Germany Helios-A | 10 December 1974 | Solar observations | |
| Soviet Union Venera 9 | 8 June 1975 | First Venus orbiter and lander; First successful images from the surface of another planet (Venus) | |
| Soviet Union Venera 10 | 14 June 1975 | Venus orbiter and lander | |
| United States Viking 1 | 20 August 1975 | Mars orbiter and lander; First clear pictures from Martian surface | |
| United States Viking 2 | 9 September 1975 | Mars orbiter and lander | |
| United States West Germany Helios-B | 15 January 1976 | Solar observations | |
| Soviet Union Luna 24 | 9 August 1976 | Lunar robotic sample return | |
| United States Voyager 2 | 20 August 1977 | Jupiter/Saturn/first Uranus/first Neptune flyby | |
| United States Voyager 1 | 5 September 1977 | Jupiter/Saturn flyby, first to exit the heliosphere | |
| United States Pioneer Venus 1 | 20 May 1978 | Venus orbiter | |
| United States Pioneer Venus 2 | 8 August 1978 | Venus atmospheric probes | |
| United States 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 | |
| Soviet Union Venera 11 | 9 September 1978 | Venus flyby and lander | |
| Soviet Union Venera 12 | 14 September 1978 | Venus flyby and lander |
1980s
| Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soviet Union Venera 13 | 30 October 1981 | Venus flyby and lander. First recording of sound on another planet. | |
| Soviet Union Venera 14 | 4 November 1981 | Venus flyby and lander | |
| Soviet Union Venera 15 | 2 June 1983 | Venus orbiter | |
| Soviet Union Venera 16 | 7 June 1983 | Venus orbiter | |
| Soviet Union Vega 1 | 15 December 1984 | Venus flyby, lander and first extraterrestrial aircraft (aerostat balloon); continued on to Comet Halley flyby | |
| Soviet Union Vega 2 | 21 December 1984 | Venus flyby, lander and balloon; continued on to Comet Halley flyby | |
| Japan Sakigake | 8 January 1985 | Comet Halley flyby | |
| Giotto | 2 July 1985 | First close observation of comet (distance 596 kilometers), Comet Halley flyby | |
| Japan Suisei (Planet-A) | 18 August 1985 | Comet Halley flyby | |
| Soviet Union Mir | 19 February 1986 | First modular space station (operational 1986–2000; final module added 1996) | |
| Soviet Union Phobos 1 | 7 July 1988 | Attempted Mars orbiter/Phobos landers (contact lost) | |
| Soviet Union Phobos 2 | 12 July 1988 | Mars orbiter/attempted Phobos landers (contact lost) | |
| United States Magellan | 4 May 1989 | Venus orbiter | |
| United States Galileo | 18 October 1989 | Venus flyby, first Asteroid flyby (Gaspra), first Asteroid moon discovery (Dactyl), first Jupiter orbiter, first Jupiter atmospheric probe |
1990s
| Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan Hiten (MUSES-A) | 24 January 1990 | Lunar flyby and orbiter | |
| United States Hubble Space Telescope | 24 April 1990 | Orbital space telescope (operational since 1990[needs update]) | |
| United States Ulysses | 6 October 1990 | Solar polar orbiter | |
| Japan United States Yohkoh (Solar-A) | 30 August 1991 | Solar observations (1991–2001) | |
| United States Mars Observer | 25 September 1992 | Attempted Mars orbiter (contact lost) | |
| United States Clementine | 25 January 1994 | Lunar orbiter/attempted asteroid flyby (contact lost) | |
| United States WIND | 1 November 1994 | Solar wind observations | |
| United States SOHO | 2 December 1995 | Solar observatory (operational since 1996[needs update]) | |
| United States NEAR Shoemaker | 17 February 1996 | Eros orbiter, first near-Earth asteroid flyby, first asteroid orbit and first asteroid landing | |
| United States Mars Global Surveyor | 7 November 1996 | Mars orbiter | |
| Russia Mars 96 | 16 November 1996 | Attempted Mars orbiter/landers (failed to escape Earth orbit) | |
| United States Mars Pathfinder | 4 December 1996 | Mars lander and first successful planetary rover | |
| United States ACE | 25 August 1997 | Solar wind and "space weather" observations (operational since 1998[needs update]) | |
| United States Italy Cassini–Huygens | 15 October 1997 | First Saturn orbiter and first outer planet moon lander (on Titan) | |
| United States Lunar Prospector | 7 January 1998 | Lunar orbiter | |
| Japan Nozomi (Planet-B) | 3 July 1998 | Attempted Mars orbiter (failed to enter Mars orbit) | |
| United States Deep Space 1 (DS1) | 24 October 1998 | Asteroid and comet flyby | |
| United States Russia Japan CanadaBrazil ISS | 20 November 1998 | International space station | |
| United States Mars Climate Orbiter | 11 December 1998 | Attempted Mars orbiter (orbit insertion failed; entered atmosphere and was destroyed) | |
| United States Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2 (DS2) | 3 January 1999 | Attempted Mars lander/penetrators (contact lost) | |
| United States Stardust | 7 February 1999 | First comet coma sample return (returned 15 January 2006) |
2000s
| Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States 2001 Mars Odyssey | 7 April 2001 | Mars orbiter | |
| United States Genesis | 8 August 2001 | First solar wind sample return | |
| United States CONTOUR | 3 July 2002 | Attempted flyby of comet nuclei (Encke, Schwassmann-Wachmann-3, and optionally a third one; lost in space) | |
| Japan Hayabusa (MUSES-C) | 9 May 2003 | Asteroid lander and first sample return from asteroid | |
| United Kingdom Mars Express/Beagle 2 | 2 June 2003 | Mars orbiter/attempted lander (lander failure) | |
| United States Mars Exploration Rover Spirit | 10 June 2003 | Mars rover | |
| United States Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity | 8 July 2003 | Mars rover | |
| SMART-1 | 27 September 2003 | Lunar orbiter | |
| Rosetta/Philae | 2 March 2004 | Asteroid Šteins and Lutetia flybys; first comet orbiter and lander(Landed in November 2014) | |
| United States MESSENGER | 3 August 2004 | First Mercury orbiter (Achieved orbit 18 March 2011) | |
| United States Deep Impact | 12 January 2005 | Comet flyby and impact | |
| United States Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter | 12 August 2005 | Mars orbiter | |
| Venus Express | 9 November 2005 | Venus polar orbiter | |
| United States New Horizons | 19 January 2006 | First Pluto/Charon flyby (on 14 July 2015); continued on to 486958 Arrokoth flyby (on 1 January 2019) | |
| Japan United States United Kingdom Hinode (Solar-B) | 22 September 2006 | Solar orbiter | |
| United States STEREO | 26 October 2006 | Two spacecraft, solar orbiters | |
| United States Phoenix | 4 August 2007 | Mars polar lander (Mars landing on 25 May 2008) | |
| Japan SELENE (Kaguya) | 14 September 2007 | Lunar orbiters | |
| United States Dawn | 27 September 2007 | Asteroid Ceres and Vesta orbiter (Entered orbit around Vesta on 16 July 2011 and around Ceres on 6 March 2015) | |
| China Chang'e 1 | 24 October 2007 | Lunar orbiter | |
| India Chandrayaan-1 | 22 October 2008 | Lunar orbiter and impactor; discovered water on the Moon | |
| Herschel Space Observatory | 14 May 2009 | Infrared space telescope at Sun–Earth L2 Lagrange point | |
| United States Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/LCROSS | 18 June 2009 | Lunar polar orbiter and lunar impactor | |
| United States WISE (NEOWISE) | 14 December 2009 | Infrared survey of celestial sky (WISE mission); later Near-Earth object survey (NEOWISE mission) |
2010s
| Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States Solar Dynamics Observatory | 11 February 2010 | Continuous solar monitoring | |
| Japan Akatsuki (Planet-C) | 20 May 2010 | Venus orbiter (orbit insertion failed in 2010 / successful orbit insertion on 7 December 2015) | |
| France PICARD | 15 June 2010 | Solar monitoring | |
| China Chang'e 2 | 1 October 2010 | Lunar orbiter, asteroid 4179 Toutatis flyby | |
| United States Juno | 5 August 2011 | Jupiter orbiter | |
| United States GRAIL | 10 September 2011 | Two spacecraft, Lunar orbiters | |
| Russia China Fobos-Grunt and Yinghuo-1 | 8 November 2011 | Attempted Phobos sample return and Mars orbiter, respectively; both failed to escape Earth orbit | |
| United States Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover) | 26 November 2011 | Mars rover (landed 6 August 2012) | |
| United States Van Allen Probes (RBSP) | 30 August 2012 | Earth Van Allen radiation belts study | |
| United States IRIS | 28 June 2013 | Solar observations | |
| United States LADEE | 7 September 2013 | Lunar orbiter | |
| Japan Hisaki | 14 September 2013 | Planetary atmosphere observatory | |
| India Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) | 5 November 2013 | Mars orbiter | |
| United States MAVEN | 18 November 2013 | Mars orbiter | |
| China Chang'e 3 | 1 December 2013 | Lunar lander and rover (first lander since Soviet Luna 24 in 1976) | |
| China Chang'e 5-T1 | 23 October 2014 | Circumlunar mission and Earth reentry; technology demonstration to prepare for Chang'e 5 mission | |
| Japan Germany France Hayabusa2 / MASCOT | 3 December 2014 | Asteroid lander and sample return (sample returned 5 December 2020), first asteroid rover | |
| Japan PROCYON | 3 December 2014 | Comet observer and attempted asteroid flyby (engine failure) | |
| United States DSCOVR | 11 February 2015 | Solar observation | |
| Russia ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and EDM lander | 14 March 2016 | Mars orbiter and attempted lander (lander failure) | |
| United States OSIRIS-REx | 8 September 2016 | Asteroid sample return mission (sample returned 24 September 2023) | |
| United States InSight | 5 May 2018 | Mars lander | |
| China Queqiao | 20 May 2018 | Relay satellite for Chang'e 4 in Halo orbit around Earth–Moon L2 Lagrange point | |
| United States Parker Solar Probe | 12 August 2018 | Solar corona probe, closest solar approach (0.04 AU) | |
| Japan BepiColombo | 19 October 2018 | Two Mercury orbiters (orbit insertion planned in November 2026) | |
| China Chang'e 4 | 7 December 2018 | Lunar lander and rover, first landing on the lunar far side | |
| Israel Beresheet | 22 February 2019 | Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon) | |
| India Chandrayaan-2 | 22 July 2019 | Lunar orbiter; attempted lander and rover (contact lost during final stage of descent) |
2020s
| Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solar Orbiter | 10 February 2020 | Sun-observing satellite | |
| United Arab Emirates Mars Hope | 19 July 2020 | Mars orbiter | |
| China Tianwen-1 (Zhurong rover) | 23 July 2020 | Mars orbiter, lander, and rover | |
| United States Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter) | 30 July 2020 | Mars rover and helicopter drone; first powered flight on another planet | |
| China Chang'e 5 | 23 November 2020 | Lunar sample return | |
| United States Lucy | 16 October 2021 | Flyby of six Jupiter trojans and two main belt asteroids | |
| United States Italy DART / LICIACube | 24 November 2021 | Asteroid 65803 Didymos flyby, asteroid moon Dimorphos impactor | |
| United States Canada James Webb Space Telescope | 25 December 2021 | Infrared space telescope at Sun–Earth L2 | |
| United States CAPSTONE | 28 June 2022 | Lunar orbiter | |
| South Korea United States Danuri (KPLO) | 5 August 2022 | Lunar orbiter | |
| United States 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. | |
| Japan United States 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) | |
| JUICE | 14 April 2023 | Jupiter/Ganymede orbiter | |
| India Chandrayaan-3 | 14 July 2023 | Lunar orbiter, lander and rover; first soft landing near the lunar South Pole | |
| Russia Luna 25 | 10 August 2023 | Attempted lunar south pole lander (crashed into Moon) | |
| India Aditya-L1 | 2 September 2023 | Sun-observing spacecraft at Sun–Earth L1 | |
| Japan SLIM (LEV-1, LEV-2) | 6 September 2023 | Lunar flyby, lander and rovers | |
| United States Psyche | 13 October 2023 | Asteroid 16 Psyche orbiter | |
| United States Peregrine Mission One (including Iris and Colmena rovers) | 8 January 2024 | Lunar lander and rovers (landing precluded) | |
| United States IM-1 Nova-C Odysseus (including EagleCam deployable camera) | 15 February 2024 | Lunar landers | |
| China DRO A/B | 13 March 2024 | Lunar orbiters | |
| China Queqiao-2 (including Tiandu-1 and 2) | 20 March 2024 | Lunar orbiters | |
| China 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 | |
| Hera (3 orbiters) | 7 October 2024 | Asteroid 65803 Didymos rendezvous | |
| United States Europa Clipper | 14 October 2024 | Jupiter orbiter, Currently in transit. | |
| United States Blue Ghost M1 | 15 January 2025 | Lunar lander, first private company to soft land on the Moon | |
| Japan Hakuto-R Mission 2 (including Tenacious rover) | 15 January 2025 | Lunar lander and rover | |
| United States Intuitive Machines Nova-C IM-2 (including MAPP LV1, Micro-Nova, AstroAnt and Yaoki rover) | 27 February 2025 | Lunar lander and rovers | |
| United States Lunar Trailblazer | 27 February 2025 | Lunar orbiter | |
| United States Brokkr-2 | 27 February 2025 | Asteroid flyby | |
| United States Chimera-1 | 27 February 2025 | Lunar flyby | |
| China Tianwen-2 (orbiters and landers) | 29 May 2025 | Asteroid study and sample return | |
| United StatesCarruthers Geocorona Observatory | 24 September 2025 | heliophysics mission | |
| United States Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 | 24 September 2025 | heliophysics mission | |
| United States Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe | 24 September 2025 | heliophysics mission | |
| United States EscaPADE | 13 November 2025 | Two orbiters to Mars | |
| United States Artemis II | 1 April 2026 | Crewed lunar flyby; Farthest from Earth a human has gone (406,771 km) |
Planned or scheduled
See also
- Discovery and exploration of the Solar System
- Human presence in space
- List of missions to the Moon
- List of missions to Venus
- List of missions to Mars
- List of Solar System probes
- List of interplanetary voyages
- List of space telescopes
- New Frontiers program
- Out of the Cradle – 1984 book about scientific speculation on future missions.
- Space Race
- Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes
- Timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their moons
- Timeline of first orbital launches by country
- Timeline of space exploration
- Timeline of space travel by nationality
- Timeline of spaceflight