Scroll down to view all space missions that have taken place since 2005 or select another time period from the table below.
| 1955 - 1959 | 1960 - 1964 | 1965 - 1969 | 1970 - 1974 | 1975 - 1979 | 1980 - 1984 |
| 1985 - 1989 | 1990 - 1994 | 1995 - 1999 | 2000 - 2004 | 2005 - PRESENT | FUTURE |
|
|
There are currently several missions on their way to various destinations in the Solar System, some never visited before. New Horizons is on its way to the distant reaches of the Solar System to visit Pluto and its moons, and the first mission to the Asteroid Belt has also recently launched. |
||||||
| LAUNCH DATE | NAME | DESTINATION | COUNTRY | MISSION DETAILS | MAIN ACHIEVEMENT | CURRENT STATUS | |
| 12th January 2005 | Deep Impact | Comets Tempel and Boethin | USA |
Deep Impact (nothing to do with the film of the same name!) contained a probe which was sent to crash into comet Tempel 1 so that the contents of material ejected from the impact could be analysed. Early analysis shows the comet to be made up of more dust than ice. Deep Impact is still in operation and after completing a flyby of Earth in December 2007, will study planets orbiting other Suns (from Earth orbit, not by going to them) and visit the comet Boethin. | First probe to be crashed into a comet (other comet missions were flybys) | Information about Deep Impact's impact is still being analysed. The craft is due to enter the next stage of its mission. | |
| 19th January 2006 | New Horizons | Kuiper Belt objects | USA |
The first mission to visit Pluto and Charon. It will travel directly from Earth to Jupiter, where it will use a gravitational assist to send it straight to Pluto. It is expected to reach Pluto and Charon in 2015. The probe may also be programmed to explore other objects in the Kuiper Belt region. | Fastest spacecraft launch ever, taking just over a year to reach Jupiter. | New Horizons has now passed Jupiter and is somewhere in between the orbit of Jupiter and Saturn, still on its way to Pluto. | |
| 12th August 2005 | Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter | Mars | USA |
Orbiter which reached Mars on 10th March 2006. It has since spent its time imaging the planet and using aerobraking, placed itself into a regular orbit around the planet. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will begin its primary mission from November 2006, which will include mapping the planet's surface in high resolution to find suitable landing sites for future missions, and observe Mars' atmosphere, geology, climate and weather. It will also have a look for Mars Polar Lander and Beagle 2, two landers which were lost in previous missions. It has already managed to locate the Opportunity Rover near the Victoria Crater. After completing its scientific experiments in about two years, it will be used as a communications satellite to relay data from objects on Mars back to Earth. | . | Operational in orbit around Mars. | |
| 9th November 2005 | Venus Express | Venus | Europe |
Based on the European Space Agency's previous Mars Express spacecraft. The space craft reached Venus on 11th April 2006 and from 7th May 2006 was positioned to complete an orbit of Venus every 24 hours. It will study Venus' clouds and atmosphere and measure the planet's temperature globally. The mission is expected to last for between 500 and 1000 days (Earth days). | First European space craft to Venus. | Venus Express is currently in Science Operations Orbit. Basically means it is watching the planet and analysing it. The mission has recently been lengthened so that its primary mission will now end in May 2009. | |
| 26th October 2006 | STEREO | Sun | USA |
Two identical spacecraft were launched into Earth orbit to analyse and image the Sun. They send back images of the Sun which can be "fused" together to create stereo, or 3D, images of the Sun. | . | STEREO is expected to operate for at least two year from launch. | |
| 14th September 2007 | SELENE (also known as Kaguya) | Moon | Japan |
SELENE is due to launch to the Moon and enter orbit. It will conduct experiments on the Moon to return information back to Earth about the origins of the Moon, the Moon's surface and will conduct experiments on radio science (sending communications through space). | . | Space craft launched 14th September 2007. | |
| 27th September 2007 | Dawn | Asteroid Belt | USA |
Space craft which will visit the Asteroid Belt and orbit the asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. It will send back images and data about the two objects. | Dawn will be the first mission to be sent to orbit two different planetary bodies other than Earth and the Moon. | Dawn launched on 27th September 2007 to begin its eight year mission. | |
| 1955 - 1959 | 1960 - 1964 | 1965 - 1969 | 1970 - 1974 | 1975 - 1979 | 1980 - 1984 |
| 1985 - 1989 | 1990 - 1994 | 1995 - 1999 | 2000 - 2004 | 2005 - PRESENT | FUTURE |
