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Space Missions List

Since the 1950s, human beings have been blasting all kinds of spacecraft into space in their quest to discover more about the universe. Some stay quite close to Earth while others take longer distance trips out to the solar system's planets and moons. A small number are even making their way out of the solar system.

This list contains many of the key missions to explore the Solar System.

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Name of Mission Launch Date Destination Type
Sputnik 1 4th October 1957 Earth Other
Sputnik 2 3rd November 1957 Earth Orbiter
Vanguard TV3 6th December 1957 Earth Orbiter
Explorer 1 1st February 1958 Earth Orbiter
Vanguard 1 17th March 1958 Earth Orbiter
Pioneer 0 17th August 1958 The Moon Orbiter
Luna 2 12th September 1959 The Moon Other
Luna 1958A 23rd September 1958 The Moon Other
Pioneer 1 11th October 1958 The Moon Orbiter
Luna 1958B 12th October 1958 The Moon Other
Pioneer 2 8th November 1958 The Moon Orbiter
Luna 1958C 4th December 1958 The Moon Other
Pioneer 3 6th December 1958 The Moon Flyby
Luna 1 2nd January 1959 The Moon Flyby
Pioneer 4 3rd March 1959 The Moon Flyby
Luna 1959A 16th June 1959 The Moon Other
Luna 3 4th October 1959 The Moon Flyby
Pioneer P-3 26th November 1959 The Moon Orbiter
Luna 1960A 15th April 1960 The Moon Flyby
Luna 1960B 18th April 1960 The Moon Flyby
Pioneer P-31 15th September 1960 The Moon Orbiter
Pioneer P-30 25th September 1960 The Moon Orbiter
Marsnik 1 10th October 1960 Mars Flyby
Marsnik 2 14th October 1960 Mars Flyby
Tyazhely Sputnik 4th February 1961 Venus Other
Venera 1 12th February 1961 Venus Flyby
Ranger 1 23rd August 1961 The Moon Other
Ranger 2 18th November 1961 The Moon Other
Ranger 3 26th January 1962 The Moon Other
Ranger 4 23rd April 1962 The Moon Other
Mariner 1 22nd July 1962 Venus Flyby
Venera 2MV-1 No.1 25th August 1962 Venus Flyby
Mariner 2 27th August 1962 Venus Flyby
Venera 2MV-1 No.2 1st September 1962 Venus Flyby
Venera 2MV-2 No.2 12th September 1962 Venus Flyby
Ranger 5 18th October 1962 The Moon Other
Mars 2MV-4 No. 1 24th October 1962 Mars Flyby
Mars 1 1st November 1962 Mars Flyby
Mars 2MV-3 No. 1 4th November 1962 Mars Lander
Luna E-6 No.2 4th January 1963 The Moon Lander
Luna 1963B 2nd February 1963 The Moon Lander
Luna 4 2nd April 1963 The Moon Lander
Cosmos 21 11th November 1963 Venus Other
Ranger 6 30th January 1964 The Moon Other
Venera 1964A 19th February 1964 Venus Flyby
Venera 1964B 1st March 1964 Venus Flyby
Luna 1964A 21st March 1964 The Moon Lander
Kosmos 27 27th March 1964 Venus Other
Zond 1 2nd April 1964 Venus Flyby
Luna 1964B 20th April 1964 The Moon Lander
Zond 1964A 4th June 1964 The Moon Lander
Ranger 7 28th July 1964 The Moon Other
Mariner 3 5th November 1964 Mars Flyby
Mariner 4 28th November 1964 Mars Flyby
Zond 2 30th November 1964 Mars Flyby
Ranger 8 17th February 1965 The Moon Other
Cosmos 60 12-Mar-65 The Moon Lander
Ranger 9 21-Mar-65 The Moon Other
Luna 1965A 10-Apr-65 The Moon Lander
Luna 5 09-May-65 The Moon Other
Luna 6 08-Jun-65 The Moon Lander
Zond 3 18-Jul-65 The Moon Flyby
Luna 7 04-Oct-65 The Moon Other
Venera 2 12-Nov-65 Venus Flyby
Venera 3 16-Nov-65 Venus Lander
Cosmos 96 23-Nov-65 Venus Lander
Venera 1965A 23-Nov-65 Venus Flyby
Luna 8 03-Dec-65 The Moon Other
Luna 9 31-Jan-66 The Moon Lander
Cosmos 111 01-Mar-66 The Moon Orbiter
Luna 10 31-Mar-66 The Moon Orbiter
Luna 1966A 30-Apr-66 The Moon Orbiter
Surveyor 1 30-May-66 The Moon Lander
Explorer 33 01-Jul-66 The Moon Orbiter
Lunar Orbiter 1 10-Aug-66 The Moon Orbiter
Luna 11 24-Aug-66 The Moon Orbiter
Surveyor 2 20-Sep-66 The Moon Lander
Luna 12 22-Oct-66 The Moon Orbiter
Lunar Orbiter 2 06-Nov-66 The Moon Orbiter
Luna 13 21-Dec-66 The Moon Lander
Lunar Orbiter 3 04-Feb-67 The Moon Orbiter
Surveyor 3 17-Apr-67 The Moon Lander
Lunar Orbiter 4 08-May-67 The Moon Orbiter
Venera 4 12-Jun-67 Venus Other
Mariner 5 14th June 1967 Venus Flyby
Cosmos 167 17-Jun-67 Venus Other
Surveyor 4 14-Jul-67 The Moon Lander
Explorer 35 (IMP-E) 19-Jul-67 The Moon Orbiter
Lunar Orbiter 5 01-Aug-67 The Moon Orbiter
Surveyor 5 08-Sep-67 The Moon Lander
Zond 1967A 28-Sep-67 The Moon Other
Surveyor 6 07-Nov-67 The Moon Lander
Zond 1967B 22-Nov-67 The Moon Other
Surveyor 7 07-Jan-68 The Moon Lander
Luna 1968A 07-Feb-68 The Moon Orbiter
Zond 4 02-Mar-68 Other
Luna 14 07-Apr-68 Orbiter
Zond 1968A 23-Apr-68 The Moon Other
Zond 5 15-Sep-68 The Moon Flyby
Zond 6 10-Nov-68 The Moon Flyby
Apollo 8 21-Dec-68 The Moon Orbiter
Venera 5 05-Jan-69 Venus Other
Venera 6 10-Jan-69 Venus Other
Zond 1969A 20-Jan-69 The Moon Flyby
Luna 1969A 19-Feb-69 The Moon Rover
Zond L1S-1 21-Feb-69 The Moon Orbiter
Mariner 6 25th February 1969 Mars Flyby
Mariner 7 27th March 1969 Mars Flyby
Mars 1969A 27th March 1969 Mars Orbiter
Mars 1969B 02-Apr-69 Mars Orbiter
Luna 1969B 15-Apr-69 The Moon Other
Apollo 10 18-May-69 The Moon Orbiter
Luna 1969C 14-Jun-69 The Moon Other
Zond L1S-2 03-Jul-69 The Moon Orbiter
Luna 15 13-Jul-69 The Moon Orbiter
Apollo 11 16-Jul-69 The Moon Lander
Zond 7 07-Aug-69 The Moon Flyby
Cosmos 300 23-Sep-69 The Moon Other
Cosmos 305 22-Oct-69 The Moon Other
Apollo 12 14-Nov-69 The Moon Lander
Luna 1970A 06-Feb-70 The Moon Other
Luna 1970B 19-Feb-70 The Moon Orbiter
Apollo 13 11-Apr-70 The Moon Lander
Venera 7 17-Aug-70 Venus Lander
Cosmos 359 22-Aug-70 Venus Other
Luna 16 12-Sep-70 The Moon Other
Zond 8 20-Oct-70 The Moon Flyby
Luna 17/Lunokhod 1 10-Nov-70 The Moon Rover
Apollo 14 31-Jan-71 The Moon Lander
Mariner 8 9th May 1971 Mars Orbiter
Cosmos 419 10th May 1971 Mars Orbiter
Kosmos 419 12th May 1971 Mars Orbiter
Mars 2 19th May 1971 Mars Orbiter
Mars 3 28th May 1971 Mars Orbiter
Mariner 9 30th May 1971 Mars Orbiter
Apollo 15 26-Jul-71 The Moon Lander
Luna 18 02-Sep-71 The Moon Other
Luna 19 28-Sep-71 The Moon Orbiter
Luna 20 14-Feb-72 The Moon Other
Pioneer 10 02-Mar-72 Jupiter and Outer Solar System Flyby
Venera 8 27-Mar-72 Venus Other
Cosmos 482 31-Mar-72 Venus Other
Apollo 16 16-Apr-72 The Moon Lander
Soyuz L3 23-Nov-72 The Moon Orbiter
Apollo 17 07-Dec-72 The Moon Lander
Luna 21/Lunokhod 2 08-Jan-73 The Moon Rover
Pioneer 11 05-Apr-73 Jupiter, Saturn and Outer Solar System Flyby
Skylab 14-May-73 Earth Orbiter
Explorer 49 (RAE-B) 10-Jun-73 The Moon Orbiter
Mars 4 21st July 1973 Mars Orbiter
Mars 5 25th July 1973 Mars Orbiter
Mars 6 5th August 1973 Mars Lander
Mars 7 9th August 1973 Mars Lander
Mariner 10 3rd November 1973 Venus and Mercury Flyby
Luna 22 02-Jun-74 The Moon Orbiter
Luna 23 28-Oct-74 The Moon Other
Venera 9 08-Jun-75 Venus Orbiter
Venera 10 14-Jun-75 Venus Orbiter
Viking 1 20-Aug-75 Mars Orbiter
Viking 2 09-Sep-75 Mars Orbiter
Luna 1975A 16-Oct-75 The Moon Other
Luna 24 09-Aug-76 The Moon Other
Voyager 2 20th August 1977 Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and interstellar space Flyby
Voyager 1 5th September 1977 Jupiter, Saturn and interstellar space Flyby
Pioneer Venus 1 20th May 1978 Venus Orbiter
Pioneer Venus 2 8th August 1978 Venus Other
ISEE-3/ICE 12th August 1978 The Sun and Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner Flyby
Venera 11 09-Sep-78 Venus Orbiter
Venera 12 14-Sep-78 Venus Orbiter
Venera 13 30-Oct-81 Venus Orbiter
Venera 14 04-Nov-81 Venus Orbiter
Venera 15 02-Jun-83 Venus Orbiter
Venera 16 07-Aug-83 Venus Orbiter
Vega 1 15-Dec-84 Halley's Comet and Venus Lander
Vega 2 21-Dec-84 Halley's Comet and Venus Lander
Sakigake 07-Jan-85 Halley's Comet Flyby
Giotto 02-Jul-85 Halley's Comet Flyby
Suisei (Planet-A) 18-Aug-85 Halley's Comet Flyby
Phobos 1 7th July 1988 Mars and Phobos Orbiter
Phobos 2 12th July 1988 Mars and Phobos Orbiter
Magellan 4th May 1989 Venus Orbiter
Galileo 18th October 1989 Jupiter Orbiter
Hiten 24th January 1990 The Moon Orbiter
Hubble Space Telescope 24th April 1990 Solar System and Beyond Other
Ulysses 6th October 1990 The Sun and Jupiter Orbiter
Geotail 24th July 1992 Earth Orbiter
Mars Observer 25th September 1992 Mars Orbiter
Clementine 25th January 1994 The Moon and asteroid 1620 Geographos Orbiter
Wind 1st November 1994 The Sun Other
SOHO 2nd December 1995 The Sun Other
NEAR Shoemaker 17th February 1996 Eros (asteroid) Orbiter
Mars Global Surveyor 7th November 1996 Mars Orbiter
Mars 96 16th November 1996 Mars Orbiter
Mars Pathfinder 4th December 1996 Mars Lander
ACE 25th August 1997 Solar Wind Other
Huygens 15th October 1997 Titan (moon of Saturn) Lander
Cassini 15th October 1997 Jupiter and Saturn Orbiter
AsiaSat 3/HGS-1 24th December 1997 The Moon Flyby
Mars Polar Lander 3rd January 1999 Mars Lander
Deep Space 2 3rd January 1999 Mars Other
Lunar Prospector 7th January 1998 The Moon Orbiter
Nozomi (Planet-B) 3rd July 1998 Mars Orbiter
Deep Space 1 (DS1) 24th October 1998 9660 Braille (asteroid), Comet Borrelly Flyby
Mars Climate Orbiter 11th December 1998 Mars Orbiter
Deep Space 2 (DS2) 3rd January 1999 Mars Other
Stardust 7th February 1999 Annefrank (asteroid), Comets Wild 2 and Tempel 1 Flyby
Mars Odyssey 7th April 2001 Mars Orbiter
Genesis 8th August 2001 Solar Wind Other
CONTOUR 3rd July 2002 Comets 2P/Encke and 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann-3 Flyby
Hayabusa 9th May 2003 Asteroid Itokawa Orbiter
Mars Express 2nd June 2003 Mars Orbiter
Beagle 2 2nd June 2003 Mars Lander
Spirit (MER-A) 10th June 2003 Mars Rover
Opportunity (MER-B) 8th July 2003 Mars Rover
Spitzer Space Telescope 25th August 2003 Solar System and Beyond Other
Rosetta and Philae 2nd March 2004 Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Orbiter
MESSENGER 3rd August 2004 Mercury Orbiter
Deep Impact (EPOXI) 12th January 2005 Tempel 1 and Hartley 2 (comets) Flyby
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter 12th August 2005 Mars Orbiter
Venus Express 9th November 2005 Venus Orbiter
New Horizons 19th January 2006 Jupiter, Pluto and Kuiper Belt Flyby
SMART-1 27th September 2003 The Moon Orbiter
ARTEMIS (THEMIS) 17th February 2007 The Moon Orbiter
Phoenix 4th August 2007 Mars Lander
Kaguya (SELENE) 14th September 2007 The Moon Orbiter
Dawn 27th September 2007 Vesta and Ceres (Asteroid Belt) Orbiter
Chang'e 1 24th October 2007 The Moon Orbiter
IBEX 19th October 2008 Edge of Solar System Other
Chandrayaan-1 22nd October 2008 The Moon Orbiter
Kepler 7th March 2009 The Milky Way Orbiter
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter 18th June 2009 The Moon Orbiter
LCROSS 18th June 2009 The Moon Orbiter
WISE/NEOWISE 14th December 2009 Near Earth Objects Other
Akatsuki/Planet-C 20th May 2010 Venus Orbiter
Chang'e 2 1st October 2010 The Moon Orbiter
Juno 5th August 2011 Jupiter Orbiter
GRAIL (Ebb and Flow) 10th September 2011 The Moon Orbiter
Fobos-Grunt 8th November 2011 Mars Orbiter
Yinghuo 1 8th November 2011 Mars Orbiter
Curiosity 26th November 2011 Mars Rover
LADEE 7th September 2013 The Moon Orbiter
Mangalyaan / Mars Orbiter Mission 5th November 2013 Mars Orbiter
MAVEN 18th November 2013 Mars Orbiter
Chang'e 3 1st December 2013 The Moon Lander
Gaia 19th December 2013 The Milky Way Other
Chang'e 5 Test Vehicle 23rd October 2014 The Moon Flyby
Hayabusa 2 3rd December 2014 Asteroid 162173 Ryugu, and Asteroid 1998 KY26 Other
PROCYON 3rd December 2014 Flyby
DSCOVR 11th February 2015 Earth Other
ExoMars 2016 14th March 2016 Mars Orbiter
Schiaparelli EDM 14th March 2016 Mars Lander
OSIRIS-Rex 8th September 2016 Bennu (asteroid) Other
InSight 5th May 2018 Mars Lander
Queqiao 20th May 2018 The Moon Other
Parker Solar Probe 12th August 2018 The Sun Orbiter
BepiColombo 20th October 2018 Mercury Orbiter
Chang'e 4 7th December 2018 The Moon Lander
Beresheet 22nd February 2019 The Moon Lander
Chandrayaan 2 22nd July 2019 The Moon Orbiter
Solar Orbiter 9/10 February 2020 The Sun Other
Hope / Emirates Mars Mission 19th July 2020 Mars Orbiter
Tianwen 1 23rd July 2020 Mars Orbiter
Zhurong 23rd July 2020 Mars Rover
Perseverance and Ingenuity 30th July 2020 Mars Rover
Chang'e 5 13th November 2020 The Moon Other
Q-PACE 17th January 2021 Other
Lucy 16th October 2021 Multiple Trojan Asteroids Flyby
DART 23rd November 2021 Didymos and Dimorphos Other
James Webb Space Telescope 25th December 2021 Solar System and Beyond Other
CAPSTONE 28th June 2022 The Moon Orbiter
LunaH-Map Aug-22 The Moon Other
Lunar Ice Cube Aug-22 The Moon Other
NEA Scout Aug-22 The Moon Flyby
Lunar InfraRed imaging (LunIR) Aug-22 The Moon Flyby
OMOTENASHI Aug-22 The Moon Lander
EQUULEUS Aug-22 The Moon Other
Danuri 4th August 2022 The Moon Orbiter
Luna 25 Sep-23 The Moon Lander
ExoMars To be confirmed Mars Lander
IM-1 Dec-22 The Moon Lander
PRIME-1 Dec-22 The Moon Lander
Peregrine Mission 1 Late 2022 The Moon Lander
SLIM 2023 The Moon Lander
XRISM 2023 Deep Space Other
Chandrayaan 3 January to March 2023 The Moon Lander
Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) Apr-23 Jupiter, Ganymede, Callisto, Europa Orbiter
Psyche July to September 2023 Psyche (Asteroid) Orbiter
Janus July to September 2023 Other
IM-2 2023 The Moon Lander
Lunar Trailblazer 2023 The Moon Other
Blue Ghost 1 Late 2023 The Moon Lander
XL-1 Lander Nov-23 The Moon Lander
IM-3 2024 The Moon Lander
Chang'e 7 2024 The Moon Orbiter
Chang'e 6 2024 The Moon Other
ESCAPADE 2024 Mars Orbiter
Hera From October 2024 Didymos and Dimorphos Orbiter
Mars Orbiter Mission 2 2024 Mars Orbiter
Europa Clipper 10th October 2024 Jupiter and Europa Orbiter
VIPER Nov-24 The Moon Rover
Tianwen-2 May 2025 469219 Kamo?oalewa (asteroid), 311P/PANSTARRS (comet) Orbiter
Martian Moon eXploration (MMX) Aug-25 Mars, Phobos and Deimos Orbiter
Dragonfly Jun-27 Titan (Saturn's largest moon) Other
VERITAS Dec-27 Venus Orbiter
DAVINCI Jun-29 Venus Orbiter
EnVision 2031 Venus Orbiter
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