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.
 
It does not include:
- 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).
Missions in italics are unfinished, i.e. have not yet been designated as successes or failures. Some unitalicised missions are nevertheless still operational, some in mission extension phases.
1950s

1957
 Sputnik 1 – 4 October 1957 – First Earth orbiter
 Sputnik 2 – 3 November 1957 – Earth orbiter, first animal in orbit, a dog named Laika
1958
 Explorer 1 – 1 February 1958 – Earth orbiter; first American orbiter, discovered Van Allen radiation belts
 Vanguard 1 – 17 March 1958 – Earth orbiter; oldest spacecraft still in Earth orbit
1959
 Luna 1 – 2 January 1959 – First lunar flyby (attempted lunar impact?)
 Pioneer 4 – 3 March 1959 – Lunar flyby
 Luna 2 – 12 September 1959 – First lunar impact
 Luna 3 – 4 October 1959 – Lunar flyby; First images of far side of Moon
1960s








1960
 Pioneer 5 – 11 March 1960 – Interplanetary space investigations
1961
 Venera 1 – 12 February 1961 – Venus flyby (contact lost before flyby)
 Vostok 1 – 12 April 1961 – First manned Earth orbiter
 Mercury-Redstone 3 – 5 May 1961 – First American in space
 Ranger 1 – 23 August 1961 – Attempted lunar test flight
 Ranger 2 – 18 November 1961 – Attempted lunar test flight
1962
 Ranger 3 – 26 January 1962 – Attempted lunar impact (missed Moon)
 Mercury-Atlas 6 – 20 February 1962 – First American manned Earth orbiter
 Ranger 4 – 23 April 1962 – Lunar impact (but unintentionally hit lunar farside and returned no data)
 Mariner 2 – 27 August 1962 – First successful planetary encounter, First successful Venus flyby
 Ranger 5 – 18 October 1962 – Attempted lunar impact (missed Moon)
 Mars 1 – 1 November 1962 – Mars flyby (contact lost)
1963
 Luna 4 – 2 April 1963 – Attempted lunar lander (missed Moon)
 Cosmos 21 – 11 November 1963 – Attempted Venera test flight?
1964
 Ranger 6 – 30 January 1964 – Lunar impact (cameras failed)
 Zond 1 – 2 April 1964 – Venus flyby (contact lost)
 Ranger 7 – 28 July 1964 – Lunar impact
 Mariner 3 – 5 November 1964 – Attempted Mars flyby (failed to attain correct trajectory)
 Mariner 4 – 28 November 1964 – First Mars flyby
 Zond 2 – 30 November 1964 – Mars flyby (contact lost)
1965
 Ranger 8 – 17 February 1965 – Lunar impact
 Ranger 9 – 21 March 1965 – Lunar impact
 Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1 - 6 May 1965 - Oldest spacecraft still in use
 Luna 5 – 9 May 1965 – Lunar impact (attempted soft landing)
 Luna 6 – 8 June 1965 – Attempted lunar lander (missed Moon)
 Zond 3 – 18 July 1965 – Lunar flyby
 Luna 7 – 4 October 1965 – Lunar impact (attempted soft landing)
 Venera 2 – 12 November 1965 – Venus flyby (contact lost)
 Venera 3 – 16 November 1965 – Venus lander (contact lost) – First spacecraft to reach another planet's surface, First Venus impact
 Luna 8 – 3 December 1965 – Lunar impact (attempted soft landing?)
 Pioneer 6 – 16 December 1965 – "Space weather" observations
1966 AS-201
 Luna 9 – 31 January 1966 – First lunar lander
 AS-201 – 26 February 1966 – Lunar programme test flight
 Luna 10 – 31 March 1966 – First lunar orbiter
 Surveyor 1 – 30 May 1966 – Lunar lander
 Explorer 33 – 1 July 1966 – Attempted lunar orbiter (failed to attain lunar orbit)
 Lunar Orbiter 1 – 10 August 1966 – Lunar orbiter
 Pioneer 7 – 17 August 1966 – "Space weather" observations
 Luna 11 – 24 August 1966 – Lunar orbiter
 Surveyor 2 – 20 September 1966 – Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon)
 Luna 12 – 22 October 1966 – Lunar orbiter
 Lunar Orbiter 2 – 6 November 1966 – Lunar orbiter
 Luna 13 – 21 December 1966 – Lunar lander
1967
 Lunar Orbiter 3 – 4 February 1967 – Lunar orbiter
 Surveyor 3 – 17 April 1967 – Lunar lander
 Lunar Orbiter 4 – 8 May 1967 – Lunar orbiter
 Venera 4 – 12 June 1967 – First Venus atmospheric probe
 Mariner 5 – 14 June 1967 – Venus flyby
 Surveyor 4 – 14 July 1967 – Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon)
 Explorer 35 (IMP-E) – 19 July 1967 – Lunar orbiter
 Lunar Orbiter 5 – 1 August 1967 – Lunar orbiter
 Surveyor 5 – 8 September 1967 – Lunar lander
 Surveyor 6 – 7 November 1967 – Lunar lander
 Apollo 4  – 9 November 1967 – Lunar programme test flight
 Pioneer 8 – 13 December 1967 – "Space weather" observations
1968
 Surveyor 7 – 7 January 1968 – Lunar lander
 Apollo 5 –  22 January 1968 – Lunar programme test flight
 Zond 4 – 2 March 1968 – Lunar programme test flight
 Luna 14 – 7 April 1968 – Lunar orbiter
 Zond 5 – 15 September 1968 – First lunar flyby and return to Earth
 Apollo 7 –  22 October 1968 – Lunar programme test flight (manned)
 Pioneer 9 – 8 November 1968 – "Space weather" observations
 Zond 6 – 10 November 1968 – Lunar flyby and return to Earth
 Apollo 8 – 21 December 1968 – First manned lunar orbiter
1969
 Venera 5 – 5 January 1969 – Venus atmospheric probe
 Venera 6 – 10 January 1969 – Venus atmospheric probe
 Mariner 6 – 25 February 1969 – Mars flyby
 Apollo 9 – 3 March 1969 – Manned lunar lander (LEM) flight test
 Mariner 7 – 27 March 1969 – Mars flyby
 Apollo 10 – 18 May 1969 – Manned lunar orbiter
 Luna E-8-5 No.402 – 14 June 1969 – Attempted lunar sample return, first attempted sample return mission
 Luna 15 – 13 July 1969 – Second attempted lunar sample return
 Apollo 11 – 16 July 1969 – First manned lunar landing and first successful sample return mission
 Zond 7 – 7 August 1969 – Lunar flyby and return to Earth
 Apollo 12 – 14 November 1969 – Manned lunar landing
1970s




1970
 Apollo 13 – 11 April 1970 – Manned lunar flyby and return to Earth (manned lunar landing aborted) Farthest from Earth a human has gone
 Venera 7 – 17 August 1970 – First Venus lander
 Luna 16 – 12 September 1970 – First robotic lunar sample return
 Zond 8 – 20 October 1970 – Lunar flyby and return to Earth
 Luna 17/Lunokhod 1 – 10 November 1970 – First lunar rover
1971
 Apollo 14 – 31 January 1971 – Manned lunar landing
 Salyut 1 – 19 April 1971 – First space station
 Mariner 9 – 30 May 1971 – First Mars orbiter
 Mars 2 – 19 May 1971 – Mars orbiter and attempted lander; First Mars impact
 Mars 3 – 28 May 1971 – Mars orbiter, First Mars lander (lost contact after 14.5s) and First Mars atmospheric probe
 Apollo 15 – 26 July 1971 – Manned lunar landing; First manned lunar rover
 Luna 18 – 2 September 1971 – Attempted lunar sample return (crashed into Moon)
 Luna 19 – 28 September 1971 – Lunar orbiter
1972
 Luna 20 – 14 February 1972 – Lunar robotic sample return
 Pioneer 10 – 3 March 1972 – First Jupiter flyby
 Venera 8 – 27 March 1972 – Venus lander
 Apollo 16 – 16 April 1972 – Manned lunar landing
 Apollo 17 – 7 December 1972 – Last manned lunar landing
1973
 Luna 21/Lunokhod 2 – 8 January 1973 – Lunar rover
 Pioneer 11 – 5 April 1973 – Jupiter flyby and First Saturn flyby
 Skylab – 14 May 1973 – First American space station
 Explorer 49 (RAE-B) – 10 June 1973 – Lunar orbiter/radio astronomy
 Mars 4 – 21 July 1973 – Mars flyby (attempted Mars orbiter)
 Mars 5 – 25 July 1973 – Mars orbiter
 Mars 6 – 5 August 1973 – Mars orbiter and attempted lander (failed due to damage on Mars landing)
 Mars 7 – 9 August 1973 – Mars flyby and attempted lander (missed Mars)
 Mariner 10 – 4 November 1973 – Venus flyby and First Mercury flyby
1974
 Luna 22 – 2 June 1974 – Lunar orbiter
 Luna 23 – 28 October 1974 – Attempted lunar sample return (failed due to damage on lunar landing)
 
 Helios-A – 10 December 1974 – Solar observations
1975
 Venera 9 – 8 June 1975 – First Venus orbiter and lander; First images from surface of Venus
 Venera 10 – 14 June 1975 – Venus orbiter and lander
  Viking 1 – 20 August 1975 – Mars orbiter and lander; First lander returning data and First pictures from Martian surface
 Viking 2 – 9 September 1975 – Mars orbiter and lander
1976
 
 Helios-B – 15 January 1976 – Solar observations, Closest solar approach (0.29 AU)
 Luna 24 – 9 August 1976 – Lunar robotic sample return
1977
 Voyager 2 – 20 August 1977 – Jupiter/Saturn/first Uranus/first Neptune flyby
 Voyager 1 – 5 September 1977 – Jupiter/Saturn flyby, Farthest human-made object – currently (2016) about 135 AU
1978
 Pioneer Venus 1 – 20 May 1978 – Venus orbiter
 Pioneer Venus 2 – 8 August 1978 – Venus atmospheric probes
 
 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
 Venera 11 – 9 September 1978 – Venus flyby and lander
 Venera 12 – 14 September 1978 – Venus flyby and lander
1980s

1981
 Venera 13 – 30 October 1981 – Venus flyby and lander
 Venera 14 – 4 November 1981 – Venus flyby and lander
1983
1984
 Vega 1 – 15 December 1984 – Venus flyby, lander and first balloon; continued on to Comet Halley flyby
 Vega 2 – 21 December 1984 – Venus flyby, lander and balloon; continued on to Comet Halley flyby
1985
 Sakigake – 7 January 1985 – Comet Halley flyby
 Giotto – 2 July 1985 – Comet Halley flyby
 Suisei (Planet-A) – 18 August 1985 – Comet Halley flyby
1986
 Mir – 20 February 1986 – First  modular space station (completion 1996)
1988
 Phobos 1 – 7 July 1988 – Attempted Mars orbiter/Phobos landers (contact lost)
 Phobos 2 – 12 July 1988 – Mars orbiter/attempted Phobos landers (contact lost)
1989
 Magellan – 4 May 1989 – Venus orbiter
 Galileo – 18 October 1989 – Venus flyby, first Asteroid flyby, first Asteroid moon discovery, first Jupiter orbiter/atmospheric probe
1990s
1990

 Hiten (MUSES-A) – 24 January 1990 – Lunar flyby and orbiter
 
 Hubble Space Telescope – Orbital space telescope
 
 Ulysses – 6 October 1990 – Solar polar orbiter
1991
 
 
 Yohkoh (Solar-A) – 30 August 1991 – Solar observations
1992
 Mars Observer – 25 September 1992 – Attempted Mars orbiter (contact lost)
1994
 Clementine – 25 January 1994 – Lunar orbiter/attempted asteroid flyby
 WIND – 1 November 1994 – Solar wind observations
1995
 
 SOHO – 2 December 1995 – Solar observatory
1996
 NEAR Shoemaker – 17 February 1996 – Eros orbiter, first near-Earth asteroid flyby, first asteroid orbit and first asteroid landing
 Mars Global Surveyor – 7 November 1996 – Mars orbiter
 Mars 96 – 16 November 1996 – Attempted Mars orbiter/landers (failed to escape Earth orbit)
 Mars Pathfinder – 4 December 1996 – Mars lander and first planetary rover
1997

 ACE – 25 August 1997 – Solar wind and "space weather" observations
 
 
 Cassini–Huygens – 15 October 1997 – First Saturn orbiter and first outer planet lander
 AsiaSat 3/HGS-1 – 24 December 1997 – Lunar flyby
1998
 Lunar Prospector – 7 January 1998 – Lunar orbiter
 Nozomi (also known as Planet-B) – 3 July 1998 – Attempted Mars orbiter (failed to enter Mars orbit)
 Deep Space 1 (DS1) – 24 October 1998 – Asteroid and comet flyby
 
 
 
 
 – 20 November 1998 – International Space Station (planned completion 2013)
 Mars Climate Orbiter – 11 December 1998 – Attempted Mars orbiter (orbit insertion failed)
1999
 Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2 (DS2) – 3 January 1999 – Attempted Mars lander/penetrators (contact lost)
 Stardust – 7 February 1999 – First comet coma sample return – returned 15 January 2006
2000s


2001
 2001 Mars Odyssey – 7 April 2001 – Mars orbiter
 Genesis – 8 August 2001 – First solar wind sample return
2002
 CONTOUR – 3 July 2002 – Attempted flyby of three comet nuclei (lost in space)
2003
 Hayabusa (MUSES-C) – 9 May 2003 – Asteroid lander and First sample return from asteroid
 
 Mars Express/Beagle 2 – 1 June 2003 – Mars orbiter/lander (lander failure)
 Mars Exploration Rover Spirit – 10 June 2003 – Mars rover
 Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity – 7 July 2003 – Mars rover
 SMART-1 – 27 September 2003 – Lunar orbiter
 Shenzhou 5 – 15 October 2003 – China's first manned Earth orbiter
2004
 Rosetta/Philae – 2 March 2004 – First comet orbiter and lander  (Landed in November 2014)
 MESSENGER – 3 August 2004 – First Mercury orbiter (Achieved orbit 18 March 2011)
2005
 Deep Impact – 12 January 2005 – First comet impact
 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter – 12 August 2005 – Mars orbiter
 Venus Express – 9 November 2005 – Venus polar orbiter
2006
 New Horizons – 19 January 2006 – First Pluto/Charon flyby (on 14 July 2015)[1]
 
 
 Hinode (Solar-B) – 22 September 2006 – Solar orbiter
 STEREO – 26 October 2006 – Two spacecraft, solar orbiters
2007
 Phoenix – 4 August 2007 – Mars polar lander (Mars landing on 25 May 2008) 
 SELENE (Kaguya) – 14 September 2007 – Lunar orbiters
 Dawn – 27 September 2007 – Asteroid Ceres and Vesta orbiter (Entered orbit around Vesta on 16 July 2011 and around Ceres on 6 March 2015)
 Chang'e 1 – 24 October 2007 – Lunar orbiter
2008

 Chandrayaan-1 – 22 October 2008 – Lunar orbiter and impactor – Discovered water on the Moon
2009
 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/LCROSS – 18 June 2009 – Lunar polar orbiter and lunar impactor 
2010s



2010
 Solar Dynamics Observatory – 11 February 2010 – Continuous solar monitoring
 Akatsuki (Planet-C) – 20 May 2010 – Venus orbiter (orbit insertion failed in 2010 / successful orbit insertion on 7 December 2015)
 PICARD – 15 June 2010 – Solar monitoring
 Chang'e 2 – 1 October 2010 – Lunar orbiter, Asteroid 4179 Toutatis flyby
2011
 Juno – 5 August 2011 – Jupiter orbiter
 GRAIL – 10 September 2011 – Two spacecraft, Lunar orbiters
 Tiangong (Project 921-2) - 29 September 2011 - First Chinese space station[2] (planned completion around 2020)
 
 Fobos-Grunt and Yinghuo-1 – 8 November 2011 – Phobos orbiter, lander and sample return (Russia), Mars orbiter (China) – failed to escape Earth orbit
 Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity Rover) – 26 November 2011 – large Mars 900 kg Rover (landed 6 August 2012)
2012
 Van Allen Probes (RBSP) - 30 August 2012 - Earth Van Allen radiation belts study
2013
 IRIS – 27 June 2013 – Solar observations-  
 LADEE – 6 September 2013 – Lunar orbiter -  
 Hisaki - 14 September 2013 - Planetary atmosphere observatory 
 Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) – 5 November 2013 – Mars orbiter
 MAVEN – 18 November 2013 – Mars orbiter
 Chang'e 3 – 1 December 2013 - First Chinese lunar lander and rover (most recent lander since Russian Luna 24 in 1976)
2014
 Chang'e 5-T1 – 23 October 2014 - Lunar flyby/orbiter and Earth reentry probe; technology demonstration to prepare for Chang'e 5 mission
 Hayabusa 2 / PROCYON – 3 December 2014 – Asteroid lander and sample return / Asteroid flyby (flyby cancelled due to engine failure)
 Exploration Flight Test 1 – 5 December 2014 – Unmanned Earth orbital test of Orion interplanetary vehicle.
2015
2016
 
 ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and EDM lander – 14 March 2016 – Mars orbiter and first ESA/Roscosmos Mars lander
Planned or scheduled
2016
 OSIRIS-REx – September 2016 – Asteroid sample return mission
2017
 
 BepiColombo – January 2017 – Mercury orbiters
 Chang'e 5 – China's first lunar sample return mission
 Astrobotic Technology – First private lunar lander and rover mission
2018
 International Lunar Network – 1 March 2018 – Lunar lander
 
 
 InSight – 5 May – Mars lander
 Solar Probe Plus – 30 July 2018 – Solar orbiter, closest solar approach (0.04 AU)
 SOLO – October 2018 – Solar orbiter
 Exploration Mission 1 – November 2018 – Unmanned lunar orbital test of Orion interplanetary vehicle and Space Launch System. 
 
 ExoMars rover and Russian static lander – Mars lander and rover
 SELENE-2 – Lunar orbiter and lander
 Luna-Glob lander (Luna-25) – Lunar orbiter, lander and penetrators
 Luna-Glob orbiter (Luna-26) – Lunar orbiter (2018 or 2019)
 Chandrayaan-2 – Lunar orbiter and rover
2019
 SLIM – First Japanese lunar lander and rover[3][4]
 Luna-Resurs lander (Luna-27) – Lunar lander (2019 or 2020)
 Aditya - 2017/2018 - Solar observations (2019 or 2020)
2020
 Chang'e 4 – (Before 2020) - Lunar lander and rover, the first landing on the lunar far side
 Chang'e 6 – Lunar sample return mission
 Mars 2020 rover mission
 
 Mars sample return mission
 Mars Hope - Emirati Mars orbiter[5][6]
2021
 ISRO Orbital Vehicle – First Indian manned orbiter
2022
 Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer – Mission to explore Jupiter and its icy moons.
2023
 Luna-Grunt rover (Luna-28) – Lunar orbiter, lander and rover (2023 or 2025)
2024
 Venera-D – Venus orbiter, lander
2025
 Europa Mission launch
 Manned landing on an asteroid[7]
 Luna-Grunt sample return vehicle (Luna-29) – Lunar sample return mission
2028
 Manned lunar orbiter[8]
2030
2031
 Mercury-P – First Mercury lander
2037
 Lunnyj Poligon – Completion of robotic lunar base
 Human mission to Mars
2040–60
 Crewed phase of the Chinese Mars exploration program[10]
 Crewed phase of the Russian Mars exploration program[11]
Gallery
- 

Luna 16
First unmanned lunar sample return - 

Pioneer 10
First Jupiter flyby - 

Pioneer 11
First Saturn flyby - 

Mariner 10
First Mercury flyby - 

Helios 2
Closest solar approach - 

Voyager 2
First Uranus flyby
First Neptune flyby - 

International Cometary Explorer
First comet flyby - 

Galileo
First asteroid flyby
First asteroid moon discovery
First Jupiter orbiter
First Jupiter atmospheric probe - 

NEAR Shoemaker
First near-Earth asteroid flyby
First asteroid orbiter
First asteroid landing - 

Mars Pathfinder
First successful Mars rover - 

Cassini–Huygens
First Saturn orbiter - 

Huygens probe
First Titan lander - 

Genesis
First solar wind sample return - 

Deep Impact
First comet impact - 
.png)
Rosetta/Philae
First comet orbiter and lander - 

Dawn
First dwarf planet orbiter
First Ceres orbiter - 

New Horizons
First Pluto flyby[1] 
- ^ Cite error: The named reference 
NYT-20150718was invoked but never defined (see the help page). 
See also
- Discovery and exploration of the Solar System
 - List of missions to the Moon
 - List of Solar System probes
 - New Frontiers program
 - Outer Solar System
 - Out of the Cradle (book) - 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 travel by nationality
 
References
- ↑ Chang, Kenneth (18 July 2015). "The Long, Strange Trip to Pluto, and How NASA Nearly Missed It". New York Times. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
 - ↑ "China's space program shoots for moon, Mars, Venus". The Guardian. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
 - ↑ "Japan delays launch of unmanned lunar lander to second half of fiscal 2019". The Japan Times. June 4, 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-22.
 - ↑ "The tiny rover payload in SLIM mission" (PDF). 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
 - ↑ UAE makes plans to send unmanned probe to Mars by 2021
 - ↑ http://www.thenational.ae/uae/uaes-mars-space-mission-has-a-new-name-hope
 - ↑ "Robots and humans target asteroids". BBC. 28 May 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
 - 1 2 "Russia Plans to Colonize Moon by 2030, Newspaper Reports". The Moscow Times. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
 - ↑ "Moon may light man's future". China Daily. 15 August 2009.
 - ↑ 中国嫦娥探月工程进展顺利 进度将有望加快-军事频道-中华网-中国最大职业人士门户
 - ↑ Пилотируемый полет на Марс будет возможен после 2040 года - Роскосмос. versii.com (in Russian). Retrieved 22 August 2014.
 
External links
- NASA Lunar & Planetary Science
 - NASA Solar System Strategic Exploration Plans
 - Soviet Lunar, Martian, Venusian and Terrestrial Space Image Catalog
 
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