Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes
This timeline of artificial satellites and space probes includes unmanned spacecraft including technology demonstrators, observatories, lunar probes, and interplanetary probes. First satellites from each country are included. Not included are most earth science satellites, commercial satellites or manned missions.
Key: Year – Origin – Target – Status – Description
Timeline
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.203 in total
1950s
| Year | Origin | Name | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 |  USSR | Sputnik 1 | Success | The first satellite in space. |
| 1957 | USSR | Sputnik 2 | Success | The first satellite to carry a living animal, a dog named Laika. |
| 1957 |  USA | Vanguard TV3 | Failed | |
| 1958 | USA | Explorer 1 | Success | The first American satellite in space. |
| 1958 | USA | Vanguard 6.5in Satellite 2 | Failed | |
| 1958 | USA | Explorer 2 | Failed | |
| 1958 | USA | Vanguard 1 | Success | The oldest man-made object in space, expected to remain in orbit until c. 2200 CE. |
| 1958 | USA | Explorer 3 | Success | |
| 1958 | USSR | ISZ D-1 No. 1 | Failed | |
| 1958 | USA | Vanguard 20in X-ray 1 | Failed | |
| 1958 | USSR | Sputnik 3 | Success | |
| 1958 | USA | Vanguard 20in Lyman-Alpha 1 | Failed | |
| 1958 | USA | Pioneer 1 | Partial Success | First spacecraft launched by NASA. |
| 1959 | USSR | Luna 1 | Success | The first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon, and the first spacecraft to be placed in heliocentric orbit. |
| 1959 | USA | Vanguard 2 Cloud Cover Experiment | Success | |
| 1959 | USSR | Luna 2 | Success | The first spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon, and the first man-made object to land on another celestial body. |
| 1959 | USSR | Luna 3 | Success | The first mission to photograph the Far side of the Moon. |
1960s
| Year | Origin | Name | Target | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | USA | Pioneer 5 | Sun | Success | Solar monitor |
| 1960 | USSR | Korabl-Sputnik 1 | Earth | Success | |
| 1960 | USSR | Korabl-Sputnik 2 | Earth | Success | |
| 1962 | USA | Mariner 2 | Venus | Success | First spacecraft to visit another planet |
| 1962 |  UK | Ariel 1 | Earth | Success | First British satellite in space (on American rocket) |
| 1962 |  Canada | Alouette 1 | Earth | Success | First Canadian satellite (on American rocket) |
| 1964 |  Italy | San Marco 1 | Earth | Success | First Italian satellite (on American rocket) |
| 1965 | USA | Mariner 4 | Mars | Success | First deep space photographs of another planet and first flyby of Mars |
| 1965 |  France | Asterix | Earth | Success | First French satellite |
| 1966 | USSR | Luna 9 | Moon | Success | First spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, or any planetary body other than Earth, and to transmit photographic data to Earth from the surface of another planetary body. |
| 1967 |  Australia | WRESAT | Earth | Success | First Australian satellite (on American rocket) |
1970s
| Year | Origin | Name | Target | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 |  Japan | Osumi | Earth | Success | First Japanese satellite |
| 1970 | USSR | Venera 7 | Venus | Success | First successful landing of a spacecraft on another planet |
| 1970 | USSR | Luna 16 | Moon | Success | Lander is the first automated return of samples from the Moon |
| 1970 | USSR | Zond 8 | Moon | Success | Flyby |
| 1970 | USSR | Luna 17/Lunokhod 1 | Moon | Success | Lander/rover is the first automated surface exploration of the Moon |
| 1970 | UK | Orba (satellite) | Earth | Failure | Second stage of rocket shutdown 13 seconds early |
| 1970 | USA | Uhuru | Earth | Success | First dedicated X-ray astronomy satellite |
| 1970 |  China | Dong Fang Hong I | Earth | Success | First Chinese satellite |
| 1971 | USSR | Luna 18 | Moon | Failure | Lander |
| 1971 | USSR | Luna 19 | Moon | Success | Orbiter |
| 1971 | USA | Mariner 8 | Mars | Failure | Flyby |
| 1971 | USSR | Cosmos 419 | Mars | Failure | Probe |
| 1971 | USSR | Mars 2 | Mars | Partial Failure | Orbiter and lander, created the first human artifact on Mars |
| 1971 | USSR | Mars 3 | Mars | Partial Success | Orbiter and lander, first successful landing on Mars |
| 1971 | USA | Mariner 9 | Mars | Success | Orbiter, first pictures of Mars' moons (Phobos and Deimos) taken |
| 1971 | Japan | Shinsei | Earth | Partial success | First Japanese science satellite |
| 1971 | UK | Prospero X-3 | Earth | Success | Satellite, first satellite launched by Britain using a British rocket |
| 1971 | UK | Ariel 4 | Earth | Success | |
| 1972 | USSR | Venera 8 | Venus | Success | Lander |
| 1972 | USSR | Luna 20 | Moon | Success | Lander |
| 1972 | USA/ UK | Copernicus – Orbiting Astronomical Observatory-3 | Earth | Success | |
| 1972 | USA | Pioneer 10 | Jupiter | Success | First spacecraft to encounter Jupiter |
| 1972 | USA | Explorer 49 | Sun | Success | Solar probe |
| 1973 | USA | Mariner 10 | Venus/Mercury | Success | It passed by and photographed Mercury, also was the first dual planet probe |
| 1973 | USA | Pioneer 11 | Jupiter/Saturn | Success | First spacecraft to encounter Saturn |
| 1973 | USSR | Luna 21/Lunokhod 2 | Moon | Success | Lander/rover |
| 1973 | USSR | Mars 4 | Mars | Failure | Orbiter |
| 1973 | USSR | Mars 5 | Mars | Success | Orbiter |
| 1973 | USSR | Mars 6 | Mars | Failure | Orbiter and lander |
| 1973 | USSR | Mars 7 | Mars | Failure | Orbiter and lander |
| 1974 |  West Germany | Helios 1 | Sun | Success | Solar probe |
| 1974 | USSR | Luna 22 | Moon | Success | Orbiter |
| 1974 | USSR | Luna 23 | Moon | Failure | Probe |
| 1974 | UK | Ariel 5 | Earth | Success | X-ray satellite |
| 1975 | USSR | Venera 9 | Venus | Success | Returns the first pictures of the surface of Venus |
| 1975 | USSR | Venera 10 | Venus | Success | Orbiter and lander |
| 1975 | USA | Viking 1 | Mars | Success | Orbiter and lander; lands on Mars 1976 |
| 1975 | USA | Viking 2 | Mars | Success | Orbiter and lander; lands on Mars 1976 |
| 1975 |  India | Aryabhata | Earth | Success | Launched by USSR,the first Indian satellite |
| 1976 | West Germany | Helios 2 | Sun | Success | Solar probe |
| 1976 | USSR | Luna 24 | Moon | Success | Lander |
| 1976 | USA/ Canada | Hermes Communications Technology Satellite | Earth | Success | Prototype for testing direct broadcast TV |
| 1976 | USA/ Netherlands | Vela (satellite) and ANS | Discover X-ray bursts, first Netherlands Satellite | ||
| 1976 | USA | Orbiting Solar Observatory | Sun | Success | X-ray satellite shows that X-ray bursts have blackbody spectra |
| 1977 | USA | HEAO-1 | Earth | Success | X-ray satellite |
| 1978 | USA | Pioneer Venus 1 | Venus | Success | Orbiter |
| 1978 | USA | Pioneer Venus 2 | Venus | Success | Atmospheric probe |
| 1978 | USSR | Venera 11 | Venus | Partial Success | Flyby and lander |
| 1978 | USSR | Venera 12 | Venus | Success | Flyby and lander |
| 1978 | USA/ UK/ Europe | International Ultraviolet Explorer | Earth | Success | |
| 1978 | USA | HEAO-2 | Earth | Success | First X-ray photographs of astronomical objects |
| 1979 | India | Satellite Launch Vehicle | Failure | India's first rocket launched | |
| 1979 | Japan | Hakucho | Earth | Success | X-ray satellite |
| 1979 | UK | Ariel 6 | Earth | Success | Cosmic-ray and X-ray satellite |
| 1979 | USA | Voyager 1 Voyager 2 | Jupiter | Success | Send back images of Jupiter and its system |
| 1979 | India | Bhaskara-1 | Earth | Success | Launched by ISRO (First Indian low orbit Earth Observation Satellite) |
1980s
| Year | Origin | Target | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | USA | Sun | Failure | Solar Maximum Mission solar probe succeeded after being repaired in Earth orbit |
| 1981 | India | Earth | Success | Bhaskara-2 India, launched by ISRO |
| 1981 | USSR | Venus | Success | Venera 13 launched, it returned the first colour pictures of the surface of Venus |
| 1981 | USSR | Venus | Success | Venera 14 flyby and lander |
| 1981 |  Bulgaria | Earth | Success | Bulgaria 1300, polar research mission, launched by the Soviet Union |
| 1983 | USSR | Venus | Success | Venera 15 orbiter |
| 1983 | USSR | Venus | Success | Venera 16 orbiter |
| 1983 | Europe | Earth | Success | Launch of the EXOSAT X-ray satellite |
| 1983 | Japan | Earth | Success | Launch of the Tenma X-ray satellite (ASTRO-B) |
| 1983 | USA/ Netherlands/ UK | Earth | Success | Launch of the IRAS satellite |
| 1984 | USSR | Venus/Halley's Comet | Success | Vega 1 flyby, atmospheric probe and lander |
| 1984 | USSR | Venus/Halley's Comet | Success | Vega 2 flyby, atmospheric probe and lander |
| 1985 |  Mexico | Earth | Success | Morelos I, the first Mexican satellite |
| 1986 | Europe | Halley's Comet | Success | Giotto flyby |
| 1987 | Japan | Earth | Success | Launch of the Ginga X-ray satellite (ASTRO-C) |
| 1988 | USSR | Mars | Failure | Phobos 1 orbiter and lander |
| 1988 | USSR | Mars | Partial Failure | Phobos 2 flyby and lander |
| 1989 | USA | Venus | Success | Magellan orbiter launched which mapped 99 percent of the surface of Venus (300 m resolution) |
| 1989 | USA | Venus/Earth/Moon/Gaspra/Ida/Jupiter | Success | Galileo flyby, orbiter and atmospheric probe |
| 1989 | USA | Neptune | Success | Voyager 2 sends back images of Neptune and its system |
| 1989 | Europe | Earth | Success | Launch of the Hipparcos satellite |
| 1989 | USA | Earth | Success | Launch of the COBE satellite |
| 1989 | USSR | Earth | Success | Launch of the Granat gamma-ray and X-ray satellite |
1990s
| Year | Origin | Target | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | USA/ Europe | Sun | Success | Ulysses solar flyby |
| 1990 | Japan | Moon | Success | Hiten probe, this was the first non-United States or USSR probe to reach the Moon |
| 1990 | USA/ Europe | Earth | Success | Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope |
| 1990 | Germany | Earth | Success | Launch of the ROSAT X-ray satellite to conduct the first imaging X-ray sky survey |
| 1991 | Japan | Sun | Success | Yohkoh solar probe |
| 1991 | USA | Earth | Success | Launch of the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory satellite |
| 1992 | USA | Mars | Failure | Mars Observer orbiter |
| 1993 | Japan | Earth | Success | Launch of the ASCA (ASTRO-D) X-ray satellite |
| 1994 | USA | Moon | Success | Clementine orbiter mapped the surface of the Moon (resolution 125–150 m) and allowed the first accurate relief map of the Moon to be generated |
| 1995 | Mexico | Earth | Failed | Unamsat 1, First UNAM built orbiter |
| 1995 | Europe | Earth | Success | Launch of the Infrared Space Observatory |
| 1995 | Europe/ USA | Sun | Success | SOHO solar probe |
| 1996 | USA | 433 Eros | Success | NEAR Shoemaker asteroid flybys/orbiter/lander |
| 1996 | USA | Mars | Success | Mars Global Surveyor orbiter |
| 1996 | USA | Mars | Success | Mars Pathfinder, the first automated surface exploration of another planet |
| 1996 |  Russia | Mars | Failure | Mars 96 orbiter and lander |
| 1996 |  Argentina |
Earth | Failure | Sac-B Orbiter |
| 1997 | USA/ Europe | Saturn and Titan | Success | Cassini-Huygens arrived in orbit on July 1, 2004, landed on Titan January 14, 2005 |
| 1997 | Argentina | Earth | Success | Nahuel 1A First Argentine satellite - geostationary communications satellites |
| 1998 |  North Korea | Earth | Unknown | Claimed launch of Kwangmyongsong-1 by North Korea though no independent source was able to verify its existence |
| 1998 | USA | Moon | Success | Lunar Prospector orbiter |
| 1998 | Japan | Mars | Failure | Nozomi (Planet B) orbiter, the first Japanese spacecraft to reach another planet |
| 1998 | USA | Mars | Failure | Mars Climate Orbiter |
| 1998 | Argentina / USA |
Earth | Success | Sac-A Orbiter |
| 1999 | USA | Mars | Failure | Mars Polar Lander |
| 1999 | USA | Mars | Failure | Deep Space 2 (DS2) penetrators |
| 1999 | USA | Earth | Success | Launch of the Chandra X-ray Observatory |
| 1999 | Europe | Earth | Success | Launch of the X-Ray Multi-Mirror Mission, XMM-Newton |
2000s
| Year | Origin | Target | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | UK | Earth | Success | SNAP-1 robotic camera enabling images to be sent to other spacecrafts orbiting the Earth |
| 2000 | Argentina |
Earth | Success | SAC-C Orbiter |
| 2001 | USA | Sun | Partial Success | Genesis solar wind sample crash-landed on return |
| 2001 | USA | Earth | Success | Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) performs cosmological observations. |
| 2001 | USA | Mars | Success | Mars Odyssey |
| 2003 | Canada | Earth | Success | MOST the smallest space telescope in orbit |
| 2003 | USA | Comet Encke | Failure | CONTOUR launched, but lost during early trajectory insertion. |
| 2003 | Europe | Moon | Success | Smart 1 orbiter |
| 2003 | Europe | Mars | Partial Success | Mars Express orbiter (successfully reached orbit) and failed lander, the Beagle 2 |
| 2003 | USA | Mars | Success | Mars Exploration Rovers successful launches, Spirit successfully landed, Opportunity successfully landed |
| 2003 | UK | Earth | Success | UK-DMC orbiter, part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation |
| 2003 | Japan | 25143 Itokawa | Success | Hayabusa, first sample return from asteroid, returned in 2010 |
| 2004 | Europe | Comet 67P | Success | Rosetta space probe launched (arrived on comet 67P on November 12, 2014) |
| 2004 | USA | Mercury | Success | MESSENGER orbiter launched (in Mercury orbit) |
| 2004 | USA | Earth | Success | Launch of the Swift Gamma ray burst observatory. |
| 2005 | USA | Comet Tempel 1 | Success | Deep Impact |
| 2005 | Japan | Earth | Partial success | Launch of the Suzaku X-ray observatory (ASTRO-EII) |
| 2005 | USA | Mars | In orbit | Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter |
| 2005 |  Iran | Earth | Success | Sinah-1 launched, first Iranian-built satellite |
| 2005 | Europe | Venus | Success | Venus Express |
| 2006 | USA | Pluto | Success | New Horizons launched. On July 14th, 2015, New Horizons flew within 7,750 miles (12,472km) of Pluto. |
| 2006 | Japan | Earth | Success | Launch of the Akari infrared observatory (ASTRO-F) |
| 2006 | France/ESA | Earth | Success | COROT telescope to search for extrasolar planets |
| 2007 | USA | Mars | Success | Phoenix launched and successfully landed in 2008 |
| 2007 | Japan | Moon | in lunar orbit since October 3, 2007 | SELENE orbiter and lander |
| 2007 | USA | Vesta/Ceres | launched | Dawn solar powered ion engined probe to 4 Vesta and 1 Ceres. |
| 2007 | China | Moon | Success | Chang'e-I lunar orbiter |
| 2008 | USA | Earth | Launched, operating | IBEX |
| 2009 | Europe | L2 | Launched, arrived, operating | Planck (spacecraft) |
| 2009 | Europe | L2 | Launched, arrived, operating | Herschel Space Observatory |
| 2009 | Iran | Earth | Success | Omid launched by Iranian made launcher Safir. First Iranian-launched satellite |
| 2009 | USA | Earth | Success | Kepler launched |
| 2009 | India | Earth | Success | RISAT-2 developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, launched by ISRO, India |
| 2009 | India | Moon | Success | Chandrayaan-1 developed and launched by ISRO, India |
| 2009 | UK | Earth | Success | UK-DMC 2 orbiter, successor to UK-DMC part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation |
2010s
| Year | Origin | Target | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Japan | Venus | Partial success | Akatsuki orbiter, first Japanese spacecraft to orbit another planet |
| 2010 | Japan | Venus | Success | IKAROS, first solar-sail spacecraft |
| 2010 | China | Moon | Success | Chang'e-2 lunar orbiter/impacter |
| 2011 | USA | Jupiter | Launched and en route | Juno |
| 2011 | Russia | Mars | Failure | Fobos-Grunt lander and sample return |
| 2011 | Argentina / USA |
Earth | Success | SAC-D Orbiter |
| 2013 |  Poland | Earth | Launched | PW-Sat, first Polish satellite |
| 2012 | Iran | Earth | Launched | Navid earth-watching satellite |
| 2012 | USA | Mars | Success | Mars Science Laboratory with Curiosity rover—orbit and landed |
| 2012 | North Korea | Earth | Launched | Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2, first successful North Korean orbital rocket launch |
| 2013 |  South Korea | Earth | Launched | STSAT-2C, first successful South Korean orbital rocket launch |
| 2013 | UK | Earth | Success | STRaND-1, first smartphone-operated satellite to be launched and dubbed the world's first "phonesat" |
| 2013 |  Ecuador | Earth | Launched | NEE-01 Pegaso[1] First Ecuadorian satellite |
| 2013 | Japan | Earth | Launched | Hisaki planetary atmosphere observatory |
| 2013 | India | Mars | Success | Mars Orbiter Mission |
| 2013 | USA | Mars | Success | MAVEN orbiter |
| 2013 | Poland | Earth | Launched | Lem, First Polish scientific satellite |
| 2014 | Europe | Comet 67P | Partial Success | Rosetta and Philae, Third comet landing at unintended site in suboptimal orientation due to failure of surface anchoring system |
| 2014 | Poland |
Earth | Launched | Heweliusz, Second Polish scientific satellite |
| 2014 | Argentina | Earth | Success | ARSAT-1 geostationary communications satellite |
| 2014 | Japan | 162173 Ryugu | Launched and en route | Hayabusa 2, Second Japanese asteroid sample return spacecraft |
| 2014 | Japan | 2000 DP107 | Partial failure | PROCYON deep space probe |
| 2015 | Argentina |
Earth | Success | ARSAT-2 geostationary communications satellite |
References
- ↑ "NEE-01 PEGASO". El 1er satelite Ecuatoriano. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
External links
- Current and Upcoming Launches
- Missions-NASA
- Unmanned spaceflight discussion forum
- Chronology of Lunar and Planetary Exploration (homepage)
| Timeline of spaceflight | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940s | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | ||||
| 1950s | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 |
| 1960s | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
| 1970s | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
| 1980s | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
| 1990s | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
| 2000s | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| 2010s | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
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