Timeline of Solar System exploration
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
 Sputnik 1 |
4 October 1957 | First Earth orbiter | |
| Sputnik 2 |
3 November 1957 | Earth orbiter, first animal in orbit, a dog named Laika | |
 Explorer 1 |
1 February 1958 | Earth orbiter; discovered Van Allen radiation belts | |
| Vanguard 1 |
17 March 1958 | Earth orbiter; oldest spacecraft still in Earth orbit | |
| Luna 1 |
2 January 1959 | First lunar flyby (failed lunar impact); first artificial satellite in heliocentric orbit. | |
| Pioneer 4 |
3 March 1959 | Lunar flyby | |
| Luna 2 |
12 September 1959 | First extraterrestrial impact and lunar impact, First artificial object on Moon | |
| 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pioneer 5 |
11 March 1960 | Interplanetary space investigations | |
| Venera 1 |
12 February 1961 | First probe to another planet; Venus flyby (contact lost before flyby) | |
| Vostok 1 |
12 April 1961 | First crewed Earth orbiter (Yuri Gagarin) | |
| Ranger 1 |
23 August 1961 | Attempted lunar test flight (failed to leave Earth orbit) | |
| Ranger 2 |
18 November 1961 | Attempted lunar test flight (failed to leave Earth orbit) | |
| Ranger 3 |
26 January 1962 | Attempted lunar impact (missed Moon) | |
| Ranger 4 |
23 April 1962 | Lunar impact (but unintentionally became the first spacecraft to hit the 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 | First probe to Mars: flyby (contact lost) | |
| Luna 4 |
2 April 1963 | Attempted lunar lander (missed Moon) | |
| Cosmos 21 |
11 November 1963 | Attempted Venera test flight? | |
| 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 (success) | |
| Voskhod 1 |
12 October 1964 | First orbiter with multimember crew | |
| Mariner 3 |
5 November 1964 | Attempted Mars flyby (failed to attain correct trajectory) | |
| Mariner 4 |
28 November 1964 | First successful Mars flyby (taking the first close-up image of another planet) | |
| Zond 2 |
30 November 1964 | Mars flyby (contact lost) | |
| Ranger 8 |
17 February 1965 | Lunar impact | |
| Voskhod 2 |
18 March 1965 | First space walk, by Alexei Leonov | |
| Ranger 9 |
21 March 1965 | Lunar impact | |
| Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1 |
6 May 1965 | Oldest spacecraft still in use[citation needed] | |
| 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 atmosphere and surface, First Venus impact | |
| Luna 8 |
3 December 1965 | Lunar impact (attempted soft landing?) | |
| Pioneer 6 |
16 December 1965 | "Space weather" observations | |
| Luna 9 |
31 January 1966 | First extraterrestrial lander and lunar lander | |
| Luna 10 |
31 March 1966 | First extraterrestrial orbiter (except heliocentric) and 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 | |
| Lunar Orbiter 3 |
5 February 1967 | Lunar orbiter | |
| Surveyor 3 |
17 April 1967 | Lunar lander | |
| Lunar Orbiter 4 |
4 May 1967 | Lunar orbiter | |
| Venera 4 |
12 June 1967 | First functioning extraterrestrial atmospheric probe (Venus) | |
| 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, first lift-off from an extraterrestrial body | |
| Apollo 4 |
9 November 1967 | Lunar programme test flight in Earth orbit (uncrewed) | |
| Pioneer 8 |
13 December 1967 | "Space weather" observations | |
| Surveyor 7 |
7 January 1968 | Lunar lander | |
| Apollo 5 |
22 January 1968 | Lunar programme test flight in Earth orbit (uncrewed) | |
| Zond 4 |
2 March 1968 | Lunar programme test flight out of Earth orbit (uncrewed) | |
| Luna 14 |
7 April 1968 | Lunar orbiter | |
| Zond 5 |
14 September 1968 | First lunar flyby and return to Earth, first life forms to circle the Moon | |
| Apollo 7 |
11 October 1968 | Lunar programme test flight in Earth orbit (crewed) | |
| 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 crewed spacecraft to leave Earth orbit, first crewed lunar orbiter | |
| 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 | Crewed lunar lander (LEM) flight test in Earth orbit | |
| Mariner 7 |
27 March 1969 | Mars flyby | |
| Apollo 10 |
18 May 1969 | Crewed lunar orbiter | |
| Luna 15 |
13 July 1969 | Second attempted lunar sample return | |
| Apollo 11 |
16 July 1969 | First crewed lunar landing and first successful sample return mission | |
| Zond 7 |
7 August 1969 | Lunar flyby and return to Earth | |
| Apollo 12 |
14 November 1969 | Crewed lunar landing |
1970s
| Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo 13 |
11 April 1970 | Crewed lunar flyby and return to Earth (crewed lunar landing aborted). Farthest from Earth a human traveled until Artemis II in 2026 (400,171 km). | |
| 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) | |
| 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 remote controlled rover | |
| Apollo 14 |
31 January 1971 | Crewed lunar landing | |
| Salyut 1 |
19 April 1971 | First space station | |
| Mars 2 |
19 May 1971 | First Mars impact, Mars orbiter and attempted lander; First rover (Prop-M) sent to another planet (Mars) | |
| 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) | |
| Mariner 9 |
30 May 1971 | First to orbit another planet (Mars) | |
| Apollo 15 |
26 July 1971 | Crewed lunar landing; First crewed lunar rover | |
| Luna 18 |
2 September 1971 | Attempted lunar sample return (crashed into Moon) | |
| Luna 19 |
28 September 1971 | Lunar orbiter | |
| 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 | Crewed lunar landing | |
| Apollo 17 |
7 December 1972 | Last crewed lunar landing | |
| Luna 21/Lunokhod 2 |
8 January 1973 | Lunar rover | |
| Pioneer 11 |
5 April 1973 | Jupiter flyby and First Saturn flyby | |
| 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 flyby and attempted lander (failed due to damage on Mars landing) | |
| Mars 7 |
9 August 1973 | Mars flyby and attempted lander (missed Mars) | |
| Mariner 10 |
3 November 1973 | Lunar and Venus flybys in addition to the First Mercury flyby | |
| Luna 22 |
29 May 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 | |
| Venera 9 |
8 June 1975 | First Venus orbiter and lander; First successful images from the surface of another planet (Venus) | |
| Venera 10 |
14 June 1975 | Venus orbiter and lander | |
| Viking 1 |
20 August 1975 | Mars orbiter and lander; First clear pictures from Martian surface | |
| Viking 2 |
9 September 1975 | Mars orbiter and lander | |
| Helios-B |
15 January 1976 | Solar observations | |
| Luna 24 |
9 August 1976 | Lunar robotic sample return | |
| Voyager 2 |
20 August 1977 | Jupiter/Saturn/first Uranus/first Neptune flyby | |
| Voyager 1 |
5 September 1977 | Jupiter/Saturn flyby, first to exit the heliosphere | |
| 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
| Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venera 13 |
30 October 1981 | Venus flyby and lander. First recording of sound on another planet. | |
| Venera 14 |
4 November 1981 | Venus flyby and lander | |
| Venera 15 |
2 June 1983 | Venus orbiter | |
| Venera 16 |
7 June 1983 | Venus orbiter | |
| Vega 1 |
15 December 1984 | Venus flyby, lander and first extraterrestrial aircraft (aerostat balloon); continued on to Comet Halley flyby | |
| Vega 2 |
21 December 1984 | Venus flyby, lander and balloon; continued on to Comet Halley flyby | |
 Sakigake |
8 January 1985 | Comet Halley flyby | |
| Giotto |
2 July 1985 | First close observation of comet (distance 596 kilometers), Comet Halley flyby | |
| Suisei (Planet-A) |
18 August 1985 | Comet Halley flyby | |
| Mir |
19 February 1986 | First modular space station (operational 1986–2000; final module added 1996) | |
| Phobos 1 |
7 July 1988 | Attempted Mars orbiter/Phobos landers (contact lost) | |
| Phobos 2 |
12 July 1988 | Mars orbiter/attempted Phobos landers (contact lost) | |
| Magellan |
4 May 1989 | Venus orbiter | |
| 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hiten (MUSES-A) |
24 January 1990 | Lunar flyby and orbiter | |
| Hubble Space Telescope |
24 April 1990 | Orbital space telescope (operational since 1990[needs update]) | |
| Ulysses |
6 October 1990 | Solar polar orbiter | |
| Yohkoh (Solar-A) |
30 August 1991 | Solar observations (1991–2001) | |
| Mars Observer |
25 September 1992 | Attempted Mars orbiter (contact lost) | |
| Clementine |
25 January 1994 | Lunar orbiter/attempted asteroid flyby (contact lost) | |
| WIND |
1 November 1994 | Solar wind observations | |
| SOHO |
2 December 1995 | Solar observatory (operational since 1996[needs update]) | |
| 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 successful planetary rover | |
| ACE |
25 August 1997 | Solar wind and "space weather" observations (operational since 1998[needs update]) | |
 Cassini–Huygens |
15 October 1997 | First Saturn orbiter and first outer planet moon lander (on Titan) | |
| Lunar Prospector |
7 January 1998 | Lunar orbiter | |
| Nozomi (Planet-B) |
3 July 1998 | Attempted Mars orbiter (failed to enter Mars orbit) | |
| Deep Space 1 (DS1) |
24 October 1998 | Asteroid and comet flyby | |
  ISS |
20 November 1998 | International space station | |
| Mars Climate Orbiter |
11 December 1998 | Attempted Mars orbiter (orbit insertion failed; entered atmosphere and was destroyed) | |
| 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
| Mission name | Launch date | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 Mars Odyssey |
7 April 2001 | Mars orbiter | |
| Genesis |
8 August 2001 | First solar wind sample return | |
| CONTOUR |
3 July 2002 | Attempted flyby of comet nuclei (Encke, Schwassmann-Wachmann-3, and optionally a third one; lost in space) | |
| Hayabusa (MUSES-C) |
9 May 2003 | Asteroid lander and first sample return from asteroid | |
 Mars Express/Beagle 2 |
2 June 2003 | Mars orbiter/attempted lander (lander failure) | |
| Mars Exploration Rover Spirit |
10 June 2003 | Mars rover | |
| 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) | |
| MESSENGER |
3 August 2004 | First Mercury orbiter (Achieved orbit 18 March 2011) | |
| Deep Impact |
12 January 2005 | Comet flyby and impact | |
| Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter |
12 August 2005 | Mars orbiter | |
| Venus Express |
9 November 2005 | Venus polar orbiter | |
| New Horizons |
19 January 2006 | First Pluto/Charon flyby (on 14 July 2015); continued on to 486958 Arrokoth flyby (on 1 January 2019) | |
| Hinode (Solar-B) |
22 September 2006 | Solar orbiter | |
| STEREO |
26 October 2006 | Two spacecraft, solar orbiters | |
| 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 | |
 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 | |
| Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/LCROSS |
18 June 2009 | Lunar polar orbiter and lunar impactor | |
| 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| Juno |
5 August 2011 | Jupiter orbiter | |
| GRAIL |
10 September 2011 | Two spacecraft, Lunar orbiters | |
| Fobos-Grunt and Yinghuo-1 |
8 November 2011 | Attempted Phobos sample return and Mars orbiter, respectively; both failed to escape Earth orbit | |
| Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover) |
26 November 2011 | Mars rover (landed 6 August 2012) | |
| Van Allen Probes (RBSP) |
30 August 2012 | Earth Van Allen radiation belts study | |
| IRIS |
28 June 2013 | Solar observations | |
| LADEE |
7 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 | Lunar lander and rover (first lander since Soviet Luna 24 in 1976) | |
| Chang'e 5-T1 |
23 October 2014 | Circumlunar mission and Earth reentry; technology demonstration to prepare for Chang'e 5 mission | |
| Hayabusa2 / MASCOT |
3 December 2014 | Asteroid lander and sample return (sample returned 5 December 2020), first asteroid rover | |
| PROCYON |
3 December 2014 | Comet observer and attempted asteroid flyby (engine failure) | |
| DSCOVR |
11 February 2015 | Solar observation | |
| ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and EDM lander |
14 March 2016 | Mars orbiter and attempted lander (lander failure) | |
| OSIRIS-REx |
8 September 2016 | Asteroid sample return mission (sample returned 24 September 2023) | |
| InSight |
5 May 2018 | Mars lander | |
| Queqiao |
20 May 2018 | Relay satellite for Chang'e 4 in Halo orbit around Earth–Moon L2 Lagrange point | |
| Parker Solar Probe |
12 August 2018 | Solar corona probe, closest solar approach (0.04 AU) | |
| BepiColombo |
19 October 2018 | Two Mercury orbiters (orbit insertion planned in November 2026) | |
| Chang'e 4 |
7 December 2018 | Lunar lander and rover, first landing on the lunar far side | |
 Beresheet |
22 February 2019 | Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon) | |
| 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 | |
 Mars Hope |
19 July 2020 | Mars orbiter | |
| Tianwen-1 (Zhurong rover) |
23 July 2020 | Mars orbiter, lander, and rover | |
| Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter) |
30 July 2020 | Mars rover and helicopter drone; first powered flight on another planet | |
| Chang'e 5 |
23 November 2020 | Lunar sample return | |
| Lucy |
16 October 2021 | Flyby of six Jupiter trojans and two main belt asteroids | |
| DART / LICIACube |
24 November 2021 | Asteroid 65803 Didymos flyby, asteroid moon Dimorphos impactor | |
| James Webb Space Telescope |
25 December 2021 | Infrared space telescope at Sun–Earth L2 | |
| CAPSTONE |
28 June 2022 | Lunar orbiter | |
 Danuri (KPLO) |
5 August 2022 | Lunar orbiter | |
| 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. | |
| 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 | |
| Euclid |
1 July 2023 | Infrared space telescope at Sun–Earth L2 | |
| Chandrayaan-3 |
14 July 2023 | Lunar orbiter, lander and rover; first soft landing near the lunar South Pole | |
| Luna 25 |
10 August 2023 | Attempted lunar south pole lander (crashed into Moon) | |
| Aditya-L1 |
2 September 2023 | Sun-observing spacecraft at Sun–Earth L1 | |
| SLIM (LEV-1, LEV-2) |
6 September 2023 | Lunar flyby, lander and rovers | |
| Psyche |
13 October 2023 | Asteroid 16 Psyche orbiter | |
| Peregrine Mission One (including Iris and Colmena rovers) |
8 January 2024 | Lunar lander and rovers (landing precluded) | |
| IM-1 Nova-C Odysseus (including EagleCam deployable camera) |
15 February 2024 | Lunar landers | |
| DRO A/B |
13 March 2024 | Lunar orbiters | |
| Queqiao-2 (including Tiandu-1 and 2) |
20 March 2024 | Lunar orbiters | |
| 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 | |
| Europa Clipper |
14 October 2024 | Jupiter orbiter, Currently in transit. | |
| Blue Ghost M1 |
15 January 2025 | Lunar lander, first private company to soft land on the Moon | |
| Hakuto-R Mission 2 (including Tenacious rover) |
15 January 2025 | Lunar lander and rover | |
| Intuitive Machines Nova-C IM-2
(including MAPP LV1, Micro-Nova, AstroAnt and Yaoki rover) |
27 February 2025 | Lunar lander and rovers | |
| Lunar Trailblazer |
27 February 2025 | Lunar orbiter | |
| Brokkr-2 |
27 February 2025 | Asteroid flyby | |
| Chimera GEO-1 |
27 February 2025 | Lunar flyby | |
| Tianwen-2 (orbiters and landers) |
29 May 2025 | Asteroid study and sample return | |
| Carruthers Geocorona Observatory |
24 September 2025 | heliophysics mission | |
| Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 |
24 September 2025 | heliophysics mission | |
| Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe |
24 September 2025 | heliophysics mission | |
| EscaPADE |
13 November 2025 | Two orbiters to Mars | |
| Artemis II |
1 April 2026 | Crewed lunar flyby; Farthest from Earth humans have ever gone (406,771 km) | |
| SMILE |
19 May 2026 | Solar storm research | |
| Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope |
30 August 2026 | Space observatory stationed at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point to study dark energy, dark matter, and search for exoplanets. | |
| Martian Moons eXploration |
19 October 2026 | Phobos rover and sample return |
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
