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Solar probes

While the Sun is not physically explorable with current technology, the following solar

observation probes have been designed and launched to operate in heliocentric orbit or at one of

the Earth –Sun Lagrangian points – additional solar observatories were placed in Earth-orbiting

and are not included in this list:

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

Pioneer 5  

NASA/ 

DOD

March –April

1960orbiter success

measured magnetic

field phenomena,

solar flare particles,

and ionization in the

interplanetary region

Pioneer 6   NASA  

December

1965 – still

contactable in2000

orbiter success

network of solar-

orbiting "space

weather" monitors,

observing solar wind,

cosmic rays, and

magnetic fields

Pioneer 7   NASA  

August 1966 – 

still

contactable in

1995

orbiter success

Pioneer 8   NASA  

December

1967 – still

contactable in

2001

orbiter success

Pioneer 9   NASA  

November

1968 – May

1983

orbiter success

Pioneer-E  NASA  

27 August

1969orbiter failure

intended as part of

the Pioneer 6 –9

network; failed to

reach orbit

Helios A 

NASA/ 

BWF

November

1974 – 1982

orbiter successobservations of solar

wind, magnetic andelectric fields, cosmic

rays and cosmic dust

between Earth and

Sun

Helios B 

NASA/ 

BWF

January 1976

 – 1985?orbiter success

ISEE-3 NASA   1978 –1982 orbiter success

observed solar

phenomena in

conjunction with

earth-orbiting ISEE-1

and ISEE-2; later

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renamed

International

Cometary Explorer

(ICE) and directed to

Comet Giacobini-

Zinner

Ulysses

(first pass)

ESA/ 

NASA

1994

orbiter success

south polarobservations

1995north polar

observations

WIND  NASA  

November

1994 — still

returning data

(as of

December

2013)[12]

 

orbiter successsolar wind

measurements

SOHO  

ESA/ 

NASA

May 1996 – 

mission

extended until

31 December

2016[14]

 

orbiter success

investigation of Sun's

core, corona, and

solar wind; comet

discoveries

ACE  NASA  

August 1997 – 

still returning

data (as of

December2013)

[16] 

orbiter successsolar wind

observations

Ulysses

(second

pass)

ESA/ 

NASA

2000

orbiter success

south polar

observations

2001north polar

observations

Genesis  NASA   2001 –2004

orbiter/

sample

return

success

solar wind sample

return; crash landed

on return to Earth,

much data salvaged

STEREO A   NASA  

December

2006 – still

returning data

(as of

December

2013)[19][20]

 

orbiter successstereoscopic imaging

of coronal mass

ejections and other

solar phenomena

STEREO B   NASA  

December

2006 – stillorbiter success

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returning data

(as of

December

2013)[19][20]

 

Ulysses

(third pass)

ESA/ 

NASA

2007

orbiter

successsouth polar

observations

2008partial

success

north polarobservations; some

data returned

despite failing power

and reduced

transmission capacity

Solar

Sentinels 

NASA   2015

multi-

probe

orbiter

plannedsix probes watching

the sun

Solar ProbePlus 

NASA   2015 orbiter understudy

close-range coronalobservations

Intergelio-

Zond 

RKA 

2019 orbiter plannedclose-range solar

observations

Aditya  ISRO  

2017-2018 orbiter planned to study Solar Corona

Mercury probes

Main article: Exploration of Mercury

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

Mariner 10   NASA  

29 March

1974

flyby success

minimum

distance 704 km

21

September

1974

48,069 km

16 March

1975327 km

MESSENGER  NASA  

14 January2008

flyby success

minimumdistance 200 km

6 October

2008

minimum

distance 200 km

29

September

2009

minimum

distance 200 km

18 March

2011 – orbiter success

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March 2013

BepiColombo 

ESA/ 

JAXA2015

Mercury

Planetary

Orbiter 

ESA 

orbiterunder

construction

Mercury

Magnetospheric 

Orbiter 

JAXA  

orbiterunder

construction

Venus probes

Main article: Exploration of Venus

1961 –1965

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

Sputnik 7  (USSR) 4 February

1961lander failure

failed to escape from

Earth orbit

Venera 1   (USSR) 19 May 1961 – 

20 May 1961flyby failure

contact lost 7 days

after launch; first

spacecraft to fly by

another planet

Mariner 1   NASA   22 July 1962 flyby failure guidance failureshortly after launch

Sputnik 19  (USSR) 25 August

1962lander failure

failed to escape

Earth orbit

Sputnik 20  (USSR) 1 September

1962lander failure

failed to escape

Earth orbit

Sputnik 21  (USSR) 12 September

1962flyby failure third stage exploded

Mariner 2   NASA  14 December1962

flyby success

first successful Venus

flyby; minimum

distance 34,773 km

Cosmos 21†  (USSR) 

11 November

1963flyby? failure

failed to escape

Earth orbit

Venera

1964A† 

(USSR)19 February

1964flyby failure

failed to reach Earth

orbit

Venera

1964B† 

(USSR) 1 March 1964 flyby failurefailed to reach Earth

orbit

Cosmos 27 

(USSR)  27 March flyby failure failed to escape

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1964 Earth orbit

Zond 1  (USSR) 1964

flyby

and

possible

lander

failure contact lost en route

Cosmos 96   (USSR)23 November

1965

lander failure exploded?

Venera

1965A† 

(USSR)26 November

1965flyby failure

launch vehicle

failure?

1966 –1970

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

Venera 2   (USSR)27 February

1966flyby failure

ceased to operate

en route

Venera 3   (USSR) 1 March 1966 lander failure

contact lost before

arrival; first

spacecraft to impact

on the surface of

another planet

Kosmos 167   (USSR) 17 June 1967 lander failurefailed to escape

Earth orbit

Venera 4 

(USSR)

18 October

1967

atmospheric

probe success

continued to

transmit to analtitude of 25 km

Mariner 5   NASA  

19 October

1967flyby success

minimum distance

5,000 km

Venera 5   (USSR) 16 May 1969atmospheric

probesuccess

transmitted

atmospheric data

for 53 minutes, to

an altitude of about

26 km

Venera 6   (USSR) 17 May 1969atmospheric

probesuccess

transmittedatmospheric data

for 51 minutes, to

an altitude of

perhaps 10 –12 km

Cosmos

359 

(USSR)22 August

1970lander? failure

failed to escape

Earth orbit

Venera 7   (USSR)15 December

1970lander success

first successful

landing on another

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planet; signals

returned from

surface for 23

minutes

1971 –1975

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

Cosmos 482   (USSR)31 March

1972lander? failure

failed to escape

Earth orbit

Venera 8   (USSR) 22 July 1972 lander success

signals returned from

surface for 50

minutes

Mariner 10   NASA  

5 February

1974flyby success

minimum distance

5768 km, en route toMercury; first use of

gravity assist by an

interplanetary

spacecraft

Venera 9   (USSR)

1975 orbiter success

first spacecraft to

orbit Venus;

communications

relay for lander;

atmospheric and

magnetic studies

22 October

1975lander success

first images from the

surface; operated on

surface for 53

minutes

Venera 10 

(USSR)

1975 orbiter success

communications

relay for lander;

atmospheric and

magnetic studies

23 October

1975lander success

transmitted from

surface for 65

minutes

1978

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

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Pioneer

Venus

Orbiter 

NASA  

4 December

1978 – 

1992

orbiter successatmospheric and

magnetic studies

Pioneer

Venus

Multiprobe 

NASA  

9 December

1978

busprobe

transportersuccess

deployed four

atmospheric

probes, then burnt

up in Venusian

atmosphere,

continuing to

transmit to 110 km

altitude

large

probe

atmospheric

probesuccess

north

probe

atmospheric

probesuccess

day probeatmospheric

probesuccess

survived impact and

continued to

transmit from

surface for over an

hour

night

probe

atmospheric

probesuccess

Venera 12   SAS 

flight

platform

21 December

1978flyby success

minimum distance

34,000 km;

deployed lander

and then acted as

communicationsrelay

descent

craft

21 December

1978lander

partial

success

soft landing;

transmissions

returned for 110

minutes; failure of

some instruments

Venera 11   SAS 

identical to Venera

12

flight 25 December flyby success minimum distance

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platform 1978 34,000 km;

deployed lander

and then acted as

communications

relay

descentcraft

25 December1978

lander partialsuccess

soft landing;

transmissionsreturned for 95

minutes; failure of

some instruments

1982 –1994

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

Venera 13   SAS 

bus 1 March 1982 flyby success

deployed lander

and then acted as

communications

relay

descent

craft1 March 1982 lander success

survived on surface

for 127 minutes

Venera 14   SAS 

identical to Venera

13

bus 5 March 1982 flyby success

deployed lander

and then acted as

communications

relay

descent

craft5 March 1982 lander success

survived on surface

for 57 minutes

Venera 15   SAS  1983 –1984 orbiter success radar mapping

Venera 16   SAS  1983 –1984 orbiter success

radar mapping;

identical to Venera

15

Vega 1   SAS  11 June 1985flyby success

went on to fly by

Halley's comet

lander failure instruments

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deployed

prematurely

atmospheric

balloonsuccess

floated at an

altitude of about

54 km and

transmitted for

around 46 hours

Vega 2   SAS  15 June 1985

flyby successwent on to fly by

Halley's comet

lander success

transmitted from

surface for 56

minutes

atmospheric

balloonsuccess

floated at an

altitude of about

54 km and

transmitted foraround 46 hours

Galileo  NASA  

10 February

1990flyby success

gravity assist en

route to Jupiter;

minimum distance

16,000 km

Magellan  NASA  

10 August

1990 – 

12 October

1994

orbiter successglobal radar

mapping

1998 –present

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

Cassini 

NASA/ 

ESA/ 

ASI

26 April 1998

flyby successgravity assist en

route to Saturn24 June 1999

Venus

Express 

ESA

11 April 2006

 – mission

extended until

at least

December

2014[82]

 

orbiter success

atmospheric studies;

planetary imaging;

magnetic

observations

MESSENGER  NASA  

24 October

2006flyby success

gravity assist only;

minimum distance

2990 km

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Main articles: Exploration of Mars and List of missions to Mars

1960s

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

Mars 1960A   USSR10 October

1960flyby failure

failed to reach Earth

orbit

Mars 1960B   USSR14 October

1960flyby failure

failed to reach Earth

orbit

Mars 1962A   USSR24 October

1962flyby failure

exploded in or en

route to Earth orbit

Mars 1962B   USSR11 November

1962 (launch)lander failure

broke up during

transfer to Mars

trajectory

Mars 1   USSR 19 June 1963 flyby failure

contact lost en route;

flew within

approximately

193,000 km of Mars

Mariner 3   NASA  

5 November

1964flyby failure

protective shield

failed to eject,

preventing craft from

attaining correct

trajectory

Zond 2  USSR 6 August 1965 flyby failure

contact lost en route;

flew within 1,500 km

of Mars

Mariner 4   NASA   15 July 1965 flyby successfirst close-up images

of Mars

Mariner 6   NASA   31 July 1969 flyby success

Mariner 7   NASA   5 August 1969 flyby success

Mars 1969A   USSR27 March

1969orbiter failure launch failure

Mars 1969B   USSR 2 April 1969 orbiter failure launch failure

1970s and 1980s

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

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Mariner 8   NASA   9 May 1971 orbiter failure launch vehicle failure

Mariner 9   NASA  

14 November

1971orbiter success

first spacecraft to

orbit another planet

Mars 2   USSR

November

1971 – 

August 1972

orbiter success

first Russian

spacecraft to orbit

another planet

Mars 2

Lander 

USSR27 November

1971

lander

and

short

range

rover

failure

crashed; first

manmade object to

reach surface of

Mars

Mars 3   USSR

December

1971 – 

August 1972

orbiterpartial

success

attained a different

orbit than intended

due to insufficient

fuel

Mars 3

Lander 

USSR2 December

1971

lander

and

short

range

rover

failurecontact lost 110 sec

after soft landing

Cosmos 419   USSR 10 May 1971 orbiter failurefailed to escape

Earth orbit

Mars 4   USSR 10 February1974 orbiter failure orbit insertion failed,became flyby

Mars 5   USSR February 1974 orbiter success

Mars 6   USSR12 March

1974flyby success

Mars 6

Lander 

USSR12 March

1974lander failure

contact lost 148 sec

after parachute

deployment

(returned 224

seconds ofatmospheric data)

Mars 7   USSR 9 March 1974 flyby success

Mars 7

Lander 

USSR 9 March 1974 lander failure missed Mars

Viking 1

Orbiter 

NASA  

June 1976 – 

August 1980orbiter success

Viking 1

Lander 

NASA  

20 July 1976 – 

13 Novemberlander success

first images from

surface

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1982

Viking 2

Orbiter 

NASA  

August 1976 – 

July 1978orbiter success

Viking 2

Lander 

NASA  

3 September

1976 – 

11 April 1980

lander success

Phobos 1   USSR7 July 1988

(launch)orbiter failure

contact lost en route

to Mars

Phobos 2   USSR

29 January

1989 – 

27 March

1989

orbiterpartial

success

Mars orbit acquired,

but contact lost

shortly before

Phobos approach

phase and

deployment of

Phobos landers

1990s

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

Mars Observer   NASA  

25

September

1992

(launch)

orbiter failure

contact lost shortly

before Mars orbit

insertion

Mars 96   RKA 

16

November

1996

(launch)

orbiter

failurefailed to escape

Earth orbit

lander

lander

penetrator

penetrator

Mars

Pathfinder 

NASA  

4 July 1997

 – 27

September

1997

lander success

Sojourner  NASA  

6 July 1997

 – 

27

September

1997

rover success first Mars rover

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MER-B

"Opportunity" NASA  

25 January

2004 – rover success

Mars

Reconnaissance 

Orbiter 

NASA  

10 March

2006 – orbiter success

surface imaging and

surveying

Rosetta  ESA 

25 February

2007flyby success

gravity assist en

route to asteroid

and comet

encounters

Phoenix  NASA  

25 May 2008

 – 

10 November

2008

lander success

collection of soil

samples near the

northern pole to

search for water

and investigate

Mars' geological

history andbiological potential

Dawn   NASA  

17 February

2009flyby success

gravity assist en

route to Vesta and

Ceres

Yinghuo-1  CNSA  

8 November

2011

(launch)

orbiter failure

failed to escape

Earth orbit;

launched with

Fobos-Grunt

Phobos lander

MSL Curiosity   NASA  

6 August

2012 – rover

in

operation

investigation of past

and present

habitability, climate

and geology

Mars Orbiter

Mission 

ISRO  

24

September

2014 – 

orbiterin

operation

technology

development; will

study atmosphere

& conduct

mineralogicalmapping.

MAVEN  NASA  

22

September

2014 – 

orbiterin

operation

will study Martian

atmosphere

Future

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

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InSight  NASA   2016 lander planned

ExoMars

Trace Gas

Orbiter 

ESA/ 

RKA2016

orbiter,

landerplanned

ExoMars

rover  

ESA/ 

RKA2018 rover planned

Mars

Sample

Return

Mission 

NASA/ 

ESA2024?

orbiter,

lander,

rover,

and

sample

return

under

study

Phobos probes

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

Phobos 1   USSR7 July 1988

(launch)flyby failure

contact lost en route

to Mars

DAS USSR2 September

1988

fixed

landerfailure never deployed

Phobos 2   USSR

27 March

1989 (contact

lost)

flyby failure

attained Mars orbit;contact lost prior to

deployment of

lander

DAS USSR27 March

1989

fixed

landerfailure never deployed

"Frog" USSR27 March

1989

mobile

landerfailure never deployed

Fobos-Grunt 

RKA 

8 November2011 (launch)

samplereturn

failure

failed to escape

Earth orbit; launchedwith Yinghuo-1 Mars

orbiter

Ceres probes

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

Dawn   NASA   2015 orbiteren

route

previously visited

Vesta

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Asteroid probes

Target Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

951 Gaspra   Galileo  NASA  

29

October

1991

flyby success

en route to

Jupiter;

minimum

distance1900 km

243 Ida   Galileo  NASA  

28 August

1993flyby success

en route to

Jupiter;

minimum

distance

2400 km;

discovery of the

first asteroid

satellite Dactyl

1620

Geographos 

Clementine 

BMDO/ 

NASA1994 flyby failure

flyby cancelled

due to

equipment

malfunction

253

Mathilde 

NEAR

Shoemaker 

NASA  

27 June

1997flyby success 

flew within

1200 km of  253

Mathilde en

route to 433

Eros

433 Eros  

NEAR

Shoemaker 

NASA  

January

1999orbiter failure

became flyby

due to software

and

communications

problems (later

attempt at orbit

insertion

succeeded; see

below)

9969 Braille  

Deep Space

1NASA  

29 July

1999flyby

partial

success

no close-up

images due to

camera pointing

error; went on

to visit comet

19P/Borrelly

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2685

Masursky  

Cassini 

NASA/ 

ESA/ 

ASI

23 January

2000

distant

flybysuccess

en route to

Saturn

433 Eros 

NEAR

Shoemaker  NASA 

February

2000 – 

February

2001

orbiter,

becamelander

success

improvised

landing by

orbiter at end of

mission

5535

Annefrank 

Stardust  NASA  

November

2, 2002

distant

flybysuccess

went on to visit

comet 81P/Wild

25143

Itokawa 

Hayabusa  ISAS 

2005 –07sample

returnsuccess

landed on

Itokawa in 2005

and returned to

Earth in 2010

MINERVA  ISAS 

12

November

2005

hopper failure missed target

132524 APL  

New

HorizonsNASA   June 2006

distant

flybysuccess

en route to

Pluto

2867 Šteins   Rosetta  ESA

5

September

2008

flyby success 

en route to

comet

67P/Churyumov-

Gerasimenko

21 Lutetia   Rosetta  ESA11 July

2010flyby success 

en route tocomet

67P/Churyumov-

Gerasimenko

4 Vesta   Dawn  NASA  

16 July

2011 – 5

September

2012

orbiter success now en route to

Ceres

4179

Toutatis  Chang'e 2 

CNSA 

13

December2012 flyby success

Jupiter probes

Main article: Exploration of Jupiter

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

Pioneer 10   NASA  

3 December

1973flyby success

first probe to cross

the asteroid belt;

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first Jupiter probe;

first man-made

object on an

interstellar

trajectory; now in

the outer regions

of the Solar System

but no longer

contactable

Pioneer 11   NASA  

4 December

1974flyby success

went on to visit

Saturn

Voyager 1   NASA   5 March 1979 flyby successwent on to visit

Saturn

Voyager 2   NASA   9 July 1979 flyby success

went on to visit

Saturn, Uranus and

Neptune

Ulysses

(first pass)

ESA/ 

NASA

February

1992flyby success

gravity assist en

route to inclined

heliocentric orbit

for solar polar

observations

Galileo

Orbiter 

NASA/ 

DLR

7 December

1995 – 

21

September

2003

orbiter success

also flew by

various of Jupiter's

moons;

intentionally flowninto Jupiter at end

of mission; first

spacecraft to orbit

Jupiter; first

spacecraft to flyby

an asteroid

Galileo

Probe 

NASA/ 

DLR

7 December

1995

atmospheric

probe

success

first probe to enter

Jupiter's

atmosphere

Cassini 

NASA/ 

ESA/ 

ASI

December

2000flyby success

gravity assist en

route to Saturn

Ulysses

(second

pass)

ESA/ 

NASA2003 –04 distant flyby success

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New

Horizons 

NASA  

28 February

2007flyby success

gravity assist en

route to Pluto

Juno   NASA  

5 August

2011 (launch)orbiter

en

route

JUICE   ESA 2022 (launch) orbiter planned

planned to

eventually enter

orbit around

Ganymede to

become the first

probe to orbit a

natural satellite of

another planet

Europa

Clipper 

NASA   2020s orbiterunder

study

planned to orbit

Jupiter and fly by

Europa multiple

times

Saturn probes

Main article: Exploration of Saturn

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

Pioneer 11   NASA  

1 September

1979flyby success

previously visited

Jupiter

Voyager 1   NASA  

12 November1980

flyby success previously visitedJupiter

Voyager 2   NASA   5 August 1981 flyby success

previously visited

Jupiter, went on to

visit Uranus and

Neptune

Cassini 

NASA/ 

ESA/ 

ASI

1 July 2004 –  orbiter success

also performed

flybys of a number of

Saturn's moons, and

deployed theHuygens Titan

lander; first

spacecraft to orbit

Saturn

Titan probes

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image

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Huygens  ESA14 January

2005

atmospheric

probe, landersuccess

deployed by Cassini;

first probe to land on

a satellite of another

planet

Titan Saturn

System

Mission 

ESA/ 

NASAOctober 2029

orbiter,

montgolfière,

lander

under

study

Uranus probes

Main article: Exploration of Uranus

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image Ref

Voyager 2   NASA  

24 January

1986flyby success

previously visited

Jupiter and Saturn;

went on to visit

Neptune

[167] 

Neptune probes

Main article: Exploration of Neptune

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image Ref

Voyager 2   NASA  

25 August

1989flyby success

previously visited

Jupiter, Saturn and

Uranus

[167] 

Pluto probes

Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image Ref

New

Horizons 

NASA   2015 flyby en route

flybys of other Kuiper

Belt objects may

follow (targets yet to

be decided)

[162] 

Comet probes

Target SpacecraftOrganizatio

nDate Type Status Notes Image

21P/Giacobini-

Zinner 

ICE (formerly

ISEE3)NASA 

11

Septembe

r 1985

flybysucces

s

previously

solar monitor

ISEE3; went

on to observe

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22

Halley's

Comet

1P/Halley  Vega 1   SAS 

6 March

1986flyby

succes

s

minimum

distance

8,890 km;

previously

visited Venus

1P/Halley  Suisei  ISAS 

8 March

1986flyby

succes

s151,000 km

1P/Halley  Vega 2   SAS 

9 March

1986flyby

succes

s

minimum

distance

8,890 km;

previously

visited Venus

1P/Halley  Sakigake  ISAS 

March

1986

distant

flyby

partial

success

minimum

distance 6.99million km

1P/Halley  Giotto  ESA14 March

1986flyby

succes

s

minimum

distance

596 km; went

on to visit

comet

26P/Grigg-

Skjellerup

1P/Halley 

ICE (formerly

ISEE3)NASA 

28 March

1986

distant

obser-

vations

succes

s

minimumdistance 32

million km;

previously

visited comet

21P/Giacobini

-Zinner

26P/Grigg-

Skjellerup 

Giotto  ESA10 July

1992

flybysucces

s

previously

visited

Halley'sComet

45P/

Honda-Mrkos-

Pajdusakova 

Sakigake  ISAS 

1996 flyby failurecontact lost;

previously

visited

Halley's

Comet21P/Giacobini-

Zinner 

Sakigake  ISAS 

1998 flyby failure

55P/Tempel-

Tuttle 

Suisei  ISAS 1998 flyby failure

abandoned

due to lack of

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23

21P/Giacobini-

Zinner 

Suisei  ISAS 

1998 flyby failure

fuel;

previously

visited

Halley's

Comet

19P/Borrelly  Deep Space1 NASA 

22

September 2001

flyby success

previously

visitedasteroid 9969

Braille

2P/Encke  CONTOUR  NASA  2003 flyby failure

contact lost

shortly after

launch

81P/Wild  Stardust  NASA 

2 January

2004

flyby,

sample

return

succes

s

sample

returned

January 2006;

also visited

asteroid 5535

Annefrank

9P/Tempel 

Deep Impact   NASA  July 2005 flybysucces

s

Impactor  NASA 

4 July

2005

impacto

r

succes

s

73P/

Schwassmann-

Wachmann 

CONTOUR  NASA  2006 flyby failure

contact lost

shortly after

launch

6P/d'Arrest  CONTOUR  NASA  2008 flyby failure

contact lost

shortly after

launch

103P/Hartley 

Deep Impact

(redesignate

d EPOXI) 

NASA 

4

November

2010

flybysucces

s

mission

extension

(target

changed from

comet

Boethin) 

9P/Tempel 

Stardust

(redesignate

d NExT) 

NASA 

14

February

2011

flybysucces

s

mission

extension

67P/Churyumov

-

Gerasimenko

Rosetta  ESA 2014 –15 orbiteren

route

flybys of

asteroids

2867 Šteins 

and 21

Lutetia also

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24

scheduled

Philae  ESA 2014 landeren

route

Probes leaving the Solar System

See also: List of artificial objects escaping from the Solar System

Spacecraft Organization Notes Image

Pioneer 10   NASA  

Left Jupiter in December 1973. Mission ended

March 1997. Last contact January 23, 2003. Craft

now presumed dead; no further contact attempts

planned.

Pioneer 11   NASA  

Left Saturn in September 1979. Last contact

September 1995. The craft's antenna cannot be

manoeuvred to point to Earth, and it is not known

if it is still transmitting. No further contactattempts are planned.

Voyager 1   NASA  

Left Saturn in November 1980. Still in regular

contact and transmitting scientific data (as of

September 2012). Contact hoped to be maintained

until at least 2020.

Voyager 2   NASA  

Left Neptune in August 1989. Still in regular

contact and transmitting scientific data (as of

September 2012). Contact hoped to be maintained

until at least 2020.

New

Horizons 

NASA  

Currently en route to outer Solar System. Expected

to reach Pluto in July 2015.

Other probes to leave Earth orbit

For completeness, this section lists probes that have left (or will leave) Earth orbit, but are not

targeted at any of the above bodies.

Spacecraft Organization Date Location Status Notes Image

WMAP   NASA  

30 June 2001

(launch) – to

October

2010

(end)[185]

 

Sun-Earth

L2 pointsuccess

cosmic

background

radiation

observations;

sent to

graveyard

orbit after 9

years of

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26

(launch) Earth L2

point

position and

motion of 1

billion stars

LISA

Pathfinder 

ESA2014

(launch)

[194]

 

Halo orbit

around Sun-

Earth L1point

planned

test mission

for proposed

LISA

gravitationalwave

observatory

James

Webb

Space

Telescope 

NASA

ESA

CSA

2018

(launch)

Sun-Earth

L2 pointplanned

infrared

astronomy

Euclid  ESA2019

(launch)

Halo orbit

around Sun-

Earth L2

point

planned

measure the

rate of

expansion of

the Universe

through time

to better

understand

dark energy

and dark

matter

Cancelled probes and missions

Target SpacecraftOrganizati

on

Dat

eType Status Notes Image

Mercury

BepiColombo

Mercury Surface

Element 

ESA 

landercancelle

d

Moon LUNAR-A 

JAXA 

orbiter,

penetrato

rs

cancelle

d

originally

scheduled for

2004,

cancelled

2007

MarsMars Surveyor

2001 Lander  

NASA  

200

1lander

cancelle

d

MarsBeagle 2:

Evolution 

200

4lander

cancelle

d

Mars NetLander 

CNES/ 

ESAlander

cancelle

d

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Mars

Mars

Telecommunicati

ons Orbiter  

NASA  

201

0orbiter

cancelle

d

Phobos Aladdin NASA  

sample

return

not

selecte

d

Europa Europa Orbiter  NASA   orbiter cancelled

EuropaJupiter Icy Moons

Orbiter 

NASA   orbitercancelle

d

GanymedeJupiter Icy Moons

OrbiterNASA   orbiter

cancelle

d

CallistoJupiter Icy Moons

OrbiterNASA   orbiter

cancelle

d

Pluto Pluto Fast Flyby   NASA  

201

0flyby

cancelle

d

Now known as

New Horizons

PlutoPluto Kuiper

Express 

NASA  

201

2flyby

cancelle

d

Now known as

New Horizons

4660 Nereus  Hayabusa  ISAS 

sample

return

cancelle

d

rerouted to

25143 Itokawa

3840 Mimistrob

ell 

Rosetta  ESA200

6flyby

cancelle

drerouted

4979 Otawara   Rosetta  ESA200

6flyby

cancelle

drerouted

4660 Nereus 

Near Earth

AsteroidProspector 

SpaceDev 

sample

return

cancelle

d

46P/Wirtanen  Rosetta  ESA201

1orbiter

cancelle

d

rerouted to

67P/Churyum

ov-

Gerasimenko