Space missions

Mission timeline

213 milestones from 1969 to 2035: launches, flybys, landings and sample returns, from the first Moon rocks to the latest asteroid visits. Dates after today are plans and may change.

1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s

1969

16 July Apollo 11: Apollo 11 launched on a Saturn V rocket.
20 July Apollo 11: Armstrong and Aldrin landed in the Sea of Tranquillity and walked on the Moon.
24 July Apollo 11: The crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean with 21.5 kg of samples.
14 November Apollo 12: Apollo 12 launched and was struck by lightning twice during ascent.
19 November Apollo 12: Conrad and Bean landed in the Ocean of Storms, close to Surveyor 3.
24 November Apollo 12: The crew splashed down with 34.3 kg of samples.

1970

12 September Luna 16: Luna 16 launched on a Proton rocket.
20 September Luna 16: Landed in Mare Fecunditatis and drilled about 35 cm into the soil.
21 September Luna 16: The return stage lifted off from the Moon.
24 September Luna 16: The sample capsule landed in Kazakhstan with 101 g of soil.

1971

31 January Apollo 14: Apollo 14 launched.
5 February Apollo 14: Shepard and Mitchell landed in the Fra Mauro highlands.
9 February Apollo 14: The crew splashed down with 42.3 kg of samples.
26 July Apollo 15: Apollo 15 launched.
30 July Apollo 15: Scott and Irwin landed at Hadley–Apennine.
31 July Apollo 15: The first drive of a Lunar Roving Vehicle on the Moon.
7 August Apollo 15: The crew splashed down with 77.3 kg of samples.

1972

14 February Luna 20: Luna 20 launched.
21 February Luna 20: Landed in the highlands near Apollonius crater.
25 February Luna 20: The capsule returned to Kazakhstan with 55 g of highland soil.
16 April Apollo 16: Apollo 16 launched.
21 April Apollo 16: Young and Duke landed in the Descartes highlands.
27 April Apollo 16: The crew splashed down with 95.7 kg of samples.
7 December Apollo 17: Apollo 17 launched, the only Apollo night launch.
11 December Apollo 17: Cernan and Schmitt landed in the Taurus–Littrow valley.
14 December Apollo 17: The last people to walk on the Moon left the surface.
19 December Apollo 17: The crew splashed down with 110.5 kg of samples.

1975

20 August Viking 1 and 2: Viking 1 launched.
9 September Viking 1 and 2: Viking 2 launched.

1976

20 July Viking 1 and 2: Viking 1 landed on Chryse Planitia.
9 August Luna 24: Luna 24 launched.
18 August Luna 24: Landed in Mare Crisium and drilled about 2 m deep.
22 August Luna 24: The capsule landed in Siberia with 170 g of core.
3 September Viking 1 and 2: Viking 2 landed on Utopia Planitia.

1978

12 August International Cometary Explorer: Launched as ISEE-3 to study the solar wind.

1982

November Viking 1 and 2: Contact with the Viking 1 lander, the last working Viking craft, was lost.

1983

During the year Viking 1 and 2: Gas trapped in the meteorite EETA 79001 was found to match the Viking measurements of the Martian air.
22 December International Cometary Explorer: A final close pass of the Moon sent it towards comet Giacobini–Zinner; it was renamed ICE.

1984

15 December Vega 1 and 2: Vega 1 launched.
21 December Vega 1 and 2: Vega 2 launched.

1985

7 January Sakigake and Suisei: Sakigake launched, Japan's first interplanetary spacecraft.
June Vega 1 and 2: Both craft released landers and balloons at Venus.
2 July Giotto: Giotto launched on an Ariane 1 rocket from Kourou.
18 August Sakigake and Suisei: Suisei launched.
11 September International Cometary Explorer: Flew through the tail of comet 21P/Giacobini–Zinner, the first encounter with a comet.

1986

March International Cometary Explorer: Measured the solar wind upstream of Halley's Comet from afar.
6 March Vega 1 and 2: Vega 1 passed Halley's Comet at about 8,900 km.
8 March Sakigake and Suisei: Suisei passed Halley's Comet at about 151,000 km.
9 March Vega 1 and 2: Vega 2 passed Halley's Comet at about 8,000 km.
11 March Sakigake and Suisei: Sakigake passed Halley's Comet at about 7 million km.
14 March Giotto: Passed the nucleus of Halley's Comet at about 600 km.

1989

18 October Galileo: Galileo launched from the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

1990

2 July Giotto: Flew past Earth, the first Earth gravity assist for a deep-space probe.

1991

29 October Galileo: The first close flyby of an asteroid: 951 Gaspra.

1992

10 July Giotto: Passed comet 26P/Grigg–Skjellerup at about 200 km.

1993

28 August Galileo: Flyby of 243 Ida, which turned out to have a moon, Dactyl.

1994

July Galileo: Watched fragments of comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 strike Jupiter.

1995

2 December SOHO: SOHO launched on an Atlas II rocket.
7 December Galileo: Went into orbit around Jupiter.

1996

17 February NEAR Shoemaker: NEAR launched on a Delta II rocket.

1997

27 June NEAR Shoemaker: Flew past the dark asteroid 253 Mathilde.

1998

June SOHO: Contact was lost for several months; the spacecraft was recovered.
24 October Deep Space 1: Deep Space 1 launched on a Delta II rocket.
23 December NEAR Shoemaker: Flew past Eros after a failed engine burn delayed its arrival.

1999

7 February Stardust: Stardust launched on a Delta II rocket.
29 July Deep Space 1: Flew past the asteroid 9969 Braille.

2000

14 February NEAR Shoemaker: Became the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid, 433 Eros.

2001

12 February NEAR Shoemaker: Became the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
28 February NEAR Shoemaker: Final contact with the spacecraft on Eros.
8 August Genesis: Genesis launched on a Delta II rocket.
22 September Deep Space 1: Flew past comet 19P/Borrelly at about 2,200 km.
December Genesis: Opened its collectors at the L1 point.
18 December Deep Space 1: The ion engine was switched off and the mission ended.

2002

3 July CONTOUR: CONTOUR launched on a Delta II rocket.
15 August CONTOUR: The spacecraft was lost during the engine burn to leave Earth orbit.
2 November Stardust: Flew past the asteroid 5535 Annefrank.

2003

9 May Hayabusa: Hayabusa launched on an M-V rocket.
2 June Mars Express: Mars Express launched on a Soyuz rocket.
7 July Opportunity: Opportunity launched.
21 September Galileo: Ended its mission by plunging into Jupiter.
25 December Mars Express: Entered orbit around Mars; Beagle 2 was lost on landing.

2004

2 January Stardust: Flew through the coma of comet 81P/Wild 2 and collected dust.
25 January Opportunity: Landed on Meridiani Planum.
2 March Rosetta and Philae: Rosetta launched on an Ariane 5 rocket.
April Genesis: Closed its collectors after more than two years.
8 September Genesis: The capsule crashed in Utah when its parachutes failed to open.

2005

January Opportunity: Found Heat Shield Rock, the first meteorite identified on another planet.
12 January Deep Impact: Deep Impact launched on a Delta II rocket.
4 July Deep Impact: The impactor struck comet 9P/Tempel 1.
12 September Hayabusa: Arrived at the asteroid Itokawa.
20 November Hayabusa: First touchdown on Itokawa.
26 November Hayabusa: Second touchdown, when dust entered the sample catcher.

2006

15 January Stardust: The sample capsule landed in Utah.
19 January New Horizons: New Horizons launched on an Atlas V rocket.

2007

28 February New Horizons: Flew past Jupiter for a gravity assist.
27 September Dawn: Dawn launched on a Delta II rocket.

2008

5 September Rosetta and Philae: Flew past the asteroid 2867 Šteins.
22 October Chandrayaan-1: Chandrayaan-1 launched on a PSLV rocket from Sriharikota.
8 November Chandrayaan-1: Entered orbit around the Moon.
14 November Chandrayaan-1: The Moon Impact Probe struck near the south pole.

2009

17 February Dawn: Flew past Mars for a gravity assist.
18 June Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS: LRO and LCROSS launched together on an Atlas V rocket.
July Opportunity: Found Block Island, a larger iron meteorite.
28 August Chandrayaan-1: Contact with the orbiter was lost.
September Chandrayaan-1: The discovery of water and hydroxyl in the lunar surface was announced.
9 October Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS: The rocket stage and then LCROSS struck Cabeus crater; water was found in the plume.
14 December NEOWISE: WISE launched on a Delta II rocket.

2010

3 March Mars Express: Flew 67 km from Phobos, the closest pass of any spacecraft.
13 June Hayabusa: The sample capsule landed at Woomera, Australia.
10 July Rosetta and Philae: Flew past the asteroid 21 Lutetia.
1 October Chang'e 2: Chang'e 2 launched.
4 November Deep Impact: Flew past comet 103P/Hartley 2 as the EPOXI mission.

2011

February NEOWISE: Put into hibernation after its first survey.
14 February Stardust: Flew past comet Tempel 1 and imaged the Deep Impact crater.
June Chang'e 2: Left lunar orbit for the Sun–Earth L2 point.
June Genesis: Results on the Sun's oxygen and nitrogen isotopes were published.
16 July Dawn: Entered orbit around Vesta.
26 November Curiosity: Curiosity launched on an Atlas V rocket.

2012

6 August Curiosity: Landed in Gale crater using a sky crane.
5 September Dawn: Left Vesta for Ceres.
13 December Chang'e 2: Flew past the asteroid 4179 Toutatis.

2013

17 March Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS: A small impact on the Moon was seen as a flash from Earth; LRO later imaged the new crater.
August Deep Impact: Contact with the spacecraft was lost.
December NEOWISE: Restarted as NEOWISE to search for near-Earth objects.

2014

During the year Curiosity: Imaged the large iron meteorite Lebanon.
20 January Rosetta and Philae: Woke from 31 months of hibernation.
6 August Rosetta and Philae: Arrived at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
September International Cometary Explorer: Volunteers lost contact with the spacecraft after briefly bringing it back to life.
12 November Rosetta and Philae: Philae landed on the comet, the first landing on a comet.
3 December Hayabusa2: Hayabusa2 launched on an H-IIA rocket.

2015

January Mars Express: Beagle 2 was found on the surface in images from a NASA orbiter.
6 March Dawn: Entered orbit around Ceres.
14 July New Horizons: Flew past Pluto.
13 August Rosetta and Philae: The comet passed closest to the Sun, with Rosetta watching.

2016

8 September OSIRIS-REx: OSIRIS-REx launched on an Atlas V rocket.
30 September Rosetta and Philae: Rosetta ended its mission by descending onto the comet.
October Curiosity: Found the iron meteorite Egg Rock and analysed it by laser.

2018

20 May Chang'e 4: The relay satellite Queqiao launched.
10 June Opportunity: Last contact, during a planet-wide dust storm.
27 June Hayabusa2: Arrived at the asteroid Ryugu.
21 September Hayabusa2: Two MINERVA-II1 rovers landed: the first rovers on an asteroid.
1 November Dawn: The mission ended when Dawn ran out of fuel for pointing; it remains in orbit around Ceres.
3 December OSIRIS-REx: Arrived at the asteroid Bennu.
7 December Chang'e 4: Chang'e 4 launched on a Long March 3B rocket.
31 December OSIRIS-REx: Entered orbit around Bennu, the smallest body ever orbited by a spacecraft.

2019

1 January New Horizons: Flew past Arrokoth, the most distant object ever visited.
3 January Chang'e 4: Landed in Von Kármán crater, the first soft landing on the far side.
22 February Hayabusa2: First touchdown and sample collection.
5 April Hayabusa2: Made the first artificial crater on an asteroid.
11 July Hayabusa2: Second touchdown, collecting material from below the surface.

2020

27 March NEOWISE: Discovered comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE.
30 July Perseverance and Mars Sample Return: Perseverance launched with the Ingenuity helicopter.
20 October OSIRIS-REx: Touched down at the Nightingale site and collected a sample.
23 November Chang'e 5: Chang'e 5 launched on a Long March 5 rocket.
1 December Chang'e 5: Landed near Mons Rümker in Oceanus Procellarum.
6 December Chang'e 5: The ascent stage docked with the orbiter in lunar orbit.
6 December Hayabusa2: The sample capsule landed at Woomera, Australia.
16 December Chang'e 5: The capsule landed in Inner Mongolia with 1,731 g of samples.

2021

18 February Perseverance and Mars Sample Return: Landed in Jezero crater.
10 May OSIRIS-REx: Left Bennu for Earth.
1 September Perseverance and Mars Sample Return: Sealed its first rock core.
16 October Lucy: Lucy launched on an Atlas V rocket.
24 November DART: DART launched on a Falcon 9 rocket.

2022

September Chang'e 5: A new mineral, changesite-(Y), was announced from the samples.
11 September DART: Released the Italian cubesat LICIACube.
26 September DART: Struck Dimorphos at about 6.1 km/s.
11 October DART: NASA announced that the moon's orbit had been shortened by about half an hour.
16 October Lucy: First gravity-assist flyby of Earth.

2023

January Perseverance and Mars Sample Return: Finished laying a depot of ten sample tubes on the crater floor.
24 September OSIRIS-APEX: Dropped off the Bennu sample and was renamed OSIRIS-APEX.
24 September OSIRIS-REx: The sample capsule landed in Utah with 121.6 g of material.
13 October Psyche: Psyche launched on a Falcon Heavy rocket.
1 November Lucy: Flew past Dinkinesh and discovered its moon Selam.
December Psyche: Sent the first high-definition video from deep space by laser.

2024

March SOHO: SOHO's 5,000th comet discovery was confirmed.
20 March Chang'e 6: The relay satellite Queqiao-2 launched to lunar orbit.
3 May Chang'e 6: Chang'e 6 launched on a Long March 5 rocket.
2 June Chang'e 6: Landed in Apollo crater on the far side (Beijing time).
4 June Chang'e 6: The ascent stage lifted off from the far side.
25 June Chang'e 6: The capsule landed in Inner Mongolia with 1,935.3 g of far-side samples.
July Perseverance and Mars Sample Return: Drilled the spotted rock Cheyava Falls.
8 August NEOWISE: The survey ended.
7 October Hera: Hera launched on a Falcon 9 rocket.
1 November NEOWISE: Re-entered Earth's atmosphere and burned up.
13 December Lucy: Second gravity-assist flyby of Earth.

2025

12 March Hera: Flew past Mars and photographed its moon Deimos.
20 April Lucy: Flew past the asteroid Donaldjohnson.
29 May Tianwen-2: Tianwen-2 launched from Xichang on a Long March 3B rocket.

2026

January Perseverance and Mars Sample Return: The United States budget for 2026 left the Mars Sample Return campaign unfunded.
March Hera: Completed the deep-space engine burns that aim it at Didymos.
May Psyche: Flew past Mars for a gravity assist.
June Tianwen-2: Arrived at the asteroid Kamoʻoalewa.
5 July Hayabusa2: Flew close past the asteroid 98943 Torifune.
20 October MMX (Martian Moons eXploration): MMX launched on an H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center.
November Hera: Due to reach the Didymos system.

2027

During the year MMX (Martian Moons eXploration): Planned arrival at Mars.
During the year NEO Surveyor: Planned launch on a Falcon 9 rocket.
During the year Tianwen-2: Planned departure from Kamoʻoalewa and return of the sample capsule to Earth.
August Lucy: Planned flyby of the Trojan Eurybates and its moon Queta.

2028

During the year DESTINY+: Planned launch on an H3 rocket.
During the year MBR Explorer: Planned launch.
During the year RAMSES: Planned launch.

2029

During the year Comet Interceptor: Planned launch with the Ariel space telescope.
During the year Psyche: Planned arrival at the asteroid Psyche.
February RAMSES: Planned arrival at Apophis.
April OSIRIS-APEX: Planned arrival at Apophis, shortly after its close pass.
13 April OSIRIS-APEX: Apophis passes about 32,000 km above Earth's surface.
13 April RAMSES: Apophis passes about 32,000 km above Earth's surface.

2031

During the year Hayabusa2: Planned arrival at the asteroid 1998 KY26.
During the year MMX (Martian Moons eXploration): Planned return of the sample capsule to Earth.

2033

March Lucy: Planned flyby of the Trojan pair Patroclus and Menoetius.

2034

During the year MBR Explorer: Planned arrival at the asteroid Justitia.

2035

During the year Tianwen-2: Planned arrival at the main-belt comet 311P/PANSTARRS.