Timeline of Solar System exploration

• All spacecraft that have left Earth orbit for the purposes of Solar System exploration, including lunar probes.
• A small number of pioneering or notable Earth-orbiting craft.

• 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.
• Probes that failed at launch.

1950s

Mission name	Launch date	Description
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 ; first artificial satellite in heliocentric orbit.
Pioneer 4	3 March 1959	Lunar flyby
Luna 2	12 September 1959	First 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
Pioneer 5	11 March 1960	Interplanetary space investigations
Venera 1	12 February 1961	First probe to another planet; Venus flyby
Vostok 1	12 April 1961	First crewed Earth orbiter
Ranger 1	23 August 1961	Attempted lunar test flight
Ranger 2	18 November 1961	Attempted lunar test flight
Ranger 3	26 January 1962	Attempted lunar impact
Ranger 4	23 April 1962	Lunar impact
Mariner 2	27 August 1962	First successful planetary encounter, First successful Venus flyby
Ranger 5	18 October 1962	Attempted lunar impact
Mars 1	1 November 1962	First probe to Mars: flyby
Luna 4	2 April 1963	Attempted lunar lander
Cosmos 21	11 November 1963	Attempted Venera test flight?
Ranger 6	30 January 1964	Lunar impact
Zond 1	2 April 1964	Venus flyby
Ranger 7	28 July 1964	Lunar impact
Voskhod 1	12 October 1964	First orbiter with multimember crew
Mariner 3	5 November 1964	Attempted Mars flyby
Mariner 4	28 November 1964	First successful Mars flyby
Zond 2	30 November 1964	Mars flyby
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
Luna 5	9 May 1965	Lunar impact
Luna 6	8 June 1965	Attempted lunar lander
Zond 3	18 July 1965	Lunar flyby
Luna 7	4 October 1965	Lunar impact
Venera 2	12 November 1965	Venus flyby
Venera 3	16 November 1965	Venus lander – First spacecraft to reach another planet's surface, First Venus impact
Luna 8	3 December 1965	Lunar impact
Pioneer 6	16 December 1965	"Space weather" observations
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
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
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 Venus atmospheric probe
Mariner 5	14 June 1967	Venus flyby
Surveyor 4	14 July 1967	Attempted lunar lander
Explorer 35	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
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
Zond 4	2 March 1968	Lunar programme test flight out of Earth orbit
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
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 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 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
Apollo 13	11 April 1970	Crewed lunar flyby and return to Earth Farthest from Earth a human has gone
Venera 7	17 August 1970	First Venus lander and the first spacecraft to land on another planet
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 on Martian surface
Mars 3	28 May 1971	Mars orbiter, First Mars lander
Mariner 9	30 May 1971	First Mars orbiter
Apollo 15	26 July 1971	Crewed lunar landing; First crewed lunar rover
Luna 18	2 September 1971	Attempted lunar sample return
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	10 June 1973	Lunar orbiter/radio astronomy
Mars 4	21 July 1973	Mars flyby
Mars 5	25 July 1973	Mars orbiter
Mars 6	5 August 1973	Mars flyby and attempted lander
Mars 7	9 August 1973	Mars flyby and attempted lander
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
Helios-A	10 December 1974	Solar observations
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 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
Venera 13	30 October 1981	Venus flyby and lander
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 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, Comet Halley flyby
Suisei	18 August 1985	Comet Halley flyby
Mir	19 February 1986	First modular space station
Phobos 1	7 July 1988	Attempted Mars orbiter/Phobos landers
Phobos 2	12 July 1988	Mars orbiter/attempted Phobos landers
Magellan	4 May 1989	Venus orbiter
Galileo	18 October 1989	Venus flyby, first Asteroid flyby , first Asteroid moon discovery , first Jupiter orbiter, first Jupiter atmospheric probe

1990s

Mission name	Launch date	Description
Hiten	24 January 1990	Lunar flyby and orbiter
Hubble Space Telescope	24 April 1990	Orbital space telescope
Ulysses	6 October 1990	Solar polar orbiter
Yohkoh	30 August 1991	Solar observations
Mars Observer	25 September 1992	Attempted Mars orbiter
Clementine	25 January 1994	Lunar orbiter/attempted asteroid flyby
WIND	1 November 1994	Solar wind observations
SOHO	2 December 1995	Solar observatory
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
Mars Pathfinder	4 December 1996	Mars lander and first successful planetary rover
ACE	25 August 1997	Solar wind and "space weather" observations
Cassini–Huygens	15 October 1997	First Saturn orbiter and first outer planet lander
Lunar Prospector	7 January 1998	Lunar orbiter
Nozomi	3 July 1998	Attempted Mars orbiter
Deep Space 1	24 October 1998	Asteroid and comet flyby
ISS	20 November 1998	International space station
Mars Climate Orbiter	11 December 1998	Attempted Mars orbiter
Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2	3 January 1999	Attempted Mars lander/penetrators
Stardust	7 February 1999	First comet coma sample return

2000s

Mission name	Launch date	Description
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
Hayabusa	9 May 2003	Asteroid lander and first sample return from asteroid
Mars Express/Beagle 2	2 June 2003	Mars orbiter/attempted lander
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
MESSENGER	3 August 2004	First Mercury orbiter
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 ; continued on to 486958 Arrokoth flyby
Hinode	22 September 2006	Solar orbiter
STEREO	26 October 2006	Two spacecraft, solar orbiters
Phoenix	4 August 2007	Mars polar lander
SELENE	14 September 2007	Lunar orbiters
Dawn	27 September 2007	Asteroid Ceres and Vesta orbiter
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	14 December 2009	Infrared survey of celestial sky ; later Near-Earth object survey

2010s

Mission name	Launch date	Description
Solar Dynamics Observatory	11 February 2010	Continuous solar monitoring
Akatsuki	20 May 2010	Venus orbiter
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	26 November 2011	Mars rover
Van Allen Probes	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	5 November 2013	Mars orbiter
MAVEN	18 November 2013	Mars orbiter
Chang'e 3	1 December 2013	Lunar lander and rover
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, first asteroid rover
PROCYON	3 December 2014	Comet observer and attempted asteroid flyby
Exploration Flight Test 1	5 December 2014	Uncrewed Earth orbital test of Orion vehicle
DSCOVR	11 February 2015	Solar observation
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and EDM lander	14 March 2016	Mars orbiter and attempted lander
OSIRIS-REx	8 September 2016	Asteroid sample return mission
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
BepiColombo	19 October 2018	Two Mercury orbiters
Chang'e 4	7 December 2018	Lunar lander and rover, first landing on the lunar far side
Beresheet	22 February 2019	Attempted lunar lander
Chandrayaan-2	22 July 2019	Lunar orbiter; attempted lander and rover

2020s

Mission name	Launch date	Description
SolO	10 February 2020	Sun-observing satellite
Mars Hope	19 July 2020
Tianwen-1	23 July 2020
Mars 2020	30 July 2020

Planned or scheduled