Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes
Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes
- 1957 - Earth - Success - Sputnik 1 is launched, the first Earth orbiting satellite
- 1957 - Earth - Partial success - Sputnik 2 is launched, the first Earth orbiting satellite with an animal (Laika)
- 1958 - Moon - Failure - Pioneer 0 orbiter
- 1958 - Moon - Failure - Pioneer 1 orbiter
- 1958 - Moon - Failure - Pioneer 3 flyby
- 1959 - Sun - Pioneer 5 solar monitor
- 1959 - Moon - Success - Luna 1 flyby launched, it discovered solar wind
- 1959 - Moon - Pioneer 4 flyby
- 1959 - Moon - Success - Luna 2 lander launched, it was the first spacecraft to impact onto he surface of the moon
- 1959 - Moon - Success - Luna 3 flyby launched, it returned the first image of the Moon's hidden side
- 1960 - Mars - Failure - Mars 1960A probe
- 1960 - Mars - Failure - Mars 1960B probe
- 1961 - Venus - Failure - 1VA (proto-Venera) flyby
- 1961 - Venus - Failure - Venera 1 flyby
- 1962 - Venus - Success - Mariner 2 launched and became the first satellite to return data about Venus
- 1962 - Earth - Success - Telstar 1 is launched
- 1962 - Earth - Success - Alouette is launched, the first Canadian satellite
- 1962 - Moon - Failure - Ranger 3 photographic mission
- 1962 - Moon - Success - Ranger 4 photographic mission
- 1962 - Moon - Partial Failure - Ranger 5 photographic mission (became flyby)
- 1962 - Mars - Failure - Mars 1962A flyby
- 1962 - Mars - Failure - Mars 1 flyby
- 1962 - Mars - Failure - Mars 1962B lander
- 1963 - Earth - Failure - Syncom 1 is launched
- 1963 - Earth - Success - Syncom 2 is launched and sets the geosynchronous orbit
- 1963 - Moon - Partial Failure - Luna 4 lander (became probe)
- 1964 - Earth - Success - Syncom 3 is launched and sets the geostationary orbit
- 1964 - Venus - Failure - Zond 1 flyby
- 1964 - Moon - Failure - Ranger 6 photographic mission
- 1964 - Moon - Success - Ranger 7 photographic mission
- 1964 - Mars - Failure - Mariner 3 flyby
- 1964 - Mars - Success - Mariner 4 flyby, the first successful Mars mission
- 1964 - Mars - Failure - Zond 2 flyby
- 1965 - Sun - Success - Pioneer 6 solar probe
- 1965 - Venus - Failure - Venera 2 flyby
- 1965 - Venus - Failure - Venera 3 atmospheric probe
- 1965 - Moon - Success - Ranger 8 photographic mission
- 1965 - Moon - Success - Ranger 9 photographic mission
- 1965 - Moon - Failure - Luna 5 lander
- 1965 - Moon - Failure - Luna 6 lander
- 1965 - Moon - Success - Zond 3 flyby
- 1965 - Moon - Failure - Luna 7 lander
- 1965 - Moon - Failure - Luna 8 lander
- 1965 - Mars - Success - Mariner 4 sends the first clear pictures of Mars
- 1966 - Sun - Success - Pioneer 7 solar probe
- 1966 - Moon - Success - Luna 9 lander returned the first photographs from the surface of the Moon
- 1966 - Moon - Success - Luna 10 becomes the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon
- 1966 - Moon - Success - Surveyor 1 lander
- 1966 - Moon - Success - Lunar Orbiter 1 orbiter
- 1966 - Moon - Success - Luna 11 orbiter
- 1966 - Moon - Failure - Surveyor 2
- 1966 - Moon - Success - Luna 12 orbiter
- 1966 - Moon - Success - Lunar Orbiter 2 orbiter
- 1966 - Moon - Success - Luna 13 lander
- 1967 - Sun - Success - Pioneer 8 solar probe
- 1967 - Venus - Success - Venera 4 sends the first data from below the clouds of Venus
- 1967 - Venus - Success - Mariner 5 flyby
- 1967 - Moon - Success - Lunar Orbiter 3 orbiter
- 1967 - Moon - Success - Surveyor 2 lander
- 1967 - Moon - Success - Lunar Orbiter 4 orbiter
- 1967 - Moon - Failure - Surveyor 3 lander
- 1967 - Moon - Success - Explorer 35 orbiter
- 1967 - Moon - Success - Lunar Orbiter 5 orbiter
- 1967 - Moon - Success - Surveyor 5 lander
- 1967 - Moon - Success - Surveyor 6 lander, also took off from the Moon's surface
- 1967 - Success - The OSO-3 gamma-ray satellite discovers gamma-ray emission from the plane of the Milky Way
- 1968 - Sun - Success - Pioneer 9 solar probe
- 1968 - Moon - Success - Surveyor 7 lander
- 1968 - Moon - Success - Luna 14 orbiter
- 1968 - Moon - Success - Zond 5 flyby
- 1968 - Moon - Success - Zond 6 flyby
- 1968 - Moon - Success - Apollo 8 manned orbiter became the first manned lunar flyby
- 1969 - Venus - Success - Venera 5 atmospheric probe
- 1969 - Venus - Success - Venera 6 atmospheric probe
- 1969 - Moon - Success - Apollo 10 manned orbiter
- 1969 - Moon - Failure - Luna 15 lander
- 1969 - Moon - Success - Apollo 11 manned lander became the first manned lunar landing
- 1969 - Moon - Success - Zond 7 flyby
- 1969 - Moon - Success - Apollo 12 manned lander
- 1969 - Mars - Success - Mariner 6 flyby
- 1969 - Mars - Success - Mariner 7 flyby
- 1970 - Venus - Success - Venera 7 is the first successful landing of a spacecraft on another planet
- 1970 - Moon - Failure - Apollo 13 manned lander
- 1970 - Moon - Success - Luna 16 lander is the first automated return of samples from the Moon
- 1970 - Moon - Success - Zond 8 flyby
- 1970 - Moon - Success - Luna 17/Lunokhod 1 lander/rover is the first automated surface exploration of the Moon
- 1970 - Success - Launch of Uhuru, the first dedicated X-ray satellite
- 1971 - Moon - Success - Apollo 14 manned lander
- 1971 - Moon - Success - Apollo 15 manned lander, the mission included the first deep spacewalk
- 1971 - Moon - Failure - Luna 18 lander
- 1971 - Moon - Success - Luna 19 orbiter
- 1971 - Mars - Failure - Mariner 8 flyby
- 1971 - Mars - Failure - Cosmos 419 probe
- 1971 - Mars - Partial Failure - Mars 2 orbiter and lander, created the first human artifact on Mars
- 1971 - Mars - Partial Success - Mars 3 orbiter and lander, first successful landing on Mars
- 1971 - Mars - Success - Mariner 9 orbiter, first pictures of Mars' moons (Phobos and Deimos) taken
- 1972 - Venus - Success - Venera 8 lander
- 1972 - Moon - Success - Luna 20 lander
- 1972 - Moon - Success - Apollo 16 manned lander
- 1972 - Moon - Success - Apollo 17 manned lander
- 1972 - Success - Launch of the Copernicus ultraviolet satellite
- 1973 - Sun - Success - Explorer 49 solar probe
- 1973 - Venus/Mercury - Success - Mariner 10 launched, it passed by and photographed Mercury, also was the first dual planet probe
- 1973 - Moon - Success - Luna 21/Lunokhod 2 lander/rover
- 1973 - Mars - Failure - Mars 4 orbiter
- 1973 - Mars - Success - Mars 5 orbiter
- 1973 - Mars - Failure - Mars 6 orbiter and lander
- 1973 - Mars - Failure - Mars 7 orbiter and lander
- 1973 - Success - Skylab was launched, re-entered Earth's atmosphere in 1979
- 1974 - Sun - Success - Helios 1 solar probe
- 1974 - Moon - Success - Luna 22 orbiter
- 1974 - Moon - Failure - Luna 23 probe
- 1974 - Success - Launch of the Ariel V X-ray satellite
- 1975 - Venus - Success - Venera 9 returns the first pictures of the surface of Venus
- 1975 - Venus - Success - Venera 10 orbiter and lander
- 1975 - Mars - Partial Success - Viking 1 orbiter and lander
- 1975 - Mars - Success - Viking 2 orbiter and lander
- 1976 - Sun - Success - Helios 2 solar probe
- 1976 - Moon - Success - Luna 24 lander
- 1976 - Mars - Success - Viking 1 and Viking 2 land on Mars
- 1976 - Success - The Vela and ANS X-ray satellites discover X-ray bursts
- 1976 - Success - The OSO-8 X-ray satellite shows that X-ray bursts have blackbody spectra
- 1977 - Success - Launch of the HEAO-1 X-ray satellite
- 1978 - Venus - Success - Pioneer Venus 1 orbiter
- 1978 - Venus - Success - Pioneer Venus 2 atmospheric probe
- 1978 - Venus - Partial Success - Venera 11 flyby and lander
- 1978 - Venus - Success - Venera 12 flyby and lander
- 1978 - Success - Launch of the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite
- 1978 - Success - Launch of the Einstein X-ray satellite (HEAO-2) is the first X-ray photographs of astronomical objects
- 1979 - Success - Launch of the Hakucho X-ray satellite (ASTRO-A)
- 1979 - Success - Launch of the Ariel VI cosmic-ray and X-ray satellite
- 1979 - Jupiter - Success - Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 send back images of Jupiter and its system
- 1980 - Sun - Success - Solar Maximum Mission solar probe succeeded after being repaired in Earth orbit
- 1980 - Saturn - Success - Voyager 1 sends back images of Saturn and its system
- 1980 - Success - Launch of the Solar Maximum Mission satellite
- 1981 - Venus - Success - Venera 13 launched, it returned the first colour pictures of the surface of Venus
- 1981 - Venus - Success - Venera 14 flyby and lander
- 1981 - Saturn - Success - Voyager 2 sends back images of Saturn and its system
- 1983 - Venus - Success - Venera 15 orbiter
- 1983 - Venus - Success - Venera 16 orbiter
- 1983 - Success - Launch of the EXOSAT X-ray satellite
- 1983 - Success - Launch of the Tenma X-ray satellite (ASTRO-B)
- 1983 - Success - Launch of the IRAS satellite
- 1984 - Venus/Halley's Comet - Success - Vega 1 flyby, atmospheric probe and lander
- 1984 - Venus/Halley's Comet - Success - Vega 2 flyby, atmospheric probe and lander
- 1986 - Uranus - Success - Voyager 2 sends back images of Uranus and its system
- 1987 - Success - Launch of the Ginga X-ray satellite (ASTRO-C)
- 1988 - Mars - Failure - Phobos 1 orbiter and lander
- 1988 - Mars - Failure - Phobos 2 flyby and lander
- 1989 - Venus - Success - Magellan orbiter launched which mapped 99 percent of the surface of Venus (300 m resolution)
- 1989 - Venus/Earth/Moon/Gaspra/Ida/Jupiter - Success - Galileo flyby, orbiter and atmospheric probe
- 1989 - Neptune - Success - Voyager 2 sends back images of Neptune and its system
- 1989 - Success - Launch of the Granat gamma-ray and X-ray satellite
- 1989 - Success - Launch of the Hipparcos satellite
- 1989 - Success - Launch of the COBE satellite
- 1990 - Sun - Success - Ulysses solar flyby
- 1990 - Moon - Failure - Muses-A orbiters, this was the first non-US or USSR probe to reach the Moon
- 1990 - Success - Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope
- 1990 - Success - Launch of the ROSAT X-ray satellite is the first imaging X-ray sky survey
- 1990 - Success - First observations made with Astro-1 (BBXRT, HUT, UIT, WUPPE)
- 1991 - Sun - Success - Yohkoh solar probe
- 1991 - Success - Launch of the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory satellite
- 1992 - Mars - Failure - Mars Observer orbiter
- 1993 - Success - Launch of the Asca X-ray satellite (ASTRO-D)
- 1994 - Moon - Success - Clementine orbiter mapped the surface of the Moon (resolution 125-150m) and allowed the first topographic of the Moon to be generated
- 1995 - Sun - Success - SOHO solar probe
- 1996 - Mars - Mars Global Surveyor orbiter
- 1996 - Mars - Success - Mars Pathfinder/Sojourner lander/rover, the first automated surface exploration another planet
- 1997 - Saturn - Cassini probe - has yet to arrive
- 1998 - Moon - Success - Lunar Prospector orbiter
- 1998 - Mars - Failure - Nozomi (Planet B) orbiter, the first Japanese spacecraft to reach another planet
- 1998 - Mars - Failure - Mars Climate Orbiter
- 1999 - Mars - Failure - Mars Polar Lander
- 1999 - Mars - Failure - Deep Space 2 (DS2) penetrators
- 2000 - Earth - IMAGE launched, the first space storm weather satellite
- 2001 - Sun - Genesis solar wind sample return - has yet to return
- 2001 - Mars - Success - Mars Odyssey
- 2003 - Moon - Smart 1 orbiter - launched successfully
- 2003 - Moon - Lunar-A orbiter and penetrators - not yet launched
- 2003 - Moon - Selene orbiter and lander - not yet launched
- 2003 - Mars - Mars Exploration Roverss - successful launches, MER-A successfully landed, MER-B en route
- 2003 - Mars - Mars Express orbiter and lander
- 2004 - Mercury - Messenger orbiter - not yet launched
- 2005 - Mars - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - not yet launched