Mission Archive

NASA/JAXA · 2016

Low Earth orbit

A JAXA X-ray observatory built with NASA. It broke apart five weeks after launch when a software error set it spinning out of control, but had already measured the motion of hot gas in the Perseus galaxy cluster.

ISRO · 2015

Low Earth orbit

India's first dedicated astronomy satellite, which observes the same target in ultraviolet, visible and X-ray light at the same time.

JAXA/DLR/CNES · 2014

Ryugu

A JAXA mission that collected samples from the asteroid Ryugu and returned them to Earth in December 2020. The spacecraft is now on an extended mission to other asteroids.

ESA · 2013

Sun–Earth L2

An ESA mission that measured the positions, distances and motions of nearly two billion stars to build the most precise three-dimensional map of the Milky Way.

CNSA · 2013

Moon

A CNSA mission that made the first soft landing on the Moon since 1976, setting down in Mare Imbrium with the Yutu rover.

ISRO · 2013

Mars

India's first interplanetary mission, which made ISRO the first agency to reach Mars orbit on its first attempt. Planned for six months, it operated for nearly eight years.

NASA · 2012

Low Earth orbit

The first telescope to focus high-energy X-rays, used to study black holes, exploded stars and the hottest regions around them.

NASA · 2011

Mars

A NASA mission that landed the Curiosity rover in Gale crater in 2012, where it found that Mars once had lakes and streams able to support microbial life.

NASA · 2011

Jupiter

A NASA orbiter studying Jupiter's interior, magnetic field and polar regions from a looping polar orbit. It is the first solar-powered spacecraft to operate at Jupiter.

JAXA · 2010

Venus

A JAXA orbiter that studied Venus's weather and fast-moving atmosphere. It missed its first attempt to enter orbit in 2010 and succeeded five years later.

NASA · 2009

Low Earth orbit

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which surveyed the whole sky in infrared light. After its coolant ran out it was revived as NEOWISE to find and track asteroids and comets near the Earth.

NASA · 2009

Moon

A NASA orbiter that has mapped the Moon in detail since 2009, imaging the Apollo landing sites and measuring temperatures in permanently shadowed craters.

ESA · 2009

Sun–Earth L2

ESA's far-infrared observatory, which carried the largest mirror flown in space at the time. It studied how stars and galaxies form from cold gas and dust.

ESA · 2009

Sun–Earth L2

An ESA mission that mapped the cosmic microwave background in greater detail than any before it, giving the most precise measurements of the age and contents of the Universe.

NASA · 2009

Heliocentric orbit

A NASA space telescope that watched for the slight dimming of stars as planets crossed in front of them, discovering more than 2,600 exoplanets.

ISRO · 2008

Moon

India's first mission to the Moon. Its instruments, including NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, found water molecules across the lunar surface.

NASA · 2008

Low Earth orbit

A NASA observatory that surveys the whole sky in gamma rays every three hours, studying pulsars, black-hole jets and gamma-ray bursts.

NASA · 2007

Vesta, Ceres

The first spacecraft to orbit two different worlds beyond Earth, the giant asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres, made possible by ion propulsion.

JAXA · 2007

Moon

A JAXA lunar orbiter that mapped the Moon's surface, gravity and magnetic field in detail, working with two small sub-satellites.

NASA · 2007

Mars

A NASA lander that touched down in the Martian arctic, dug into the soil and confirmed water ice just below the surface.

ESA/CNES · 2006

Low Earth orbit

A French-led mission that was the first built to find planets by the dimming of their stars, and that also studied the vibrations of stars to probe their interiors.

NASA · 2006

Jupiter, Pluto, Arrokoth

The first spacecraft to explore Pluto, flying past it and its moon Charon in July 2015, and later the small Kuiper belt object Arrokoth, the most distant world ever visited.

ESA · 2005

Venus

ESA's first mission to Venus, which studied the planet's atmosphere and clouds from orbit for eight years, far beyond its planned 500 days.

NASA · 2005

Mars

A NASA orbiter that has studied Mars since 2006 with the most powerful camera ever sent to another planet, and relays most of the data from the rovers on the surface.