Mission Archive

JAXA · 2023

Moon

Japan's first Moon lander, which demonstrated a pinpoint landing within about 55 metres of its target near Shioli crater. It touched down tilted onto its nose but survived three lunar nights.

ISRO · 2023

Moon

An ISRO mission that made India the fourth country to soft-land on the Moon and the first to land near its south pole. The lander and rover operated for one lunar day.

CNSA · 2020

Moon

A CNSA mission that returned 1,731 grams of lunar samples from Oceanus Procellarum in December 2020, the first brought back since 1976.

SpaceIL · 2019

Moon

The first privately funded mission to attempt a Moon landing, built by the Israeli non-profit SpaceIL with Israel Aerospace Industries. A main-engine failure during descent caused it to crash.

CNSA · 2018

Moon

A CNSA mission that made the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, in Von Kármán crater, relaying its data through the Queqiao satellite.

NASA/DLR/CNES · 2018

Mars

A NASA lander that listened to the interior of Mars, recording more than 1,300 marsquakes and measuring the size of the planet's core.

ESA/Roscosmos · 2016

Mars

A joint ESA and Roscosmos mission to map trace gases such as methane in the Martian atmosphere. It also carried the Schiaparelli landing demonstrator, which crashed on arrival.

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.

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.

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 · 2004

67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, Šteins, Lutetia

An ESA mission that became the first to orbit a comet, following 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko for two years and delivering the Philae lander to its surface.

ESA · 2003

Mars

ESA's first mission to another planet. Its orbiter has studied Mars since 2003, finding water ice at the south pole and signs of liquid water beneath it.

NASA/ESA/ASI · 1997

Jupiter, Saturn, Titan

A joint NASA, ESA and Italian Space Agency mission that orbited Saturn for 13 years and landed the Huygens probe on Titan. It ended with a planned dive into Saturn's atmosphere.

NASA · 1996

Mars

A NASA technology demonstration that landed on Mars cushioned by airbags and delivered Sojourner, the first rover to operate on another planet.

USSR · 1984

Venus, Halley's Comet

A Soviet-led international mission that dropped a lander and a balloon at Venus, then flew on to pass within 9,000 km of Halley's Comet.

NASA · 1975

Mars

The first American mission to land on Mars and the first to operate there for years. Its orbiter mapped the planet while the lander searched the soil for signs of life.

USSR · 1975

Venus

A Soviet mission whose lander returned the first images from the surface of another planet, while its carrier became the first spacecraft to orbit Venus.

USSR · 1971

Mars

A Soviet orbiter and lander. The lander made the first soft landing on Mars but fell silent about 20 seconds after it began transmitting; the orbiter returned data for eight months.

USSR · 1970

Moon

A Soviet mission that landed Lunokhod 1, the first remote-controlled rover on another world, in Mare Imbrium.

USSR · 1970

Moon

The first robotic mission to bring samples back from another world, returning 101 grams of lunar soil from Mare Fecunditatis.

USSR · 1970

Venus

A Soviet probe that became the first spacecraft to land on another planet and transmit data from its surface. It returned 23 minutes of signal from the surface of Venus.

NASA · 1966

Moon

The first American spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon, returning more than 11,000 images from Oceanus Procellarum.

USSR · 1966

Moon

The first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon and the first to send back pictures from its surface.