Mission Archive

NASA · 2024

Europa

A NASA mission on its way to Jupiter, where it will make dozens of close flybys of the moon Europa to judge whether its buried ocean could support life.

NASA · 2023

Psyche

A NASA mission on its way to Psyche, a metal-rich asteroid that may be the exposed core of an early planet. It is due to arrive in 2029.

ESA · 2023

Jupiter, Ganymede

An ESA mission on its way to Jupiter to study three of its icy moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. It is planned to become the first spacecraft to orbit a moon other than our own.

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.

CNSA · 2020

Mars

China's first independent mission to Mars, which succeeded in orbiting, landing and deploying a rover in a single attempt.

MBRSC · 2020

Mars

The first interplanetary mission by an Arab nation. From a high orbit it tracks Martian weather through the whole day and across the seasons.

ESA/JAXA · 2018

Mercury

A joint ESA and JAXA mission carrying two orbiters to Mercury, on a cruise of eight years with flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury itself.

NASA · 2016

Bennu

A NASA mission that collected 121 grams of material from the asteroid Bennu and delivered it to Earth in September 2023. The spacecraft, renamed OSIRIS-APEX, is now on its way to the asteroid Apophis.

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.

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 · 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

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.

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 · 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.

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.

NASA · 2004

Mercury

The first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. Over four years it mapped the whole planet and found water ice in permanently shadowed craters near the poles.

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

Moon

ESA's first mission to the Moon, built to test solar-electric propulsion. It spiralled out from Earth orbit over 13 months and then mapped the lunar 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.

JAXA · 2003

Itokawa

The first mission to return samples from an asteroid, bringing back grains from Itokawa in 2010 after a seven-year journey troubled by failed reaction wheels, fuel leaks and a lost signal.