Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes

Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes

Key: Year - Origin - Target - Status – Description

Contents

1 1950s

1950s

1957 - Russia - Earth - Success - Sputnik 1 is launched, the first Earth orbiting satellite
1957 - Russia - Earth - Partial success - Sputnik 2 is launched, the first Earth orbiting satellite with an animal (Laika)
1958 - USA - Earth - Success - Explorer 1
1958 - USA - Earth - Success - Vanguard 1
1958 - USA - Moon - Failure - Pioneer 0 orbiter
1958 - USA - Moon - Failure - Pioneer 1 orbiter
1958 - USA - Moon - Failure - Pioneer 3 flyby
1959 - Russia - Moon - Success - Luna 1 flyby launched, it discovered solar wind
1959 - USA - Moon - Pioneer 4 flyby
1959 - Russia - Moon - Success - Luna 2 lander launched, it was the first spacecraft to impact onto the surface of the moon
1959 - Russia - Moon - Success - Luna 3 flyby launched, it returned the first image of the Moon's hidden side

1960s

1960 - Sun - Pioneer 5 solar monitor
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
1961 - Earth - Success - OSCAR1 First Amateur Satellite
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 1 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 (planet) 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 - Earth - Success - Alouette 2 is launched
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 - Earth - Success - ISIS-I Canadian ionosphere probe
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

1970s

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
1970 - Success - Launch of Dong Fang Hong I, the first satellite of China
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
1971 - Earth - Success - Prospero X-3 satellite, first and only satellite launched by Britain using a British rocket
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 - Earth - Success - Hermes Communications Technology Satellite prototype for testing direct broadcast TV
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

1980s

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

1990s

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 - Success- Saturn and Titan- Cassini-Huygens - arrived in orbit on July 1, 2004, landed on Titan January 14, 2005
1998 - Unknown - Launch of Kwangmyongsong by North Korea though no independent source was able to verify its existence
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

2000s

2000 - Earth - IMAGE launched, the first space storm weather satellite
2001 - Sun - Genesis solar wind sample return - crash-landed on return
2001 - Success - Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) performs cosmological observations.
2001 - Mars - Success - Mars Odyssey
2003 - Earth - Success - MOST the smallest space telescope in the world
2003 - Earth - Success - SCISAT-1 Canadian satellite which observes Earth's upper atmosphere
2003 - Comet Encke - Failure - CONTOUR launched, but lost during early trajectory insertion.
2003 - Moon - Success - Smart 1 orbiter
2003 - Mars - Partial Success - Mars Express orbiter (successfully reached orbit) and failed lander, the Beagle 2
2003 - Mars - Mars Exploration Rovers - successful launches, Spirit successfully landed, Opportunity successfully landed
2003 - Earth - Double Star TC-1 launched successfully