Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes

This timeline of artificial satellites and space probes includes unmanned spacecraft including technology demonstrators, observatories, lunar probes, and interplanetary probes. First satellites from each country are included. Not included are most earth science satellites, commercial satellites or manned missions.

Key: Year – Origin – Target – Status – Description

Timelines

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

1950s

Year	Origin	Name	Status	Description
1957	USSR	Sputnik 1	Success	The first satellite in space.
1957	USSR	Sputnik 2	Success	The first satellite to carry a living animal, a dog named Laika.
1957	USA	Vanguard TV3	Failed
1958	USA	Explorer 1	Success	The first American satellite in space.
1958	USA	Vanguard 6.5in Satellite 2	Failed
1958	USA	Explorer 2	Failed
1958	USA	Vanguard 1	Success
1958	USA	Explorer 3	Success
1958	USSR	ISZ D-1 No. 1	Failed
1958	USA	Vanguard 20in X-ray 1	Failed
1958	USSR	Sputnik 3	Success
1958	USA	Vanguard 20in Lyman-Alpha 1	Failed
1959	USSR	Luna 1	Success	The first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon, and the first spacecraft to be placed in heliocentric orbit.
1959	USA	Vanguard 2 Cloud Cover Experiment	Success
1959	USSR	Luna 2	Success	The first spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon, and the first man-made object to land on another celestial body.
1959	USSR	Luna 3	Success	The first mission to photograph the Far side of the Moon.

1960s

Year	Origin	Target	Status	Description
1960	USA	Sun	Success	Pioneer 5 solar monitor
1960	USSR	Earth	Success	Korabl-Sputnik 1
1960	USSR	Earth	Success	Korabl-Sputnik 2
1962	USA	Venus	Success	Mariner 2, first spacecraft to visit another planet
1962	UK	Earth	Success	Ariel 1, the first British satellite in space (on American rocket)
1962	Canada	Earth	Success	Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite (on American rocket)
1964	Italy	Earth	Success	San Marco 1, the first Italian satellite (on American rocket)
1965	USA	Mars	Success	Mariner 4, first deep space photographs of another planet and first flyby of Mars
1965	France	Earth	Success	Asterix, the first French satellite
1967	Australia	Earth	Success	WRESAT, the first Australian satellite (on American rocket)
1969	USA	Moon	Success	Apollo 11 Moon landing

1970s

Year	Origin	Target	Status	Description
1970	Japan	Earth	Failure	Osumi the first Japanese satellite
1970	USSR	Venus	Success	Venera 7, the first successful landing of a spacecraft on another planet
1970	USSR	Moon	Success	Luna 16 lander is the first automated return of samples from the Moon
1970	USSR	Moon	Success	Zond 8 flyby
1970	USSR	Moon	Success	Luna 17/Lunokhod 1 lander/rover is the first automated surface exploration of the Moon
1970	UK	Earth	Failure	Orba (satellite), second stage of rocket shutdown 13 seconds early
1970	USA	Earth	Success	Launch of Uhuru, the first dedicated X-ray satellite
1970	China	Earth	Success	Launch of Dong Fang Hong I, the first Chinese satellite
1971	USSR	Moon	Failure	Luna 18 lander
1971	USSR	Moon	Success	Luna 19 orbiter
1971	USA	Mars	Failure	Mariner 8 flyby
1971	USSR	Mars	Failure	Cosmos 419 probe
1971	USSR	Mars	Partial Failure	Mars 2 orbiter and lander, created the first human artifact on Mars
1971	USSR	Mars	Partial Success	Mars 3 orbiter and lander, first successful landing on Mars
1971	USA	Mars	Success	Mariner 9 orbiter, first pictures of Mars' moons (Phobos and Deimos) taken
1971	UK	Earth	Success	Prospero X-3 satellite, first satellite launched by Britain using a British rocket
1971	UK	Earth	Success	Ariel 4,
1972	USSR	Venus	Success	Venera 8 lander
1972	USSR	Moon	Success	Luna 20 lander
1972	USA/UK	Earth	Success	Launch of the Copernicus – Orbiting Astronomical Observatory-3
1972	USA	Jupiter	Success	Pioneer 10 launched, first spacecraft to encounter Jupiter
1972	USA	Sun	Success	Explorer 49 solar probe
1973	USA	Venus/Mercury	Success	Mariner 10 launched, it passed by and photographed Mercury, also was the first dual planet probe
1973	USA	Jupiter/Saturn	Success	Pioneer 11 launched, first spacecraft to encounter Saturn
1973	USSR	Moon	Success	Luna 21/Lunokhod 2 lander/rover
1973	USSR	Mars	Failure	Mars 4 orbiter
1973	USSR	Mars	Success	Mars 5 orbiter
1973	USSR	Mars	Failure	Mars 6 orbiter and lander
1973	USSR	Mars	Failure	Mars 7 orbiter and lander
1974	West Germany	Sun	Success	Helios 1 solar probe
1974	USSR	Moon	Success	Luna 22 orbiter
1974	USSR	Moon	Failure	Luna 23 probe
1974	UK	Earth	Success	Launch of the Ariel 5 X-ray satellite
1975	USSR	Venus	Success	Venera 9 returns the first pictures of the surface of Venus
1975	USSR	Venus	Success	Venera 10 orbiter and lander
1975	USA	Mars	Success	Viking 1 orbiter and lander; lands on Mars 1976
1975	USA	Mars	Success	Viking 2 orbiter and lander; lands on Mars 1976
1975	India	Earth	Success	Aryabhata, launched by USSR,the first Indian satellite
1976	West Germany	Sun	Success	Helios 2 solar probe
1976	USSR	Moon	Success	Luna 24 lander
1976	USA/Canada	Earth	Success	Hermes Communications Technology Satellite prototype for testing direct broadcast TV
1976	USA/Netherlands	Earth	Success	The Vela and ANS X-ray satellites discover X-ray bursts (first Dutch satellite)
1976	USA	Sun	Success	The Orbiting Solar Observatory X-ray satellite shows that X-ray bursts have blackbody spectra
1977	USA	Earth	Success	Launch of the HEAO-1 X-ray satellite
1978	USA	Venus	Success	Pioneer Venus 1 orbiter
1978	USA	Venus	Success	Pioneer Venus 2 atmospheric probe
1978	USSR	Venus	Partial Success	Venera 11 flyby and lander
1978	USSR	Venus	Success	Venera 12 flyby and lander
1978	USA/UK/Europe	Earth	Success	Launch of the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite
1978	USA	Earth	Success	Launch of the Einstein X-ray satellite (HEAO-2) is the first X-ray photographs of astronomical objects
1979	India		Failure	India's first rocket Satellite Launch Vehicle launched
1979	Japan	Earth	Success	Launch of the Hakucho X-ray satellite
1979	UK	Earth	Success	Launch of the Ariel 6 cosmic-ray and X-ray satellite
1979	USA	Jupiter	Success	Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 send back images of Jupiter and its system
1979	India	Earth	Success	Bhaskara-1 India, launched by ISRO (First Indian low orbit Earth Observation Satellite)

1980s

Year	Origin	Target	Status	Description
1980	USA	Sun	Failure	Solar Maximum Mission solar probe succeeded after being repaired in Earth orbit
1981	India	Earth	Success	Bhaskara-2 India, launched by ISRO
1981	USSR	Venus	Success	Venera 13 launched, it returned the first colour pictures of the surface of Venus
1981	USSR	Venus	Success	Venera 14 flyby and lander
1981	Bulgaria	Earth	Success	Bulgaria 1300, polar research mission, launched by the Soviet Union
1983	USSR	Venus	Success	Venera 15 orbiter
1983	USSR	Venus	Success	Venera 16 orbiter
1983	Europe	Earth	Success	Launch of the EXOSAT X-ray satellite
1983	Japan	Earth	Success	Launch of the Tenma X-ray satellite (ASTRO-B)
1983	USA/Netherlands/UK	Earth	Success	Launch of the IRAS satellite
1984	USSR	Venus/Halley's Comet	Success	Vega 1 flyby, atmospheric probe and lander
1984	USSR	Venus/Halley's Comet	Success	Vega 2 flyby, atmospheric probe and lander
1985	Mexico	Earth	Success	Morelos I, the first Mexican satellite
1986	Europe	Halley's Comet	Success	Giotto flyby
1987	Japan	Earth	Success	Launch of the Ginga X-ray satellite (ASTRO-C)
1988	USSR	Mars	Failure	Phobos 1 orbiter and lander
1988	USSR	Mars	Partial Failure	Phobos 2 flyby and lander
1989	USA	Venus	Success	Magellan orbiter launched which mapped 99 percent of the surface of Venus (300 m resolution)
1989	USA	Venus/Earth/Moon/Gaspra/Ida/Jupiter	Success	Galileo flyby, orbiter and atmospheric probe
1989	USA	Neptune	Success	Voyager 2 sends back images of Neptune and its system
1989	Europe	Earth	Success	Launch of the Hipparcos satellite
1989	USA	Earth	Success	Launch of the COBE satellite
1989	USSR	Earth	Success	Launch of the Granat gamma-ray and X-ray satellite

1990s

Year	Origin	Target	Status	Description
1990	USA/Europe	Sun	Success	Ulysses solar flyby
1990	Japan	Moon	Success	Hiten probe, this was the first non-United States or USSR probe to reach the Moon
1990	USA/Europe	Earth	Success	Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope
1990	Germany	Earth	Success	Launch of the ROSAT X-ray satellite to conduct the first imaging X-ray sky survey
1991	Japan	Sun	Success	Yohkoh solar probe
1991	USA	Earth	Success	Launch of the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory satellite
1992	USA	Mars	Failure	Mars Observer orbiter
1993	Japan	Earth	Success	Launch of the ASCA (ASTRO-D) X-ray satellite
1994	USA	Moon	Success	Clementine orbiter mapped the surface of the Moon (resolution 125–150 m) and allowed the first accurate relief map of the Moon to be generated
1995	Mexico	Earth	Failed	Unamsat 1, First UNAM built orbiter
1995	Europe	Earth	Success	Launch of the Infrared Space Observatory
1995	Europe/USA	Sun	Success	SOHO solar probe
1996	USA	433 Eros	Success	NEAR Shoemaker asteroid flybys/orbiter/lander
1996	USA	Mars	Success	Mars Global Surveyor orbiter
1996	USA	Mars	Success	Mars Pathfinder, the first automated surface exploration of another planet
1996	Russia	Mars	Failure	Mars 96 orbiter and lander
1997	USA/Europe	Saturn and Titan	Success	Cassini-Huygens arrived in orbit on July 1, 2004, landed on Titan January 14, 2005
1998	North Korea	Earth	Unknown	Claimed launch of Kwangmyongsong-1 by North Korea though no independent source was able to verify its existence
1998	USA	Moon	Success	Lunar Prospector orbiter
1998	Japan	Mars	Failure	Nozomi (Planet B) orbiter, the first Japanese spacecraft to reach another planet
1998	USA	Mars	Failure	Mars Climate Orbiter
1999	USA	Mars	Failure	Mars Polar Lander
1999	USA	Mars	Failure	Deep Space 2 (DS2) penetrators
1999	USA	Earth	Success	Launch of the Chandra X-ray Observatory
1999	Europe	Earth	Success	Launch of the X-Ray Multi-Mirror Mission, XMM-Newton

2000s

Year	Origin	Target	Status	Description
2000	UK	Earth	Success	SNAP-1 robotic camera enabling images to be sent to other spacecrafts orbiting the Earth
2001	USA	Sun	Partial Success	Genesis solar wind sample crash-landed on return
2001	USA	Earth	Success	Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) performs cosmological observations.
2001	USA	Mars	Success	Mars Odyssey
2003	Canada	Earth	Success	MOST the smallest space telescope in orbit
2003	USA	Comet Encke	Failure	CONTOUR launched, but lost during early trajectory insertion.
2003	Europe	Moon	Success	Smart 1 orbiter
2003	Europe	Mars	Partial Success	Mars Express orbiter (successfully reached orbit) and failed lander, the Beagle 2
2003	USA	Mars	Success	Mars Exploration Rovers successful launches, Spirit successfully landed, Opportunity successfully landed
2003	UK	Earth	Success	UK-DMC orbiter, part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation
2003	Japan	25143 Itokawa	Success	Hayabusa sample return arrive at 2010
2004	Europe	Comet 67P	Success	Rosetta space probe launched (arrived on comet 67P on November 12, 2014)
2004	USA	Mercury	Success	MESSENGER orbiter launched (in Mercury orbit)
2004	USA	Earth	Success	Launch of the Swift Gamma ray burst observatory.
2005	Iran	Earth	Success	Sinah-1 launched, first Iranian-built satellite
2005	USA	Comet Tempel 1	Success	Deep Impact
2005	USA	Mars	In orbit	Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
2005	Europe	Venus	Success	Venus Express
2006	USA	Pluto	Success	New Horizons launched. On July 14th, 2015, New Horizons flew within 7,750 miles (12,472km) of Pluto.
2006	France/ESA	Earth	Launched	COROT telescope to search for extrasolar planets
2007	USA	Mars	Success	Phoenix launched and successfully landed in 2008
2007	Japan	Moon	in lunar orbit since October 3, 2007	SELENE orbiter and lander
2007	USA	Vesta/Ceres	launched	Dawn solar powered ion engined probe to 4 Vesta and 1 Ceres.
2007	China	Moon	Success	Chang'e-I lunar orbiter
2008	USA	Earth	Launched, operating	IBEX
2009	Europe	L2	Launched, arrived, operating	Planck (spacecraft)
2009	Europe	L2	Launched, arrived, operating	Herschel Space Observatory
2009	Iran	Earth	Success	Omid launched by Iranian made launcher Safir. First Iranian-launched satellite
2009	USA	Earth	Success	Kepler launched
2009	India	Earth	Success	RISAT-2 developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, launched by ISRO, India
2009	India	Moon	95% Successful	Chandrayaan-1 developed and launched by ISRO, India
2009	UK	Earth	Success	UK-DMC 2 orbiter, successor to UK-DMC part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation

2010s

Year	Origin	Target	Status	Description
2010	Japan	Venus	failed orbital insertion	Akatsuki orbiter
2010	Japan	Venus	launched	IKAROS, first solar-sail spacecraft
2010	China	Moon	success	Chang'e-2 lunar orbiter/impacter
2011	USA	Jupiter	launched and en route	Juno
2011	Russia	Mars	Failure	Fobos-Grunt lander and sample return
2013	Poland	Earth	Launched	PW-Sat, first Polish satellite
2012	Iran	Earth	Launched	Navid earth-watching satellite
2012	USA	Mars	Success	Mars Science Laboratory with Curiosity rover—orbit and landed
2012	North Korea	Earth	Launched	Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2, first successful North Korean orbital rocket launch
2013	South Korea	Earth	Launched	STSAT-2C, first successful South Korean orbital rocket launch
2013	UK	Earth	success	STRaND-1, first smartphone-operated satellite to be launched and dubbed the world's first "phonesat"
2013	Ecuador	Earth	Launched	NEE-01 Pegaso First Ecuadorian satellite
2013	Japan	Earth	Launched	Hisaki planetary atmosphere observatory
2013	India	Mars	Success	Mars Orbiter Mission
2013	USA	Mars	Success	MAVEN orbiter
2013	Poland	Earth	Launched	Lem, First Polish scientific satellite
2014	Europe	Comet 67P	Partial Success	Rosetta and Philae, Third comet landing at unintended site in suboptimal orientation due to failure of surface anchoring system

External links

• Current and Upcoming Launches
• Missions-NASA
• Unmanned spaceflight discussion forum
• Chronology of Lunar and Planetary Exploration (homepage)