This is a list of all spacecraft landings on other planets and bodies in the Solar System, including soft landings and both intended and unintended hard impacts. The list includes orbiters that were intentionally crashed, but not orbiters which later crashed in an unplanned manner due to orbital decay.
First successful soft landing on another planet; transmitted from surface for 23 minutes. The spacecraft definitively confirmed that humans cannot survive on the surface of Venus, and excluded the possibility of any liquid water on Venus.
Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 127 minutes. First photographs in color of its surface, and it records atmospheric wind noises, the first sounds heard from another planet.[3]
First soft landing on Mars. Transmission began about 90 seconds after landing.[4] Transmitted a partial image for 14.5 seconds before the signal was lost. [5]
Jupiter is a gas giant with a very large atmospheric pressure and internal temperature and thus there is no known hard surface on which to "land". All missions listed here are impacts on Jupiter.
Saturn is a gas giant with a very large atmospheric pressure and internal temperature and thus there is no known hard surface on which to "land". All missions listed here are impacts on Saturn.
Designed as an orbiter, but an improvised landing was carried out on completion of the main mission. Transmission from the surface continued for about 16 days.
MINERVA-II Rover-1A and Rover-1B, deployed successfully and returned data from the surface.
France / Germany
3 October 2018
MASCOT rover, deployed successfully and returned data from the surface.
Japan
21 February 2019
Hayabusa2 first touchdown. Successfully collected sample from the surface. Sample returned to Earth on 5 December 2020.
5 April 2019
Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI), fired at surface to create a crater from which to sample sub-surface material
April 2019
Deployable Camera 3, photographed the impact created by the Small carry-on Impactor. Presumed to have fallen on the asteroid.
11 July 2019
Hayabusa2 second touchdown. Successfully collected sub-surface material sample from the crater created by the SCI. Sample returned to Earth on 5 December 2020.
October 2019
MINERVA-II Rover-2, failed before deployment, so it was released in orbit around the asteroid to perform gravitational measurements before it impacted a few days later.
Philae lander. Successful soft landing, but anchors misfired and Philae bounced multiple times before coming to rest. Philae transmitted briefly but could not maintain power due to its awkward landing.
29 September 2016
The Rosetta orbiter was intentionally crashed into the comet.
Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is currently carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted both by uncrewed robotic space probes and human spaceflight. Space exploration, like its classical form astronomy, is one of the main sources for space science.
A lander is a spacecraft that descends towards, then comes to rest on the surface of an astronomical body other than Earth. In contrast to an impact probe, which makes a hard landing that damages or destroys the probe upon reaching the surface, a lander makes a soft landing after which the probe remains functional.
A Moon landing or lunar landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon, including both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was Luna 2 in 1959.
A lunar lander or Moon lander is a spacecraft designed to land on the surface of the Moon. As of 2024, the Apollo Lunar Module is the only lunar lander to have ever been used in human spaceflight, completing six lunar landings from 1969 to 1972 during the United States' Apollo Program. Several robotic landers have reached the surface, and some have returned samples to Earth.
A sample-return mission is a spacecraft mission to collect and return samples from an extraterrestrial location to Earth for analysis. Sample-return missions may bring back merely atoms and molecules or a deposit of complex compounds such as loose material and rocks. These samples may be obtained in a number of ways, such as soil and rock excavation or a collector array used for capturing particles of solar wind or cometary debris. Nonetheless, concerns have been raised that the return of such samples to planet Earth may endanger Earth itself.
The physical exploration of the Moon began when Luna 2, a space probe launched by the Soviet Union, made a deliberate impact on the surface of the Moon on September 14, 1959. Prior to that the only available means of exploration had been observation from Earth. The invention of the optical telescope brought about the first leap in the quality of lunar observations. Galileo Galilei is generally credited as the first person to use a telescope for astronomical purposes; having made his own telescope in 1609, the mountains and craters on the lunar surface were among his first observations using it.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to space exploration.
A rover is a planetary surface exploration device designed to move over the rough surface of a planet or other planetary mass celestial bodies. Some rovers have been designed as land vehicles to transport members of a human spaceflight crew; others have been partially or fully autonomous robots. Rovers are typically created to land on another planet via a lander-style spacecraft, tasked to collect information about the terrain, and to take crust samples such as dust, soil, rocks, and even liquids. They are essential tools in space exploration.
The exploration of Uranus has, to date, been through telescopes and a lone probe by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which made its closest approach to Uranus on January 24, 1986. Voyager 2 discovered 10 moons, studied the planet's cold atmosphere, and examined its ring system, discovering two new rings. It also imaged Uranus' five large moons, revealing that their surfaces are covered with impact craters and canyons.
The exploration of Saturn has been solely performed by crewless probes. Three missions were flybys, which formed an extended foundation of knowledge about the system. The Cassini–Huygens spacecraft, launched in 1997, was in orbit from 2004 to 2017.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Solar System:
A flyby is a spaceflight operation in which a spacecraft passes in proximity to another body, usually a target of its space exploration mission and/or a source of a gravity assist to impel it towards another target. Spacecraft which are specifically designed for this purpose are known as flyby spacecraft, although the term has also been used in regard to asteroid flybys of Earth for example. Important parameters are the time and distance of closest approach.
The Planetary Exploration of China, also known as Tianwen, is the robotic interplanetary spaceflight program conducted by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The program aims to explore planets of the Solar System, starting from Mars, and will be expanded to Jupiter and more in the future.
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