List of extraterrestrial orbiters

Last updated

This list of extraterrestrial orbiters is a listing of spacecraft that achieved an extraterrestrial orbit.

Contents

Legend

Color legend for orbital status
Departed
Unclear
Inactive
Operational

Sun

The first artificial object in heliocentric orbit was Luna 1 (1959).

Moon

The Apollo 17 Command Module America seen in lunar orbit from the ascent stage of the Lunar Module Apollo 17 Command Module AS17-145-22261HR.jpg
The Apollo 17 Command Module America seen in lunar orbit from the ascent stage of the Lunar Module

Mars

Venus

MissionCountry/agencyOrbital insertionCurrent statusNotes
Venera 9 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg USSR22 October 1975Mission terminated on March 22, 1976First Venus orbiter
Venera 10 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg USSR23 October 1975Contact lost sometime in June 1976
Pioneer Venus Orbiter Flag of the United States.svg USA4 December 1978Contact lost 8 October 1992; Atmospheric entry disintegration on 22 October 1992.
Venera 15 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg USSR10 October 1983Contact lost January 5, 1985
Venera 16 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg USSR11 October 1983Contact lost June 13, 1984
Magellan Flag of the United States.svg USA7 August 1990Contact lost 13 October 1994. Deliberately deorbited into Venus' atmosphere.
Venus Express ESA logo simple.svg ESA 11 April 2006Contact lost 16 December 2014: Atmospheric entry disintegration in January 2015
Akatsuki Flag of Japan.svg Japan7 December 2015Contact lost April 2024

Jupiter

MissionCountry/agencyOrbital insertionCurrent statusNotes
Galileo Flag of the United States.svg USA8 December 1995Intentionally deorbited and incinerated in Jupiter's atmosphere 21 September 2003First Jupiter orbiter
Juno Flag of the United States.svg USA4 July 2016Active
JUICE ESA logo simple.svg ESAJuly 2031 (planned)en routemission to study Jupiter's three icy moons Callisto, Europa and Ganymede, eventually orbiting Ganymede as the first spacecraft to orbit a satellite of another planet.
Europa Clipper Flag of the United States.svg USA11 April 2030 (planned)en routeplanned to orbit Jupiter and fly by Europa multiple times.

Saturn

MissionCountry/agencyOrbital insertionCurrent statusNotes
Cassini-Huygens Flag of the United States.svg USA
ESA logo simple.svg ESA
Flag of Italy.svg ASI 		1 July 2004Intentionally deorbited and incinerated in Saturn's atmosphere 15 September 2017First Saturn orbiter

Mercury

MissionCountry/agencyOrbital insertionCurrent statusNotes
MESSENGER Flag of the United States.svg USA18 March 2011Deliberately crashed into surface 30 April 2015. Impact probably around 54.4° N, 149.9° W, near the crater Janáček.First Mercury orbiter
BepiColombo ESA logo simple.svg ESA

Flag of Japan.svg Japan

November 2026 (planned)en routeConsists of two satellites, the ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Japan's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO).

Minor planets and comets

MissionCountry/agencyObjectOrbital insertionCurrent statusNotes
NEAR Shoemaker Flag of the United States.svg USA 433 Eros 14 February 2000Landed 12 February 2001 on the surface of Eros.First spacecraft to orbit an asteroid
Dawn Flag of the United States.svg USA 4 Vesta 16 July 2011Left Vesta orbit 5 September 2012
Dawn Flag of the United States.svg USA Ceres 9 March 2015Mission concluded 1 November 2018. In derelict orbit around Ceres, expected to decay no sooner than 2038 [21] First spacecraft to achieve orbit around two separate objects and to orbit a dwarf planet.
Rosetta ESA logo simple.svg ESA 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko 6 August 2014On 30 September 2016, ended its mission by landing on the comet in its Ma'at region.First spacecraft to orbit a comet. Philae lander module successfully landed on 12 November 2014
OSIRIS-REx Flag of the United States.svg USA 101955 Bennu 31 December 2018Collected surface sample and departed from Bennu on 20 October 2020 [22] Smallest body to be orbited by spacecraft and closest ever orbit [23] [24]
Psyche Flag of the United States.svg USA 16 Psyche August 2029 (planned)enrouteSelected for mission #14 of NASA's Discovery Program to explore a metallic asteroid.
Hera, Milani and Juventas ESA logo simple.svg ESA 65803 Didymos and Dimorphos 11 December 2026 (planned)enroutestudying effects of DART's impact on the asteroid
OSIRIS-APEX Flag of the United States.svg USA 99942 Apophis April 2029 (planned)enroutestudy of a C-type asteroid in 2029

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lander (spacecraft)</span> Type of spacecraft

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lunar lander</span> Spacecraft intended to land on the surface of the Moon

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chang'e 2</span> Chinese Moon orbiter

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">OSIRIS-REx</span> NASA asteroid sample return mission (2016 to 2023)

OSIRIS-REx was a NASA asteroid-study and sample-return mission that visited and collected samples from 101955 Bennu, a carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid. The material, returned in September 2023, is expected to enable scientists to learn more about the formation and evolution of the Solar System, its initial stages of planet formation, and the source of organic compounds that led to the formation of life on Earth. Following the completion of the primary OSIRIS-REx mission, the spacecraft is planned to conduct a flyby of asteroid 99942 Apophis, now as OSIRIS-APEX.

References

  1. ↑ NSSDC - Luna 10
  2. ↑ NSSDC - Luna 11
  3. ↑ Where is LRO?
  4. ↑ Hendrix, Susan (25 March 2015). "Second ARTEMIS Spacecraft Successfully Enters Lunar Orbit". The Sun-Earth Connection: Heliophysics. NASA.
  5. ↑ Chang, Kenneth (2019-12-06). "A Billion Pixels and the Search for India's Crashed Moon Lander". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  6. ↑ "Chandrayaan-2: Isro, not losing hope, continues to make all-out efforts to restore link with lander 'Vikram'". The Times of India. September 9, 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  7. ↑ "China's Chang'e-5 orbiter is heading back to the moon". SpaceNews. 2021-09-06. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  8. ↑ Chang, Kenneth (23 February 2024). "Moon Lander Is Lying on Its Side but Still Functional, Officials Say". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  9. ↑ Jones, Andrew (2024-03-14). "Surprise Chinese lunar mission hit by launch anomaly". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  10. ↑ Jones, Andrew (2024-08-20). "Chinese spacecraft appear to reach lunar orbit despite launch setback". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  11. ↑ Jones, Andrew (2024-03-28). "China appears to be trying to save stricken spacecraft from lunar limbo". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
  12. ↑ Jones, Andrew (10 January 2024). "China's Chang'e-6 probe arrives at spaceport for first-ever lunar far side sample mission". SpaceNews . Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  13. ↑ Jones, Andrew (10 January 2024). "China's Chang'e-6 probe arrives at spaceport for first-ever lunar far side sample mission". SpaceNews . Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  14. ↑ NASA - This Month in NASA History: Mariner 9 Archived 2013-05-14 at the Wayback Machine , November 29, 2011 — Vol. 4, Issue 9
  15. 1 2 "NASA Mars log". Archived from the original on 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2013-01-09.
  16. ↑ Historic Spacecraft - Mars Probes
  17. ↑ "Mars 5". US National Space Science Data Centre. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  18. ↑ Encyclopedia Astronautica Fobos 1F Archived 2011-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ Dunn, Marcia (27 October 1996). "NASA Takes No Dirty Chances With Mars Rover". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  20. ↑ "Update on the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mom)".
  21. ↑ Chang, Kenneth (November 1, 2018). "NASA's Dawn Mission to the Asteroid Belt Says Good Night - Launched in 2007, the spacecraft discovered bright spots on Ceres and forbidding terrain on Vesta". The New York Times . Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  22. ↑ Chang, Kenneth (20 October 2020). "Seeking Solar System's Secrets, NASA's OSIRIS-REX Mission Touches Bennu Asteroid - The spacecraft attempted to suck up rocks and dirt from the asteroid, which could aid humanity's ability to divert one that might slam into Earth". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  23. ↑ "NASA'S OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Arrives at Asteroid Bennu". NASA. 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  24. ↑ "NASA's OSIRIS-REx Mission Breaks Another Orbit Record". NASA. 2019-06-13. Retrieved 2019-06-22.

See also

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