List of missions to the outer planets

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Montage of planets and some moons that the two Voyager spacecraft have visited and studied. It is the only program that visited all four outer planets. Voyager probes with the outer worlds.jpg
Montage of planets and some moons that the two Voyager spacecraft have visited and studied. It is the only program that visited all four outer planets.

A total of nine spacecraft have been launched on missions that involve visits to the outer planets; all nine missions involve encounters with Jupiter, with four spacecraft also visiting Saturn. One spacecraft, Voyager 2 , also visited Uranus and Neptune. The nine missions include two, Ulysses and New Horizons , whose primary objectives were not outer planets, but which flew past Jupiter to gain gravity assists en route to a polar orbit around the Sun (Ulysses), and to Pluto (New Horizons). Pluto was considered a planet at the time that New Horizons launched, but was reclassified as a dwarf planet. Cassini–Huygens also flew past Jupiter for a gravity assist on its mission to explore Saturn.

Contents

Only three of the missions to the outer planets have been orbiters: Galileo orbited Jupiter for eight years, while Cassini orbited Saturn for thirteen years. Juno has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016.

Summary

Summary of missions to the outer planets and beyond. Missions to the outer planets.jpg
Summary of missions to the outer planets and beyond.

Jupiter

Nine spacecraft have been launched to explore Jupiter, with two other spacecraft making gravity-assist flybys.

New Horizons, although eventually targeting Pluto, used Jupiter for a gravity assist and had an extensive almost half year observation campaign of Jupiter and its moons (hence it is counted in the eight). [1]

  Gravity assist, destination elsewhere

Saturn

Four spacecraft have visited Saturn; Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 made flybys, while Cassini–Huygens entered orbit, and deployed a probe into the atmosphere of Titan.

Uranus

Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus, making a single flyby as part of its grand tour of the outer planets.

MissionSpacecraftLaunch dateCarrier rocketOperatorMission TypeOutcome
1 Voyager 2 Voyager 220 August 1977 [2] Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T [8] Flag of the United States.svg NASA FlybySuccessful
Discovered eleven moons. Flew past Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon. Closest approach at 17:59 UTC on 24 January 1986. Later flew past Neptune. [9]

Neptune

Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Neptune, making a single flyby as part of its grand tour of the outer planets.

MissionSpacecraftLaunch dateCarrier rocketOperatorMission TypeOutcome
1 Voyager 2 Voyager 220 August 1977 [2] Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T [8] Flag of the United States.svg NASA FlybySuccessful
Discovered Neptunian rings and six new moons. Flew past Galatea, Larissa, Proteus and Triton. Closest approach at 03:26 UTC on 25 August 1989 [9]

Pluto and trans-Neptunian objects

New Horizons is the only spacecraft that visited dwarf planet Pluto (in 2015) and the trans-Neptunian object 486958 Arrokoth (in 2019).

MissionSpacecraftLaunch dateCarrier rocketOperatorMission TypeOutcome
1 New Horizons New Horizons19 January 2006 Atlas V (551) AV-010 + Star 48B 3rd stage Flag of the United States.svg NASA FlybySuccessful
Flew by Pluto in July 2015, flew past Arrokoth on 1 January 2019.

Statistics

Major milestones

Legend

  Milestone achieved
  Milestone not achieved
  En route
First to achieve

Planets
Country/AgencyJupiterSaturnUranusNeptune
FlybyOrbitArtmospheric entryFlybyOrbitArtmospheric entryFlybyFlyby
Flag of the United States.svg United States Pioneer 10, 1973 Galileo, 1995 Atmospheric probe, 1995 Pioneer 11, 1979 Cassini, 2004Cassini, 2017 † Voyager 2, 1986Voyager 2, 1989 †
European Space Agency logo.svg ESA Ulysses, 1992
Galilean moons
Country/AgencyGanymedeCallistoIoEuropa
FlybyOrbitFlybyFlybyFlyby
Flag of the United States.svg United States Pioneer 10, 1973Pioneer 10, 1973 †Pioneer 10, 1973 †Pioneer 10, 1973 †
European Space Agency logo.svg ESA Juice, TBD 2034 Juice, TBD 2034
Major Saturnian moons
Country/AgencyTitanRheaIapetusDioneTethysEnceladusMimas
FlybyOrbitLanderFlybyFlybyFlybyFlybyFlybyFlyby
Flag of the United States.svg United States Pioneer 11, 1979Pioneer 11, 1979 †Pioneer 11, 1979 †Pioneer 11, 1979 †Pioneer 11, 1979 †Pioneer 11, 1979 †Pioneer 11, 1979 †
European Space Agency logo.svg ESA Huygens, 2005

Future missions

MissionSpacecraftLaunch dateCarrier rocketOperator
Planned missions
Dragonfly DragonflyTBD July 2028TBD Flag of the United States.svg NASA
Titan robotic rotorcraft
Tianwen-4 Tianwen-4TBD September 2029TBD Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg CNSA
Uranus flyby probe
Jupiter and Callisto orbiter; Flyby past Uranus with mission extension planned for interstellar journey
Proposed missions
IHP-1 Shensuo TBDTBD Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg CNSA
Interstellar heliospheric probe with Jovian gravity assist; planned flybys of Jupiter and 50000 Quaoar
IHP-2ShensuoTBDTBD Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg CNSA
Interstellar heliospheric probe with Jovian gravity assist; planned flybys of Jupiter, Neptune, Triton and a Kuiper belt object
Uranus Orbiter and Probe Uranus orbiterNET 2031 Falcon Heavy (expendable) Flag of the United States.svg NASA
Uranus probe
Uranus orbiter after a flyby of Jupiter; Uranus atmospheric probe
Enceladus Orbilander Enceladus OrbilanderNET 2038 Flag of the United States.svg NASA
Enceladus orbiter/lander

See also

References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
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