List of proposed Solar System probes

Last updated

There are currently various proposed space probes to focus on the exploration of the Solar System. For planned missions to the Moon see the dedicated list of missions to the Moon, with its section future missions. Launched probes are in the List of Solar System probes and the List of active Solar System probes.

Contents

Planned or scheduled missions

Mission nameLaunch dateDescriptionRef(s)
Flag of the United States.svg EscaPADE NET November 2025Two Mars orbiters [1]
Flag of Japan.svg Flag of France.svg Flag of Germany.svg Martian Moons eXploration 2026 Martian moon sample return mission [2]
Flag of the United States.svg Flag of New Zealand.svg Venus Life Finder NET summer 2026Private Venus atmospheric probe by Rocket Lab and MIT [3]
Flag of Japan.svg DESTINY+ 2028Asteroid 3200 Phaethon flyby [4]
Flag of the United States.svg Dragonfly July 2028 Titan rotorcraft lander [5] [6]
Flag of Europe.svg Rosalind Franklin 2028Mars rover, ExoMars [7] [8]
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Tianwen-3 2028 Mars sample return mission [9]
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg MBR Explorer 2028Flyby mission to seven asteroids [10]
Flag of India.svg Venus Orbiter Mission 2028Venus orbiter [11]
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Tianwen-4 September 2029 Jupiter and Callisto orbiter, Uranus flyby [12] [13]
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Solar Polar Orbit Observatory 2029 High-inclination solar orbiter, Jupiter flyby [14]
Flag of Europe.svg Flag of Japan.svg Comet Interceptor 2029Flyby of an Oort Cloud comet [15] [16] [17]
Flag of the United States.svg VERITAS 2029Venus orbiter [18]
Flag of Europe.svg EnVision 2031Venus orbiter [19]
Flag of India.svg Mangalyaan-2 2031Mars orbiter and lander [20] [21]
Flag of the United States.svg DAVINCI 2032Venus orbiter and atmospheric probe [22]

Proposed missions

Mission namePreliminary launch date estimateDescriptionRef(s)
Estimated launch dateEstimate byEstimate as of
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Shensuo (Interstellar Express)2024[ needs update ]Scientia Sinica Informationis2019"Voyager-like" mission to outer planets [23] [24]
Flag of the United States.svg Flag of Europe.svg NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return 2027[ needs update ] ESA 2023Mars sample return mission [25]
Flag of Europe.svg Ramses 2028ESA2024Asteroid orbiter [26] [27]
Flag of Japan.svg Tera-hertz Explorer 2020s[ citation needed ]Mars orbiter and lander [28] [29]
Flag of the United States.svg Uranus Orbiter and Probe NET 2031 NASA 2023 Uranus orbiter and probe [30] [31]
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Venus atmospheric sample return2033DSEL/CNSA2025Return atmospheric samples from Venus [32]
Flag of the United States.svg Interstellar Probe 2036 NASA 2022"Voyager on steroids" [33]
Flag of Russia.svg Venera-D 2036 Russian Academy of Sciences 2025Venus orbiter and lander [34]
Flag of the United States.svg Enceladus Orbilander 2038 NASA 2023 Enceladus orbiter/lander [35]
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Mars Research Station for ISRU2038DSEL/CNSA2025Mars surface research station for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) [32]
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Probe to Neptune and Triton2039DSEL/CNSA2025Exploration of Neptune and its moon Triton [32]

Suspended missions

The following missions were suspended or cancelled because of political, budgetary, or other reasons. The spacecraft were already assembled at the time of suspension/cancellation, so these missions can be resumed.

Mission nameCancellation dateDescriptionStatus and reasonRef(s)
Flag of the United States.svg Janus 2023Dual asteroids probeWas expected to be a secondary payload on the Psyche launch. After the delay, it was assessed that Janus wouldn't be able to reach the required trajectory. Both spacecraft were placed into long-term storage. [36]
Flag of Russia.svg Kazachok 2022Mars landerOriginally part of the joint ExoMars mission with ESA, planned to deliver Rosalind Franklin rover. Mission was cancelled because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Spacecraft was returned to Roscosmos; officials stated that they will launch it without the rover, but no date was given. [37]

See also

References

  1. Alaieva, Liliia (July 18, 2025). "Blue Origin to launch NASA's Mars mission".
  2. "MMX - Martian Moons eXploration". MMX - Martian Moons eXploration. Retrieved 2 June 2024. The current schedule has a launch date in JFY 2026, followed by Martian orbit insertion in JFY 2027 and the spacecraft will return to Earth in JFY 2031.
  3. "Rocket Lab Mission to Venus". Venus Missions. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
  4. "宇宙科学・探査ミッションの進捗状況について" [Space Science and Exploration Mission Progress](PDF). ISAS (in Japanese). CAO. 9 October 2024. p. 11. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  5. "Dragonfly". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  6. "NASA New Frontiers 5: Third Community Announcement". NASA Science Mission Directorate . 2021-05-12. Retrieved 2021-05-14. The launch date for Dragonfly, the fourth mission in the New Frontiers Program, has been delayed to June 2027.
  7. "NASA, European Space Agency Unite to Land Europe's Rover on Mars - NASA" . Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  8. Foust, Jeff (2024-04-10). "ESA awards contract to Thales Alenia Space to restart ExoMars". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  9. Jones, Andrew (2024-03-08). "China targets 2030 for Mars sample return mission, potential landing areas revealed". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  10. Kenneth Chang (May 29, 2023). "The United Arab Emirates Is Heading for the Asteroid Belt". The New York Times.
  11. "Union Cabinet Approves India's Mission to Venus, and Sample Return from the Moon". www.isro.gov.in. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  12. CNSA Watcher [@CNSAWatcher] (23 December 2023). "Tianwen-4, launching Sept 2029, will journey to Jupiter using Venus & Earth gravity assists. Targeting Jupiter capture by Dec 2035 & a Uranus flyby in March 2045, the mission includes 2 probes, one exploring Jupiter's system and another flying by Uranus" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  13. Andrew Jones published (2022-09-22). "China wants to probe Uranus and Jupiter with 2 spacecraft on one rocket". Space.com. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  14. Jones, Andrew (2025-02-25). "China to send a spacecraft out of the ecliptic to study the Sun's poles". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2025-02-25.
  15. "Ariel moves from blueprint to reality". ESA . 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  16. "ESA's new mission to intercept a comet". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  17. "Comet Interceptor". www.cometinterceptor.space. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  18. "NASA Selects 2 Missions to Study 'Lost Habitable' World of Venus - NASA" . Retrieved 2023-11-30.
  19. "ESA selects revolutionary Venus mission EnVision". www.esa.int. ESA. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  20. Kuthunur, Sharmila (17 May 2024). "India's ambitious 2nd Mars mission to include a rover, helicopter, sky crane and a supersonic parachute". Space.com.
  21. "Unmanned helicopter likely to join India's second space odyssey to Mars". rfi. 5 March 2024.
  22. "FY 2025 PRESIDENT'S BUDGET REQUEST SUMMARY". NASA. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  23. Wu, Weiren; Yu, Dengyun; Huang, Jiangchuan; Zong, Qiugang; Wang, Chi; Yu, Guobin; He, Rongwei; Wang, Qian; Kang, Yan; Meng, Linzhi; Wu, Ke; He, Jiansen; Li, Hui (2019-01-09). "Exploring the solar system boundary". Scientia Sinica Informationis. 49 (1): 1. doi: 10.1360/N112018-00273 . ISSN   2095-9486. S2CID   86476811.
  24. Jones, Andrew (November 19, 2019). "China Considers Voyager-like Mission to Interstellar Space". Planetary.org. The Planetary Society. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  25. "Earth Return Orbiter – the first round-trip to Mars". ESA. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  26. "ESA moves forward with Apophis mission preparations". www.esa.int.
  27. "Introducing Ramses, ESA's mission to asteroid Apophis". www.esa.int.
  28. Takeshi Kuroda, Yasuko Kasai, Shinichi Nakasuka, Hiroyuki Maezawa, Takayoshi Yamada, Ryohei Takahashi: TEREX-1: A micro-satellite terahertz lander for the exploration of water/oxygen resources on Mars. 43rd COSPAR Scientific Assembly, Abstract B0.5-0006-21 (oral), id.223, January 2021.
  29. Kasai, Yasuko (13 June 2018). "Tera-hertz Explorer, TEREX, Mission" (PDF). University of Tsukuba . NICT. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  30. Simon, Amy; Nimmo, Francis; Anderson, Richard C. (7 June 2021). "Journey to an Ice Giant System: Uranus Orbiter and Probe". Planetary Mission Concept for the 2023–2032 Planetary Science Decadal Survey. NASA. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  31. Foust, Jeff (2023-05-03). "Plutonium availability constrains plans for future planetary missions". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  32. 1 2 3 Jones, Andrew (2025-03-27). "China unveils planetary exploration roadmap targeting habitability and extraterrestrial life". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
  33. Stone, Richard (28 July 2022). "'Voyager on steroids.' Mission would probe mysterious region beyond our Solar System" . Science. doi: 10.1126/science.ade1070 . Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  34. "Президент РАН сообщил о переносе сроков российских миссий на Луну и Венеру". Meduza.
  35. MacKenzie, Shannon M.; Kirby, Karen W.; Greenauer, Peter J.; Neveu, Marc; Gold, Rob; Davila, Alfonso; Lunine, Jonathan I.; Cable, Morgan; Craft, Kate; Eigenbrode, Jennifer; Glein, Christopher; Hofgartner, Jason; Mckay, Christopher; Phillips-Lander, Charity; Waite, Hunter; Burton, Dana; Seifert, Helmut; Boye, Jeff; Brock, Spencer; Chen, Michelle; Coker, Rob; Colonel, Grace; Criss, Tom; Crowley, Doug (14 October 2020). "Encealdus Orbilander: A Flagship Mission Concept for Astrobiology". NASA Technical Reports Server. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  36. "NASA to Store Janus Spacecraft, Mission to Study Asteroid Systems – Janus". blogs.nasa.gov. 2023-07-11. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  37. "Europe ending cooperation with Russia on life-hunting Mars rover". Space.com.