List of rovers on extraterrestrial bodies

Last updated March 02, 2024

A rover is a planetary surface exploration vehicle designed to move over the rough surface of a planet or other celestial body. Rovers are used to explore, collect information, and take samples of the surface. This is a list of all rovers on extraterrestrial bodies in the Solar System. Since 1970, there have been seven lunar rovers, seven Mars rovers, and three asteroid rovers that have successfully landed and explored these extraterrestrial surfaces. In addition, a small helicopter on Mars, Ingenuity , operated from 2021 to 2024.

Moon

Mission	Rover	Country/Agency	Date of landing	Coordinates	Operational time	Distance travelled	Outcome
Luna 17	Lunokhod 1	USSR	17 November 1970	38°14′16″N35°00′06″W / 38.2378°N 35.0017°W / 38.2378; -35.0017 (Lunokhod 1)	322 days	10.5 km (6.5 mi)	Successful
Luna 17	First rover on an extraterrestrial body.
Luna 21	Lunokhod 2	USSR	15 January 1971	25°51′N30°27′E / 25.85°N 30.45°E / 25.85; 30.45 (Lunokhod 2)	236 days	39 km (24 mi)	Successful
Luna 21	Farthest distance traveled on the Moon.
Chang'e 3	Yutu	CNSA	14 December 2013	44°07′17″N19°30′42″W / 44.1214°N 19.5116°W / 44.1214; -19.5116 (Yutu)	42 days (mobile) 973 days (total)	114.8 m (377 ft)	Successful
Chang'e 3	First Chinese extraterrestrial rover and first lunar rover in over 40 years.
Chang'e 4	Yutu-2	CNSA	3 January 2019	45°26′38″S177°35′56″E / 45.444°S 177.599°E / -45.444; 177.599 (Yutu 2)	1884 days	1.455 km (0.904 mi)^[1] as of 3 January 2023^[update]	Operational
Chang'e 4	First rover on the far side of the Moon.Longest fully functioning rover on the Moon.
Chandrayaan-2	Pragyan	ISRO	6 September 2019	70°54′S22°47′E / 70.90°S 22.78°E / -70.90; 22.78 (Vikram lander)	0 days	0 km	Precluded
Chandrayaan-2	Lost when Vikram lander crash landed on the Moon.
Hakuto-R Mission 1	Rashid	MBRSC	April 2023	TBD	0 days	0 km	Precluded
	Sora-Q	Tomy/JAXA/Doshisha University	April 2023	TBD	0 days	0 km	Precluded
	Contact lost during final descent of the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander. Presumed crash landing and failure.
Chandrayaan-3	Pragyan	ISRO	23 August 2023	69°22′23″S32°19′08″E / 69.373°S 32.319°E / -69.373; 32.319 (Pragyan) ^[2]	12 days	101.4 m (333 ft)^[3] as of 2 September 2023^[update]	Successful
Chandrayaan-3	First rover to successfully land near lunar south pole .
SLIM	LEV-1	JAXA	19 January 2024	13°18′58″S25°15′04″E / 13.3160°S 25.2510°E / -13.3160; 25.2510 (SLIM LEV-1 & LEV-2)	1 hour and 51 minutes		Successful
	LEV-2 (Sora-Q)	JAXA	19 January 2024		1 hour and 51 minutes		Successful
	A hopper and a rover included in the SLIM mission which demonstrated precision landing technology.
Peregrine Mission One	Iris	CMU	2024	TBD			Precluded
	Colmena x5	UNAM	2024	TBD			Precluded
	Colmena would have been deployed using a small catapult mechanism. Mission cancelled along with the cancelled landing of Peregrine lander due to excessive propellant leak.^[4]
IM-2	MAPP	Lunar Outpost	H1 2024	TBD			Planned
	AstroAnt	MIT ^[5]					Planned
	Micro-Nova	Intuitive Machines					Planned
	Yaoki	Dymon					Planned
	MAPP and Micro-Nova will demonstrate a new lunar communication system.
IM-3	Lunar Vertex	NASA/Lunar Outpost	H1 2024	TBD			Planned
	CADRE x4	NASA	H1 2024	TBD			Planned
	Mission to study Reiner Gamma.
Griffin Mission One	VIPER	NASA	November 2024	TBD			Planned
Griffin Mission One	Will land near Nobile crater to search for Lunar water.
Hakuto-R Mission 2	Micro rover	ispace Europe	2024	TBD			Planned
Hakuto-R Mission 2	Hakuto-R Mission 2 will feature a rover for surface exploration and data collection.
LUPEX	LUPEX Rover	JAXA ISRO	2025	TBD			Planned
LUPEX	Joint mission between ISRO and JAXA.
Chang’e 7	Chang’e 7 rover	CNSA	2026	TBD			Planned
	Chang’e 7 hopper	CNSA	2026	TBD			Planned
	Will search for water ice in and around craters in the south pole of the Moon.
Starship lunar cargo mission	FLEX	Astrolab	2026	TBD			Planned
Starship lunar cargo mission	Astrolab contracted with SpaceX to send their rover to the Moon aboard Starship ^[6]^[7]
Chang’e 8	Chang’e 8 rover	CNSA	2028	TBD			Planned
	Chang’e 8 Robot	CNSA	2028	TBD			Planned
	Chinese ISRU mission in preparation for ILRS.

Mars

Mission	Rover	Country/Agency	Date of landing	Coordinates	Operational time	Distance travelled
Mars 2	PrOP-M	USSR	27 November 1971	45°S47°E / 45°S 47°E / -45; 47 (Mars 2 lander)	-	-
Mars 2	First rover to reach Mars. Lost when Mars 2 landing system crash landed on Mars.
Mars 3	PrOP-M	USSR	2 December 1971	45°S202°E / 45°S 202°E / -45; 202 (Mars 3 lander)	-	-
Mars 3	First rover to successfully land on Mars. The lander stopped communicating about 110 seconds after landing, before the rover was deployed.
Mars Pathfinder	Sojourner	NASA	4 July 1997	38°14′16″N35°00′06″W / 38.2378°N 35.0017°W / 38.2378; -35.0017 (Sojourner)	85 days	100 m (330 ft)
Mars Pathfinder	First rover to successfully run on Mars.
Mars Exploration Rover	Spirit	NASA	4 January 2004	14°34′06″S175°28′21″E / 14.5684°S 175.472636°E / -14.5684; 175.472636 (Spirit)	6 years 79 days	7.73 km (4.80 mi)
	Mission ended after rover got stuck in Martian sand.
	Opportunity	NASA	25 January 2004	1°56′46″S354°28′24″E / 1.9462°S 354.4734°E / -1.9462; 354.4734 (Opportunity)	14 years 140 days	45.16 km (28.06 mi)
	Longest distance travelled by any rover and most days operated.
Mars Science Laboratory	Curiosity	NASA	6 August 2012	4°35′22″S137°26′30″E / 4.5895°S 137.4417°E / -4.5895; 137.4417 (Curiosity)	11 years 208 days	31.06 km (19.30 mi) as of 5 December 2023^[update]^[8]
Mars Science Laboratory	Rover for investigating past and present habitability, climate and geology.
Mars 2020	Perseverance	NASA	18 February 2021	18°26′41″N77°27′03″E / 18.4447°N 77.4508°E / 18.4447; 77.4508 (Mars 2020)	3 years 12 days	23.73 km (14.75 mi) as of 3 January 2023^[update]^[9]
	Ingenuity	NASA	3 April 2021 (deployment)		2 years 340 days	17.242 km (10.714 mi) in 72 flights ^[10]
	The Ingenuity helicopter is the first aircraft to fly on an extraterrestrial body.
Tianwen-1	Zhurong	CNSA	14 May 2021	25°06′N109°54′E / 25.1°N 109.9°E / 25.1; 109.9 (Zhurong)	356 days	1.921 km (1.194 mi) as of 1 May 2022^[update]^[11]
Tianwen-1	Inactive after dust storm and Martian winter.
MMX	IDEFIX	CNES/DLR	2026	TBD
MMX	Rover for studying the surface of Phobos.
Mars Sample Return	Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters	NASA	2030	TBD
Mars Sample Return	Two Ingenuity class helicopters designed to retrieve Martian surface samples.

Asteroids

Body	Mission	Rover	Country/Agency	Date of landing	Location	Operational time	Distance travelled
162173 Ryugu	Hayabusa2	MINERVA-II Rover-1A	JAXA	21 September 2019	Tritonis	36 days^[12]
		MINERVA-II Rover-1B	JAXA	21 September 2019	Tritonis	3 days^[12]
		Successfully landed, returned images, and hopped along surface. First rovers on an asteroid.
		MASCOT	DLR/CNES	3 October 2018	Alice's Wonderland	17 h 14 min^[13]	~17.9 m (59 ft)^[13]
		Successfully landed, returned images from the surface, and performed multiple hops along surface.
		MINERVA-II Rover-2	JAXA	October 2019	Unknown	0 days	0 m
		Failed before deployment, so it was released into orbit around the asteroid to perform gravitational measurements before it impacted a few days later.

Titan

Mission	Rover	Country/Agency	Date of landing	Location	Operational time	Distance travelled
Dragonfly		NASA	2034	Shangri-La	10 years (planned)	8 km per flight
Dragonfly		Rotorcraft to be sent to Titan in 2027.

Crewed rovers

Mission	Rover	Country/Agency	Date of landing	Coordinates	Operational time	Distance travelled	Notes
Apollo 15	Lunar Roving Vehicle	NASA	7 August 1971	26.1322°N 3.6339°E	3 h 02 min	27.76 km (7.75 mi)	First crewed lunar rover
Apollo 16	Lunar Roving Vehicle	NASA	21 April 1972	8.97301°S 15.50019°E	3 h 26 min	26.55 km (16.50 mi)
Apollo 17	Lunar Roving Vehicle	NASA	11 December 1972	20.1908°N 30.7717°E	4 h 26 min	35.89 km (22.30 mi)	Furthest distance travelled by crewed lunar rover
Artemis 5	Lunar Terrain Vehicle	NASA	2029	TBD			Unpressurised crewed rover for the Artemis program
Artemis 7	Lunar Cruiser	JAXA	2031	TBD			Developed jointly between JAXA and Toyota
Chinese Crewed Lunar Mission	Chinese Crewed Rover	CNSA	2030>	TBD			Rover shown at the National Museum of China on 24 February 2023

Proposed rovers

Rover	Country/Agency	Proposed Date of launch	Location	Notes
MPR-1	STELLS	2025	In range of a crater	Rover under study for power supply for future mining rovers
Canadensys Rover	Canadensys	2026	Lunar South Pole	Rover funded by CSA to scout for water ice on the Moon
Lunar Trailblazer	Australian Space Agency	2026		Rover being researched by Australian businesses
Lunar Zebro	Delft University of Technology	2026	Lunar South Pole	Small rover studying swarm technologies
Luna-Grunt	Roscosmos	2028		Rover for proposed Luna 29 sample return mission, details of rover are unknown
LIBER	Qosmosys	2027	TBD	Lunar Integrated Bulk Extraction Rover (LIBER) will mine on the lunar surface.^{[ citation needed ]}
Work Robot	CNSA	2028		May become part of Chang'e 8 mission.^[14]
ExoMars Rosalind Franklin	ESA	NET 2028	18°16′30″N335°22′05″E / 18.275°N 335.368°E / 18.275; 335.368 (Rosalind Franklin)	Rover will search for previous signs of life on Mars.
HERACLES	CSA	2030	Schrödinger basin	Part of European Large Logistic Lander program, will be used to transport samples and scout for resources on the Moon.
TBD	KARI	2031		KARI has requested a budget of $459 million for a lander and rover mission.^[15]
Asagumo	Spacebit	TBD		Spider-like rover was planned to launch with Peregrine Mission One but its status is currently unknown
CELV	Jilin University/CAST	TBD	Near a Lunar base	The Cubic Emergency Lunar Vehicle is an emergency crewed rover that will be stored on a larger crewed rover.^[16]
MoonRanger	Astrobotic/Carnegie Mellon University	TBD	Lunar South Pole	Was intended to launch in November 2023 but lunar lander provider Masten Space Systems declared bankruptcy and the rover is on hold
Rashid 2	MBRSC	TBD	TBD	Rover development announced after failure of first rover.

Related Research Articles

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

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. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was Luna 2, on 13 September 1959.

A lunar lander or Moon lander is a spacecraft designed to land on the surface of the Moon. As of 2023, 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 an 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of space exploration</span> Overview of and topical guide to space exploration

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to space exploration.

NASA proposed several concept moonbases for achieving a permanent presence of humans on the Moon since the late 1950s. Research and exploration of the Moon has been a large focus of the organization since the Apollo program. NASA's peak budget was in 1964-1965, when it comprised 4% of all federal spending in service of the Apollo Moon landing project. Though lunar landings ever since the conclusion of the Apollo program in 1972 have ceased, interest in establishing a permanent habitation on the lunar surface or beyond low Earth orbit has remained steady. Recently, renewed interest in lunar landing has led to increased funding and project planning. NASA requested an increase in the 2020 budget of $1.6 billion, in order to make another crewed mission to the Moon under the Artemis program by 2025, followed by a sustained presence on the Moon by 2028. A crew was selected for the planned crewed mission, Artemis II, in April 2023.

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.

Hayabusa2 is an asteroid sample-return mission operated by the Japanese state space agency JAXA. It is a successor to the Hayabusa mission, which returned asteroid samples for the first time in June 2010. Hayabusa2 was launched on 3 December 2014 and rendezvoused in space with near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu on 27 June 2018. It surveyed the asteroid for a year and a half and took samples. It left the asteroid in November 2019 and returned the samples to Earth on 5 December 2020 UTC. Its mission has now been extended through at least 2031, when it will rendezvous with the small, rapidly-rotating asteroid 1998 KY26.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lunar rover</span> Vehicle that travels on the Moons surface

A lunar rover or Moon rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of the Moon. The Apollo program's Lunar Roving Vehicle was driven on the Moon by members of three American crews, Apollo 15, 16, and 17. Other rovers have been partially or fully autonomous robots, such as the Soviet Union's Lunokhods, Chinese Yutus, and the Indian Pragyan. Four countries have had operating rovers on the Moon: the Soviet Union, the United States, China and India.

These are tables of space probes which have been deliberately destroyed at their objects of study, typically by hard landings or crash landings at the end of their respective missions and/or functionality. This list only includes spacecraft specifically commanded to crash into the surface of an extraterrestrial celestial body, thus precluding unintentionally crashed spacecraft, derelict spacecraft, or spacecraft designed as landers. Intentionally crashing spacecraft not only precludes the hazards of orbital space debris and planetary contamination, but also provides the opportunity in some cases for terminal science given that the transient light released by the kinetic energy may be available for spectroscopy; the physical ejecta remains in place for further study. Even after soft landings had been mastered, NASA used crash landings to test whether Moon craters contained ice by crashing space probes into craters and testing the debris that got thrown out.

References

↑ Andrew Jones (2021-10-05). "1,000 days on the moon! China's Chang'e 4 lunar far side mission hits big milestone". Space.com. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
↑ Chandrayaan 3 - After The Landing What Happens Next? , retrieved 2023-08-28
↑ "Chandrayaan-3 Mission: All planned Rover movements have been verified. The Rover has successfully traversed a distance of about 100 meters. Rover payloads LIBS and APXS are turned ON. All payloads on the propulsion module, lander module, and rover are performing nominally. #Chandrayaan_3 #Ch3". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
↑ Fisher, Jackie Wattles, Kristin (2024-01-08). "Peregrine mission abandons Moon landing attempt after suffering 'critical' fuel loss". CNN. Retrieved 2024-01-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ "AstroAnt". MIT Media Lab . Retrieved 2023-12-29.
↑ Dinner, Josh (April 1, 2023). "SpaceX Starship will launch this new private moon rover in 2026 (video)". Space.com. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
↑ Foust, Jeff (November 21, 2023). "Astrolab announces first customers for commercial lunar rover mission". SpaceNews . Retrieved 2023-12-30.
↑ "Where Is Curiosity?". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 5 December 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
↑ "Where is Perseverance?". Mars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover. NASA. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
↑ "Mars Helicopter Flight Log". Mars Helicopter Tech Demo. NASA. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
↑ "中欧火星探测器成功开展在轨中继通信试验". 新华网. 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
1 2 Yoshimitsu, Tetsuo; Kubota, Takashi; Tomiki, Atsushi; Yoshikaw, Kent (2019-10-24). Operation results of MINERVA-II twin rovers onboard Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer (PDF). 70th International Astronautical Congress. International Astronautical Federation . Retrieved 2020-01-25.
1 2 Davis, Jason (28 August 2019). "Hayabusa2 Lander Mania: Results from MASCOT, Plans for MINERVA-II2". The Planetary Society . Retrieved 2020-01-25.
↑ "China to Build Lunar Research Station During Chang'e-8 Mission". YouTube .
↑ "South Korea seeks $459 million for lunar lander project". 30 August 2022.
↑ "MSN". MSN .

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[:0-1] Andrew Jones (2021-10-05). "1,000 days on the moon! China's Chang'e 4 lunar far side mission hits big milestone". Space.com. Retrieved 2021-10-07.

[:1-2] Chandrayaan 3 - After The Landing What Happens Next? , retrieved 2023-08-28

[:2-3] "Chandrayaan-3 Mission: All planned Rover movements have been verified. The Rover has successfully traversed a distance of about 100 meters. Rover payloads LIBS and APXS are turned ON. All payloads on the propulsion module, lander module, and rover are performing nominally. #Chandrayaan_3 #Ch3". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-08-25.

[4] Fisher, Jackie Wattles, Kristin (2024-01-08). "Peregrine mission abandons Moon landing attempt after suffering 'critical' fuel loss". CNN. Retrieved 2024-01-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[5] "AstroAnt". MIT Media Lab . Retrieved 2023-12-29.

[6] Dinner, Josh (April 1, 2023). "SpaceX Starship will launch this new private moon rover in 2026 (video)". Space.com. Retrieved 2023-12-30.

[7] Foust, Jeff (November 21, 2023). "Astrolab announces first customers for commercial lunar rover mission". SpaceNews . Retrieved 2023-12-30.

[where-is-curiosity?-8] "Where Is Curiosity?". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 5 December 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

[9] "Where is Perseverance?". Mars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover. NASA. Retrieved 5 December 2023.

[10] "Mars Helicopter Flight Log". Mars Helicopter Tech Demo. NASA. Retrieved 5 December 2023.

[11] "中欧火星探测器成功开展在轨中继通信试验". 新华网. 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2021-12-01.

[MINVERA-II_results-12] 1 2 Yoshimitsu, Tetsuo; Kubota, Takashi; Tomiki, Atsushi; Yoshikaw, Kent (2019-10-24). Operation results of MINERVA-II twin rovers onboard Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer (PDF). 70th International Astronautical Congress. International Astronautical Federation . Retrieved 2020-01-25.

[MASCOT_results-13] 1 2 Davis, Jason (28 August 2019). "Hayabusa2 Lander Mania: Results from MASCOT, Plans for MINERVA-II2". The Planetary Society . Retrieved 2020-01-25.

[14] "China to Build Lunar Research Station During Chang'e-8 Mission". YouTube .

[15] "South Korea seeks $459 million for lunar lander project". 30 August 2022.

[16] "MSN". MSN .

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