List of active Solar System probes

For a list of all Solar System probes, including historic probes, see List of Solar System probes.

The MESSENGER spacecraft, now orbiting Mercury

This is a list of active probes which have escaped Earth orbit. It includes lunar probes, but does not include probes orbiting at the Sun-Earth Lagrangian points (for these, see List of objects at Lagrangian points). A craft is deemed "active" if it is still able to transmit usable data to Earth (whether or not it can receive commands).

The craft are further grouped by mission status – "en route", "mission in progress" or "mission complete" – based on their primary mission. For example, though Voyager 1 is still contactable en route to the heliopause, it is listed as "mission complete" because its primary task of studying Jupiter and Saturn has been accomplished. Once a probe has reached its first primary target, it is no longer listed as "en route" whether or not further travel is involved.

En route

• Rosetta, launched after several delays and mission changes, is currently on an intercept course with 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will deploy a lander for further investigation after reaching the comet.

Launched: 2 March 2004 | Destination: 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko | Arrival: May 2015 | Institution: ESA

Lander Probe: Philae

• New Horizons was the fastest artificially-accelerated object and will be the fifth probe to leave the solar system. It will be the first spacecraft to study Pluto, ultimately destined for the Kuiper Belt.

Launched: 19 January 2006 | Destination: Pluto, Charon | Arrival: July 2015 | Institution: NASA

• Juno is on route to Jupiter and upon arrival will enter a polar orbit around the gas giant.

Launched: 5 August 2011 | Destination: Jupiter | Arrival: 2016 | Institution: NASA

Mission in progress

• The Cassini orbiter began studying Saturn and its moons after passing Venus and Jupiter and deploying the Huygens landing probe to Titan. It is primarily investigating Saturn's rings, its magnetosphere, and the geologic composition of its satellites; the mission may potentially continue until 2017.

Launched: 15 October 1997 | Destination: Saturn | Arrival: 1 July 2004 | Institution: NASA, ESA, ASI

Lander Probe: Huygens [mission complete]

• 2001 Mars Odyssey, a tribute to the classic novel and film, is one of three active human-made Mars satellites. It will continue its mission to map the surface of Mars until at least September 2010.^[1]

Launched: 7 April 2001 | Destination: Mars | Arrival: 24 October 2001 | Institution: NASA

• Mars Express: Mars orbiter designed to study the planet's atmosphere and geology, search for sub-surface water, and deploy the Beagle lander. Mission extended until at least December 2012.

Launched: 2 June 2003 | Destination: Mars | Arrival: 25 December 2003 | Institution: ESA

Lander: Beagle 2 [mission failed; contact lost at landing]

• MESSENGER is studying Mercury. It is only the second probe to do so and is the first to orbit the planet. Technologically, it is far superior to its 1975 predecessor, Mariner 10. Having previously passed Earth once, Venus twice and Mercury three times, it entered orbit in March 2011.

Launched: 4 August 2004 | Destination: Mercury | Arrival: 18 March 2011 | Institution: NASA

• Lander: Opportunity Rover landed on Meridiani Planum. Expected to last 90 Martian days (sols), it continues to function effectively after sol 2470. Its twin, Spirit Rover, explored an area on the other side of the planet, but became stuck in soft soil May 1, 2009, and communication was lost March 22, 2010 (sol 2210).

Launched: 10 June 2003 | Destination: Mars | Arrival: 25 January 2004 | Institution: NASA

• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is the second NASA satellite orbiting Mars. It is specifically designed to analyze the landforms, stratigraphy, minerals, and ice of the red planet, which will aid in selecting a landing site for future lander Mars Science Laboratory.

Launched: 12 August 2005 | Destination: Mars | Arrival: 10 March 2006 | Institution: NASA

• Venus Express, modeled after the Mars Express, is collecting data on the Venusian atmosphere and cloud conditions. Mission extended until at least December 2012.

Launched: 9 November 2005 | Destination: Venus | Arrival: 11 April 2006 | Institution: ESA

• Dawn successfully entered asteroid Vesta's orbit on July 16 2011. It will study Vesta until July 2012, when it will depart for dwarf planet Ceres and arrive sometime in 2015.

Launched: 27 September 2007 | Destination: Vesta, then Ceres | Vesta arrival: 16 July 2011 | Institution: NASA

• Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is engaged in lunar mapping.

Launched: 18 June 2009 | Destination: Moon | Arrival: 23 June 2009 | Institution: NASA

• Chang'e 2 is studying the geography of the Moon.

Launched: 1 October 2010 | Destination: Moon | Arrival: 6 October 2010 | Institution: China

Mission complete

New mission in progress

• Voyager 2 has not yet left the solar system, but will become one of the first five probes to do so eventually. Its mission to study all four gas giants was one of NASA's most successful, yielding a wealth of new information. As of January 2010 it is some 91 AU from the sun,^[2] and it is hoped that it will continue to operate until at least 2020. As with Voyager 1, scientists are now using Voyager 2 to learn what the solar system is like beyond the heliosphere.

Launched: 20 August 1977 | Destination: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune | Arrival: 9 July 1979 | Institution: NASA

Mission Completion: August 1989 | Current Trajectory: bound for heliosheath

• Voyager 1 is currently the farthest man-made object from Earth. As of January 2010 it lies about 112 AU from the sun^[2] (10 billion miles, or 0.0018 light years), and it will not be overtaken by any other craft. It was originally tasked with investigating Jupiter and Saturn, and the moons of these planets. Its continuing data feed offers the first direct measurements of the heliosheath and may eventually provide data on the heliopause. It is hoped that Voyager 1 will continue operating until at least 2020.

Launched: 5 September 1977 | Destination: Jupiter & Saturn | Arrival: January 1979 | Institution: NASA

Mission Completion: November, 1980 | Current Trajectory: bound for heliopause

• Deep Impact was designed to study Comet Tempel 1 by impacting it with a high-speed projectile and photographing the results. This accomplished, a mission extension to Comet Hartley 2 was authorised (target changed from Comet Boethin). This mission, designated EPOXI, was completed in November 2010.

Launched: 12 January 2005 | Destination: Tempel 1 | Arrival: 4 July 2005 | Institution: NASA

Primary Mission Completion: 5 July 2005 | Current Trajectory: heliocentric orbit

Secondary Mission Destination: Comet Hartley 2 | Arrival: 5 September 2010 | Secondary Mission Completion: 25 November 2010

New mission under consideration

• ISEE-3's original mission was to study the solar wind; later, redesignated ICE, it flew by Comet Giacobini-Zinner. It is currently^[when?] in a 355-day heliocentric orbit. Deactivated on 1997-05-05 leaving only a carrier signal, it was reactivated on 2008-09-18. NASA began considering using the spacecraft to observe additional comets in 2017 or 2018. No decision has been reached on the future use of the spacecraft. If no future uses are made, the spacecraft could be captured and given to the Smithsonian Institution in 2014. Reuse of the spacecraft would delay the possible capture to 2040s.

Launched: 12 August 1978 | Destination: L2 point | Arrival: ? | Institutions: NASA and ESA

Mission Completion: 1982 | Current Trajectory: heliocentric orbit, 355-day period

• Akatsuki would have been the first Japanese Venusian probe. Also known as Planet-C and Venus Climate Orbiter, Akatsuki failed to enter Venusian orbit in December 2010. It is still functioning, and has a possible second chance to orbit Venus in 2017.

Launched: 20 May 2010 | Destination: Venus | Arrival: 2017? | Institution: JAXA

Subprobes: IKAROS and Shin'en

No future missions projected

• Pioneer 6, launched in 1965, is the oldest functioning probe (if still operating). Contact was last attempted 8 December 2000 to celebrate its thirty-fifth anniversary, and the attempt was successful.^[3] Like the three craft which superseded it, it took measurements of the solar wind, solar magnetic field and cosmic rays.

Launched: 16 December 1965 | Destination: heliocentric orbit | Institution: NASA

Mission Completion: ? | Current Trajectory: heliocentric orbit

• Pioneer 7 was last contacted 31 March 1995; no attempt has been made since, and this probe may or may not be operational.

Launched: 17 August 1966 | Destination: heliocentric orbit | Institution: NASA

Mission Completion: ? | Current Trajectory: heliocentric orbit

• Pioneer 8 was last contacted in 22 August 1996; no attempt has been made since, and this probe may or may not be operational.

Launched: 8 November 1967 | Destination: heliocentric orbit | Institution: NASA

Mission Completion: ? | Current Trajectory: heliocentric orbit

• Giotto approached within 600 kilometers of Halley's Comet on its flyby mission, and survived some particulate impact on the inbound flight to capture scientific data and stunning images of the comet's nucleus. Its multicolor camera was subsequently destroyed, but the probe remained otherwise functional. Its mission completed, deactivation commands were transmitted on 15 March 1986. Awakened four years later on 2 July, it studied the comet Grigg-Skjellerup as it approached within 200 kilometers eight days later, and was again deactivated on the 23rd.

Launched: 2 July 1985 | Destination: Comet Halley | Arrival: 14 March 1986 | Institution: ESA

Mission Completion: 14 March 1986 | Current Trajectory: heliocentric orbit

• Genesis returned a capsule with a solar wind sample to Earth in 2004. The rest of the probe was put into a parking orbit near Earth's L2 point.

Launched: 8 August 2001 | Destination: complex orbit | Arrival: ? | Institution: NASA

Mission Completion: 2004 | Current Trajectory: heliocentric orbit near Earth L₂ point

References

1. ^ http://www.marstoday.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=26694
2. ^ ^{a b} http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/science/Vgrlocations.pdf
3. ^ Solar System Exploration: Missions: By Letter: P: Pioneer 6