This is a comprehensive list of interplanetary spaceflights, spaceflight between two or more bodies of the Solar System, listed in chronological order by launch date. It includes only flights that escaped Earth orbit and reached the vicinity of another planet, asteroid, or comet. Flights that were planned but not executed, were destroyed at or shortly after launch, or missed their target entirely are not included. Flights which reached, but failed to return useful scientific data regarding their target, are given a gray background.
The list is divided between flights that stopped at a destination, and those that flew by their target.
The following flights were completed by matching velocity with the target object, whether by station-keeping, entering orbit, landing, or impact.
| Spacecraft | Destination | Date and launch site | Reached planet | Flight duration | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venera 3 | Venus | 16 November 1965 Molniya M Baikonur 31/6 | 1 March 1966 impact | 106 days (3 mo, 14 d) | Venera 3 was intended to soft-land on Venus. Contact with the spacecraft was lost before arrival, and Venera 3 crashed. | [1] | |
| Venera 4 | Venus | 12 June 1967 Molniya 8K78M Baikonur 1/5 | 18 October 1967 entered atmosphere | 129 days (4 mo, 7 d) | Venera 4, a Venus atmosphere probe, continued to transmit to an altitude of 25 km | [2] | |
| Venera 5 | Venus | 5 January 1969 Molniya 8K78M Baikonur 1/5 | 16 May 1969 entered atmosphere | 132 days (4 mo, 12 d) | Venera 5 was a Venus atmosphere probe. | [3] | |
| Venera 6 | Venus | 10 January 1969 Molniya 8K78M Baikonur 1/5 | 17 May 1969 entered atmosphere | 128 days (4 mo, 8 d) | Venera 6 was a Venus atmosphere probe. | [4] |
| Spacecraft | Destination | Launch date | Reached planet | Flight duration | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venera 7 lander | Venus | 17 August 1970 | 15 December 1970 landed | 121 days (3 mo, 29 d) | Venera 7 made the first successful landing on another planet, and returned signals from the surface of Venus for 23 minutes. | [5] | |
| Mars 2 Orbiter and Lander | Mars | 19 May 1971 | 27 November 1971 impact | 193 days (6 mo, 9 d) | The Mars 2 lander crashed into Mars on 27 November 1971, in a failed soft landing attempt. It was the first manmade object to reach the surface of Mars. The orbiter continued operating until 22 August 1972. | [6] [7] | |
| Mars 3 Orbiter and Lander | Mars | 28 May 1971 | 2 December 1971 entered orbit/landed | 189 days (6 mo, 5 d) | Mars 3 did not attain its intended orbit due to insufficient fuel. The lander reached the surface on 2 December 1971, but contact was lost immediately afterward. The orbiter continued operating until 22 August 1972. | [8] [9] | |
| Mariner 9 Orbiter | Mars | 30 May 1971 | 14 November 1971 entered orbit | 169 days (5 mo, 16 d) | Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet. It remained active until 27 October 1972. | [10] | |
| Venera 8 lander | Venus | 27 March 1972 | 22 July 1972 landed | 118 days (3 m, 26 d) | Venera 8 returned signals from the surface of Venus for 50 minutes. | [11] | |
| Mars 5 Orbiter | Mars | 25 July 1973 | 12 February 1974 entered orbit | 203 days (6 mo, 19 d) | Mars 5 collected images and other data from Mars for 22 days. | [12] | |
| Mars 6 Lander | Mars | 5 August 1973 | 12 March 1974 impact | 220 days (7 mo, 8 d) | Mars 6 crash-landed on Mars and contact with the craft was lost. | [13] | |
| Venera 9 orbiter and lander | Venus | 8 June 1975 | 20 October 1975 entered orbit 22 October 1975 landed | 135 days (4 mo, 13 d) | The Venera 9 lander transmitted the first images from the surface of Venus. | [14] [15] | |
| Venera 10 orbiter and lander | Venus | 14 June 1975 | 23 October 1975 entered orbit 25 October 1975 landed | 132 days (4 mo, 10 d) | Venera 10 successfully landed and sent back images from the surface of Venus. | [16] [17] | |
| Viking 1 Orbiter and Lander | Mars | 20 August 1975 | 19 June 1976 entered orbit 20 July 1976 landed | 305 days (10 mo) | Viking 1 transmitted the first images from the surface of Mars. The Viking orbiter was active until 17 August 1980, the lander until 13 November 1982. | [18] [19] | |
| Viking 2 Orbiter and Lander | Mars | 9 September 1975 | 7 August 1976 entered orbit 3 September 1976 landed | 334 days (10 mo, 30 d) | Viking 2 was the second craft to land on Mars. The Viking orbiter was active until 25 July 1978, the lander until 11 April 1980. | [20] [21] | |
| Pioneer Venus Orbiter | Venus | 20 May 1978 | 4 December 1978 entered orbit | 199 days (6 mo, 15 d) | Pioneer Venus made radar and other observations of Venus. The orbiter operated until August 1992. | [22] | |
| Pioneer Venus Multiprobe | Venus | 8 August 1978 | 9 December 1978 entered atmosphere | 124 days (4 mo, 2 d) | The Pioneer Venus multiprobe included a "bus" and four atmospheric probes, one of which survived its impact with Venus and continued to transmit from the surface for over an hour. | [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] | |
| Venera 12 Lander | Venus | 14 September 1978 | 21 December 1978 landed | 99 days (3 mo, 8 d) | Venera 12 returned data for 110 minutes. Images were not returned. | [28] | |
| Venera 11 Lander | Venus | 9 September 1978 | 25 December 1978 landed | 107 days (3 mo, 16 d) | Venera 11 returned data for 95 minutes. Images were not returned. | [29] |
| Spacecraft | Destination | Launched | Reached planet | Flight duration | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venera 13 Lander | Venus | 30 October 1981 | 1 March 1982 landed | 123 days (4 months, 2 days) | Venera 13 survived on the surface of Venus for 127 minutes. | [30] | |
| Venera 14 Lander | Venus | 4 November 1981 | 5 March 1982 landed | 122 days (4 months, 2 days) | Venera 14 survived on the surface of Venus for 57 minutes. | [31] | |
| Venera 15 Orbiter | Venus | 2 June 1983 | 10 October 1983 entered orbit | 131 days (4 months, 9 days) | Venera 15 carried out radar mapping of Venus. | [32] | |
| Venera 16 Orbiter | Venus | 7 June 1983 | 14 October 1983 entered orbit | 130 days (4 months, 8 days) | Venera 16 carried out radar mapping of Venus. | [33] | |
| Vega 1 Lander and balloon | Venus | 15 December 1984 | 11 June 1985 landed/deployed | 179 days (5 months, 28 days) | Some of the Vega 1's instruments deployed prematurely, rendering them useless. | [34] [35] | |
| Vega 2 Lander and balloon | Venus | 21 December 1984 | 15 June 1985 landed/deployed | 177 days (5 months, 26 days) | [36] [37] | ||
| Phobos 2 Orbiter and Lander | Mars and Phobos | 12 July 1988 | 29 January 1989 | 202 days (6 months, 18 days) | Phobos 2 achieved Mars orbit, but contact was lost on 27 March 1989 shortly before Phobos approach phase and deployment of Phobos landers | [38] | |
| Magellan Orbiter | Venus | 4 May 1989 | 10 August 1990 entered orbit | 464 days (1 yr, 3 mo, 7 d) | Magellan carried out global radar mapping of Venus. Magellan's mission continued to 12 October 1994, when the craft burned up in Venus' atmosphere. | [39] | |
| Galileo orbiter and atmosphere probe | Jupiter | 18 October 1989 | 7 December 1995 entered orbit | 2242 days (6 yr, 1 mo, 20 d) | Flew by several of Jupiter's moons; impacted into Jupiter 21 September 2003. | [40] [41] |
| Spacecraft | Destination | Launched | Reached planet | Flight duration | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mars Observer orbiter | Mars | 25 September 1992 | 24 August 1993 entered orbit? | 334 days (11 months) | Contact with Mars Observer was lost 21 August 1993, shortly before Mars orbit insertion. May not have attained Mars orbit. | [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] | |
| Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) | Asteroid 433 Eros | 17 February 1996 | 14 February 2000 entered orbit 12 February 2001 landed | 1459 days (3 yr, 11 mo, 29 d) | The orbiter performed an improvised landing on Eros. Its mission ended 28 February 2001. | [47] | |
| Mars Global Surveyor orbiter | Mars | 7 November 1996 | 11 September 1997 entered orbit | 309 days (10 months, 5 days) | Contact lost after 5 November 2006. | [48] | |
| Mars Pathfinder lander and Sojourner rover | Mars | 4 December 1996 | 4 July 1997 landed | 213 days (7 months, 1 day) | Rover deployed 6 July 1997. Mission continued to 27 September 1997. | [49] [50] | |
| Cassini orbiter and Huygens Titan lander | Saturn and Titan | 15 October 1997 | 1 July 2004 entered orbit | 2452 days (6 yr, 8 mo, 17 d) | Mission ended 15 September 2017. Saturn orbiter, performing repeated by-flights of Saturn's moons; also deployed the Huygens Titan lander, the first probe to land on a satellite of another planet. | [51] [52] | |
| 14 January 2005 Huygens landed on Titan | 2649 days (Huygens) (7 years, 3 months) | ||||||
| Mars Climate Orbiter | Mars | 11 December 1998 | 23 September 1999 entered atmosphere | 287 days (9 months, 13 days) | Orbit insertion failed due to a navigational error, and Mars Climate Orbiter burned up in the Martian atmosphere. | [53] | |
| Mars Polar Lander with Deep Space 2 ground-penetrators "Amundsen" and "Scott" | Mars | 3 January 1999 | 3 December 1999 entered atmosphere | 335 days (11 months, 1 day) | Contact with Mars Polar Lander was lost just prior to entering the Martian atmosphere. | [54] [55] |
| Spacecraft | Destination | Launched | Reached planet | Flight duration | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mars Odyssey orbiter | Mars | 7 April 2001 | 24 October 2001 entered orbit | 201 days (6 months, 18 days) | Continuing mission. | [56] |
| Hayabusa and MINERVA | Asteroid 25143 Itokawa | 9 May 2003 | 12 September 2005 matched velocity with Itokawa 19 and 25 November 2005 landings | 858 days (2 yr, 4 mo, 4 d) | The MINERVA hopper was lost on 12 November 2005. Hayabusa's return journey to Earth began in April 2007; the spacecraft returned to Earth 13 June 2010. | [57] |
| Mars Express orbiter and Beagle 2 lander | Mars | 2 June 2003 | 25 December 2003 entered orbit | 207 days (6 months, 24 days) | Continuing mission. Contact with Beagle 2 was lost after entering Mars' atmosphere on 25 December 2003. | [58] |
| MER-A Spirit rover | Mars | 10 June 2003 | 4 January 2004 landed | 209 days (6 months, 26 days) | Last contact on 22 March 2010. | [59] |
| MER-B Opportunity rover | Mars | 7 July 2003 | 25 January 2004 landed | 203 days (6 months, 19 days) | Last contact on 10 June 2018 | [60] |
| Rosetta orbiter and Philae lander | Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko | 2 March 2004 | 6 August 2014 (Entered orbit) 12 November 2014 (Philae landed) | N/A | 64 Hours data transmission. Lander reactivated for 85 seconds 13 June 2015. Controlled impact to end mission on 30 September 2016. | [61] [62] |
| MESSENGER | Mercury | 3 August 2004 | 17 March 2011 entered orbit | 2418 days (6 years, 7 months, 15 days) | First probe to orbit Mercury. Deorbited on 30 April 2015 | [63] |
| Deep Impact impactor | Comet 9P/Tempel | 12 January 2005 | 4 July 2005 impacted Tempel | 174 days (5 months, 23 days) | First probe to directly impact a comet. | [64] |
| Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter | Mars | 12 August 2005 | 10 March 2006 entered orbit | 211 days (6 months, 27 days) | Continuing mission. | [65] [66] |
| Venus Express Orbiter | Venus | 9 November 2005 | 11 April 2006 entered orbit | 154 days (5 months, 3 days) | Continuing mission to study the atmosphere of Venus. Last contact 18 January 2015. | [67] |
| Phoenix Lander | Mars | 4 August 2007 | 25 May 2008 landed | 296 days (9 months, 22 days) | Collected soil samples near Mars' north pole to elucidate the history of water on Mars. Mission concluded 10 November 2008. | [68] |
| Dawn | Asteroid 4 Vesta | 27 September 2007 | 16 July 2011 entered orbit | 1388 days (3 years, 9 months, 19 days) | Departed Vesta for 1 Ceres 5 September 2012. | [69] |
| 1 Ceres | 6 March 2015 entered orbit | 2718 days (7 years, 5 months, 8 days) | Last contact 31 October 2018. | [70] |
| Spacecraft | Destination | Launched | Reached planet | Flight duration | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akatsuki | Venus | 20 May 2010 | 7 December 2015 entered orbit | N/A | Entered orbit five years after failed orbit insertion on 7 December 2010. Continuing mission to study the atmosphere of Venus. | [71] |
| Juno | Jupiter | 5 August 2011 | 4 July 2016 entered orbit | 1,795 days (4 y, 10 m, 29 d) | First solar-powered Jupiter orbiter, mission to study Jupiter's interior and magnetic environment. | [72] |
| Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity - Rover) | Mars | 26 November 2011 | 6 August 2012 landed | 253 days (8 m, 10 d) 14h 15m 57s | 900 kg mobile lander | [73] |
| Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) | Mars | 5 November 2013 | Reached Mars orbit on 24 September 2014 | |||
| MAVEN | Mars | 18 November 2013 | Reached Mars orbit on 22 September 2014 | |||
| Hayabusa2 with MINERVA-II rovers and MASCOT lander | Asteroid 162173 Ryugu | 3 December 2014 | 27 June 2018 matched velocity with Ryugu 21 February 2019 landing | |||
| ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO)/ Schiaparelli lander | Mars | 14 March 2016 | 19 October 2016 | Schiaparelli failed to land. TGO is still active to this date. | ||
| OSIRIS-REx | 101955 Bennu | 8 September 2016 | 3 December 2018 | Orbiter and Sample Return. | ||
| InSight | Mars | 5 May 2018 | 26 November 2018 landed | Robotic lander | ||
| BepiColombo | Mercury | 20 October 2018 | 5 December 2025 (planned) | 2604 days (7 yr, 1 mo, 16 d) | Dual satellite mission. | [74] |
| Spacecraft | Destination | Launched | Closest approach | Time elapsed | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emirates Mars Mission | Mars | 19 July 2020 | 9 February 2020 in orbit | Orbiter | |||
| Tianwen-1 | Mars | 23 July 2020 | 10 February 2021 landed | Robotic orbiter, deployable and remote cameras, lander, rover | |||
| Mars 2020 | Mars | 30 July 2020 | 18 February 2021 landed | Robotic rover and helicopter | |||
| Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) | Dimorphos | 24 November 2021 | 26 November 2022 impacted | Impactor spacecraft that crashed into the minor-planet moon Dimorphos, deployed flyby cubesat LICIACube 15 days before. | |||
| Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) | Jupiter | 14 April 2023 | July 2031 (planned) | Orbiter | |||
| Psyche | Asteroid 16 Psyche | 13 October 2023 | August 2029 (planned) | Orbiter | [75] |
The following flights flew by the target object at close range, but did not match velocity with their target or continued to another destination.
| Spacecraft | Destination | Launch date | Closest approach | Time elapsed | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venera 1 | Venus | 12 February 1961 | 19 May 1961 | 97 days (3 months, 8 days) | Contact with Venera 1 was lost 7 days after launch. It was the first spacecraft to fly by Venus, or indeed any planet. | [76] | |
| Mariner 2 | Venus | 27 August 1962 | 14 December 1962 | 110 days (3 months, 18 days) | Mariner 2 flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 34,773 km. It was the first spacecraft to return data from Venus. | [77] | |
| Mars 1 | Mars | 1 November 1962 | 19 June 1963 | 231 days (7 months, 19 days) | Mars 1 flew within approx. 193,000 km of Mars. Contact with it was lost on 21 March 1963. | [78] | |
| Zond 1 | Venus | 2 April 1964 | 14 July? 1964 | 104 days (3 months, 13 days) | Zond 1 was intended as a Venus lander. Contact with it was lost en route. | [79] | |
| Mariner 4 | Mars | 28 November 1964 | 15 July 1965 | 230 days (7 months, 18 days) | Mariner 4 returned the first close-up images of Mars. | [80] | |
| Zond 2 | Mars | 30 November 1964 | 6 August 1965 | 250 days (8 months, 8 days) | Zond 2 flew within 1,500 km of Mars. Contact with it was lost en route. | [81] | |
| Venera 2 | Venus | 12 November 1965 | 27 February 1966 | 108 days (3 months, 16 days) | Venera 2 flew by Venus at a distance of 24,000 km, but ceased to operate en route. | [82] | |
| Mariner 5 | Venus | 14 June 1967 | 19 October 1967 | 128 days (4 months, 6 days) | Mariner 5 flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 5,000 km. | [83] | |
| Mariner 6 | Mars | 25 February 1969 | 31 July 1969 | 156 days (5 months, 6 days) | Mariner 6 flew by Mars. | [84] | |
| Mariner 7 | Mars | 27 March 1969 | 5 August 1969 | 131 days (4 months, 9 days) | Mariner 7 flew by Mars. | [85] |
| Spacecraft | Destination | Launched | Closest approach | Time elapsed | Notes | Ref | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pioneer 10 | Jupiter | 3 March 1972 | 3 December 1973 | 641 days (1 yr, 9 mos, 1 d) | Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to fly by Jupiter. | [86] | |||
| Pioneer 11 | Jupiter | 6 April 1973 | 4 December 1974 | 608 days (1 yr, 7 mo, 29 d) | Pioneer 11 flew by Jupiter. | [87] | |||
| Saturn | 1 September 1979 | 2340 days (6 yr, 4 mo, 27 d) | Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to fly by Saturn. | ||||||
| Mars 4 | Mars | 21 July 1973 | 10 February 1974 | 205 days (6 months, 21 days) | Mars 4 failed to enter Mars orbit and flew by it instead. | [88] | |||
| Mars 6 | Mars | 5 August 1973 | 12 March 1974 | 220 days (7 months, 8 days) | The Mars 6 bus flew by Mars at a minimum distance of 1600 km. Also carried a lander. | ||||
| Mars 7 | Mars | 9 August 1973 | 9 March 1974 | 213 days (7 months, 1 day) | Mars 7's lander was released prematurely and missed Mars. | [89] | |||
| Mariner 10 | Venus | 3 November 1973 | 5 February 1974 | 95 days (3 months, 3 days) | Mariner 10 flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 5768 km. It was the first use of a gravity assist by an interplanetary spacecraft. | [90] | |||
| Mercury | 29 March 1974 | 147 days (4 months, 27 days) | Mariner 10 flew by Mercury at a minimum distance of 704 km. | ||||||
| 21 September 1974 | 323 days (10 months, 19 days) | Mariner 10 flew by Mercury at a minimum distance of 48,069 km. | |||||||
| 16 March 1975 | 499 days (1 yr, 4 mo, 14 d) | Mariner 10 flew by Mercury at a minimum distance of 327 km. | |||||||
| Voyager 2 | Jupiter | 20 August 1977 | 9 July 1979 | 689 days (1 yr, 10 mo, 20 d) | Voyager 2 flew by Jupiter. | [91] | |||
| Saturn | 5 August 1981 | 1447 days (3 yr, 11 mo, 17 d) | Voyager 2 flew by Saturn. | ||||||
| Uranus | 24 January 1986 | 3080 days (8 yr, 5 mo, 5 d) | Voyager 2 flew by Uranus and was the first spacecraft to visit it. | ||||||
| Neptune | 25 August 1989 | 4389 days (12 yr, 6 days) | Voyager 2 flew by Neptune and was the first spacecraft to visit it. | ||||||
| Voyager 1 | Jupiter | 5 September 1977 | 5 March 1979 | 547 days (1 yr, 6 mo, 1 d) | Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter and returned the first detailed images. | [92] | |||
| Saturn | 12 November 1980 | 1165 days (3 yr, 2 mo, 8 d) | Voyager 1 flew by Saturn. | ||||||
| ICE | Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner | 12 August 1978 | 11 September 1985 | 2588 days (7 yr, 1 mo) | ICE flew by Giacobini-Zinner. ICE was previously the solar monitor ISEE3. | [93] | |||
| Comet 1P/Halley | 28 March 1986 | 2786 days (7 yr, 7 mo, 17 d) | ICE flew by Halley at a minimum distance of 32 million km. | ||||||
| Venera 11 | Venus | 9 September 1978 | 25 December 1978 | 108 days (3 months, 17 days) | The Venera 11 bus flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 34,000 km and left a lander. | [94] | |||
| Venera 12 | Venus | 14 September 1978 | 19 December 1978 | 97 days (3 months, 6 days) | The Venera 12 bus flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 34,000 km and left a lander. | [95] |
| Spacecraft | Destination | Launched | Closest approach | Time elapsed | Notes | Ref | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venera 13 | Venus | 30 October 1981 | 1 March 1982 | 123 days (4 months, 2 days) | The Venera 13 bus flew by Venus and left a lander. | [96] | |||
| Venera 14 | Venus | 4 November 1981 | 5 March 1982 | 122 days (4 months, 2 days) | The Venera 14 bus flew by Venus and left a lander. | [97] | |||
| Vega 1 | Venus | 15 December 1984 | 11 June 1985 | 179 days (5 months, 28 days) | Vega 1 flew by Venus. | [98] | |||
| Comet 1P/Halley | 6 March 1986 | 447 days (1 yr, 2 mo, 20 d) | Vega 1 flew by Halley at a minimum distance of 8,890 km. | ||||||
| Vega 2 | Venus | 21 December 1984 | 15 June 1985 | 177 days (5 months, 26 days) | Vega 2 flew by Venus. | [99] | |||
| Comet 1P/Halley | 9 March 1986 | 444 days (1 yr, 2 mo, 17 d) | Vega 2 flew by Halley at a minimum distance of 8,890 km. | ||||||
| Sakigake | Comet 1P/Halley | 7 January 1985 | 11 March 1986 | 429 days (1 yr, 2 mo, 5 d) | Sakigake flew by Halley at a minimum distance of 6.99 million km. | [100] | |||
| Giotto | Comet 1P/Halley | 2 July 1985 | 14 March 1986 | 256 days (8 months, 13 days) | Giotto flew by Halley at a minimum distance of 596 km. | [101] | |||
| Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup | 10 July 1992 | 2566 days (7 yr, 9 d) | Giotto flew by Grigg-Skjellerup | ||||||
| Suisei | Comet 1P/Halley | 18 August 1985 | 8 March 1986 | 203 days (6 mo, 19 d) | Suisei flew by Halley at a minimum distance of 151,000 km. | [102] | |||
| Galileo | Venus | 18 October 1989 | 10 February 1990 | 116 days (3 months, 24 days) | Galileo flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 16,000 km as a gravity assist en route to Jupiter. | [103] | |||
| Asteroid 951 Gaspra | 29 October 1991 | 742 days (2 yr, 12 d) | Galileo flew by Gaspra at a minimum distance of 1900 km en route to Jupiter. | ||||||
| Asteroid 243 Ida | 28 August 1993 | 1411 days (3 yr, 10 mo, 11 d) | Galileo flew by Ida at a minimum distance of 2400 km en route to Jupiter. It discovered the first known asteroid moon, Dactyl. |
| Spacecraft | Destination | Launched | Closest approach | Time elapsed | Notes | Ref | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulysses | Jupiter | 6 October 1990 | 8 February 1992 | 491 days (1 yr, 4 mo, 3 d) | Ulysses flew by Jupiter for a gravity assist en route to solar polar observations | [104] | |||
| Jupiter | 4 February 2004 | 4870 days (13 yr, 3 mo, 30 d) | Ulysses flew by Jupiter at a minimum distance of 0.8 AU. | ||||||
| Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous | Asteroid 253 Mathilde | 17 February 1996 | 27 June 1997 | 497 days (1 yr, 4 mo, 11 d) | NEAR flew by Mathilde en route to Eros. | ||||
| Asteroid 433 Eros | 23 December 1998 | 1041 days (2 yr, 10 mo, 7 d) | NEAR flew by Eros at a minimum distance of 3827 km after a failed attempt to enter orbit. NEAR attained orbit later (see Completed Flights). | ||||||
| Cassini | Venus | 15 October 1997 | 26 April 1998 | 194 days (6 months, 12 days) | Cassini flew by Venus for a first gravity assist en route to Saturn. | [105] | |||
| Venus | 24 June 1999 | 618 days (1 yr, 8 mo, 10 d) | Cassini flew by Venus for a second gravity assist en route to Saturn. | ||||||
| Asteroid 2685 Masursky | 23 January 2000 | 831 days (2 yr, 3 mo, 9 d) | Cassini flew by Masursky en route to Saturn. | ||||||
| Jupiter | 30 December 2000 | 1173 days (3 yr, 2 mo, 16 d) | Cassini flew by Jupiter for a gravity assist en route to Saturn. | ||||||
| Nozomi | Mars | 3 July 1998 | 14 December 2003 | 1991 days (5 yr, 5 mo, 12 d) | Nozomi failed to attain an orbit around Mars and flew by it instead. | [106] | |||
| Deep Space 1 | Asteroid 9969 Braille | 24 October 1998 | 29 July 1999 | 279 days (9 months, 6 days) | Deep Space 1 flew by Braille. No close-up images were made due to a camera pointing error. | [107] | |||
| Comet 19P/Borrelly | 22 September 2001 | 1065 days (2 yr, 10 mo, 30 d) | Deep Space 1 flew by Borrelly and returned images. | ||||||
| Stardust | Asteroid 5535 Annefrank | 7 February 1999 | 2 November 2002 | 1365 days (3 yr, 8 mo, 27 d) | Stardust flew by Annefrank | [108] | |||
| Comet 81P/Wild | 21 January 2004 | 1810 days (4 yr, 11 mo, 15 d) | Stardust flew a sample return mission by Wild. | ||||||
| Comet 9P/Tempel | 14 February 2011 | N/A | Stardust flew by Tempel on an extended mission. |
| Spacecraft | Destination | Launched | Closest approach | Time elapsed | Notes | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosetta | Mars | 2 March 2004 | 25 February 2007 | 1091 days (2 yr, 11 mo, 24 d) | Rosetta flew by Mars as a gravity assist on the way to future encounters. | |||||
| Asteroid 2867 Šteins | 5 September 2008 | 1649 days (4 yr, 6 mo, 11 d) | Rosetta flew by Šteins. | |||||||
| Asteroid 21 Lutetia | 10 July 2010 | 2322 days (6 yr, 4 mo, 9 d) | Rosetta flew by Lutetia en route to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. | |||||||
| MESSENGER | Venus | 3 August 2004 | 24 October 2006 | 813 days (2 yr, 2 mo, 22 d) | Messenger flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 2990 km. This was for a gravity assist only; no data was collected. | |||||
| 6 June 2007 | 1038 days (2 yr, 10 mo, 4 d) | Messenger flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 300 km en route to Mercury. | ||||||||
| Mercury | 14 January 2008 | 1260 days (3 yr, 5 mo, 12 d) | Messenger flew by Mercury a first time en route to Mercury orbit insertion. | |||||||
| 29 September 2009 | 1884 days (5 yr, 1 mo, 27 d) | Messenger flew by Mercury a second time. | ||||||||
| Deep Impact | Comet 9P/Tempel | 12 January 2005 | 3 July 2005 | 173 days (5 months, 22 days) | Deep Impact flew by Tempel. | |||||
| Comet 103P/Hartley 2 | 4 November 2010 | 2122 days (5 years, 9 months, 23 days) | Deep Impact flew by and imaged Hartley 2 as part of its extended mission. | |||||||
| New Horizons | Asteroid 132524 APL | 19 January 2006 | 13 June 2006 | 146 days (4 months, 26 days) | New Horizons flew by 132524 APL en route to Pluto. | [109] | ||||
| Jupiter | 28 February 2007 | 416 days (1 years, 1 months, 20 days) | New Horizons flew by Jupiter as a gravity assist en route to Pluto. | |||||||
| Pluto | 14 July 2015 | 3318 days (9 years, 1 month, 1 day) | New Horizons flew by the Pluto system. | |||||||
| 486958 Arrokoth | 1 January 2019 | 4730 days (12 years, 11 months, 13 days) | First flyby of a small Kuiper Belt Object | |||||||
| Dawn | Mars | 27 September 2007 | 17 February 2009 | 509 days (1 yr, 4 mo, 21 d) | Dawn flew by Mars at a closest approach of 549 km for a gravity assist en route to the asteroids Vesta and Ceres |
| Spacecraft | Destination | Launch date | Closest approach | Time elapsed | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akatsuki | Venus | 20 May 2010 | 7 December 2010 | 201 days (6 months, 17 days) | Attempted but failed to enter orbit; later entered orbit during a second attempt on 7 December 2015 | |
| Chang'e 2 | Asteroid 4179 Toutatis | 1 October 2010 | 13 December 2012 | 804 days (2 years, 2 months, 12 days) | ||
| PROCYON | Asteroid (185851) 2000 DP107 | 4 December 2014 | Failed 3 December 2015, and thus never made the flyby. | |||
| MarCO | Mars | 5 May 2018 | 26 November 2018 | 206 days (6 mo, 22 d) | Provided communications support for the landing of InSight. Went silent in heliocentric orbit on 5 January 2019. | [110] |
| Parker Solar Probe | Venus | 12 August 2018 | 11 July 2020 | 700 days (1 yr, 11 mo) | Obtain direct solar observations. Not making observations during the Venus flybys. | |
| BepiColombo | Venus | 20 October 2018 | 10 August 2021 | 1028 days (2 yr, 9 mo, 24 d) | Second of two Venus gravity assist en route to Mercury. | [111] |
| Mercury | 1 October 2021 | 1078 days (2 yr, 11 mo, 12 d) | First of six Mercury gravity assist en route to Mercury orbital insertion. |
| Spacecraft | Destination | Launch date | Closest approach | Time elapsed | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LICIACube | Asteroid 65803 Didymos | 24 November 2021 | 26 September 2022 | 307 days (10 mo, 7 d) | Separated from DART and took pictures of its impact with the asteroid. | [112] | |
| Lucy | Asteroid 152830 Dinkinesh | 16 October 2021 | 1 November 2023 | 746 days (2 yr, 17 d) | Smallest main-belt asteroid explored by spacecraft yet. Discovered a natural satellite of the asteroid during the flyby. | [113] | |
| Asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson | 20 April 2025 (planned) | 1283 days (3 yr, 6 mo, 5 d) | |||||
| Asteroid 3548 Eurybates | 12 August 2027 (planned) | 4156 days (11 yr, 4 mo, 15 d) | |||||
| Asteroid 15094 Polymele | 15 September 2027 (planned) | 2161 days (5 yr, 11 mo) | |||||
| Asteroid 11351 Leucus | 18 April 2028 (planned) | 2377 days (6 yr, 6 mo, 3 d) | |||||
| Asteroid 21900 Orus | 11 November 2028 (planned) | 2584 days (7 yr, 27 d) | |||||
| Asteroid 617 Patroclus | 2 March 2033 (planned) | 2377 days (6 yr, 6 mo, 3 d) | |||||
| Psyche | Mars | 13 October 2023 | May 2026 (planned) | Mars gravity assist en route to the asteroid 16 Psyche |