Timeline of solar system exploration
|
System
Spacecraft |
Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pioneer 10 | 1973 flyby | ||||
| Pioneer 11 | 1974 flyby | 1979 flyby | |||
| Voyager 1 | 1979 flyby | 1980 flyby | |||
| Voyager 2 | 1979 flyby | 1981 flyby | 1986 flyby | 1989 flyby | |
| Galileo |
1995–2003 orbiter; 1995, 2003 atmospheric |
||||
| Ulysses | 1992, 2004 gravity assist | ||||
| Cassini–Huygens | 2000 gravity assist |
2004– orbiter; 2005 Titan lander |
|||
| New Horizons | 2007 gravity assist | 2015 flyby | |||
| Juno | 2016– orbiter |
This is a timeline of Solar System exploration ordered by date of spacecraft launch. It includes:
It does not include:
The dates listed are launch dates, but the achievements noted may have occurred some time later—in some cases, a considerable time later (for example, Voyager 2, launched 20 August 1977, did not reach Neptune until 1989).
Missions in italics are unfinished, i.e. have not yet been designated as successes or failures. Some unitalicised missions are nevertheless still operational, some in mission extension phases.
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966 AS-201
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1981
1983
1984
1985
1986
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2028
2030
2031
2037
2040–60
Luna 16
First unmanned lunar sample return
Pioneer 10
First Jupiter flyby
Pioneer 11
First Saturn flyby
Mariner 10
First Mercury flyby
Helios 2
Closest solar approach
Voyager 2
First Uranus flyby
First Neptune flyby
International Cometary Explorer
First comet flyby
Galileo
First asteroid flyby
First asteroid moon discovery
First Jupiter orbiter
First Jupiter atmospheric probe
...
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