Every mission, 1957–2026

Soviet Union · 1957

First artificial satellite; began the space age.

Soviet Union · 1957

Carried Laika, the first living creature to orbit Earth.

United States · 1958

First U.S. satellite; discovered the Van Allen radiation belts.

United States · 1958

Confirmed the existence of the trapped radiation belts discovered by Explorer 1.

United States · 1958

First U.S. lunar probe; failed to reach the Moon but returned radiation data.

United States · 1958

Third stage of the launch vehicle failed to ignite; did not reach orbit.

Soviet Union · 1958

First large Soviet scientific satellite; carried 12 instruments for upper-atmosphere, magnetic-field, radiation and cosmic-dust studies. Tape-recorder failure limited radiation-belt data.

United States · 1958

Early geodesy satellite; long-lived orbital tracking improved Earth-shape studies.

United States · 1959

Returned the first crude image of Earth from orbit.

Soviet Union · 1959

First spacecraft to pass near the Moon.

Soviet Union · 1959

First human-made object to reach the Moon.

Soviet Union · 1959

Returned the first images of the lunar far side.

Soviet Union · 1960

Returned Belka and Strelka safely after orbital flight.

United States · 1960

First successful television weather satellite.

United States · 1961

Lunar probe test mission; failed to leave low Earth orbit.

United States · 1961

Launch vehicle failed to restart; stranded in low Earth orbit.

Soviet Union · 1961

First Soviet Venus mission; contact was lost en route.

Soviet Union · 1961

Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space and in orbit.

United Kingdom / United States · 1962

First British satellite; conducted ionospheric research.

United States · 1962

First successful interplanetary mission.

United States · 1962

First Orbiting Solar Observatory.

United States · 1963

First successful geosynchronous satellite; enabled space-environment observations.

United States · 1964

First Orbiting Geophysical Observatory.

United States · 1964

First successful close-up U.S. lunar images.

United States · 1965

Crewed research mission; first U.S. spacewalk.

United States · 1965

First close-up images of Mars.

Soviet Union · 1965

First spacewalk (Alexei Leonov).

Soviet Union · 1966

First artificial satellite of the Moon.

Soviet Union · 1966

First soft landing and first images from the lunar surface.

United States · 1966

First U.S. soft lunar landing.

United States · 1967

Completed global photographic mapping for Apollo site selection.

Soviet Union · 1967

First in-situ atmospheric data from Venus.

United States · 1968

First crewed mission to orbit the Moon.

Soviet Union · 1968

First living organisms to travel around the Moon and return to Earth.

United States · 1969

First humans landed on the Moon.

United States · 1969

Returned Mars images and atmospheric data.

United States · 1969

Companion Mars flyby; returned imaging and atmospheric data.

Soviet Union · 1970

First robotic return of lunar soil to Earth.

Soviet Union · 1970

First successful robotic rover on another world.

United States / Italy · 1970

First satellite dedicated to X-ray astronomy.

Soviet Union · 1970

First successful transmission from the surface of another planet.

Soviet Union · 1971

Conducted lunar mapping and gravitational studies.

United States · 1971

First spacecraft to orbit another planet.

Soviet Union · 1971

First soft landing on Mars; contact was brief.

Soviet Union · 1971

World’s first space station; established orbital-station operations.

United States · 1972

Most recent crewed lunar landing; completed Apollo surface exploration.

United States · 1972

Major ultraviolet observatory.

United States · 1972

First civilian Earth-resources satellite.

United States · 1972

First spacecraft to traverse the asteroid belt and fly by Jupiter.

United States · 1973

First flyby of Saturn (1979).

United States · 1973

First U.S. space station; supported long-duration crewed research.

Germany / United States · 1974

Solar probe studying the inner heliosphere.

United States · 1974

First Mercury mission and first gravity-assist trajectory.

United States / Soviet Union · 1975

First international crewed-spaceflight mission and first U.S.–Soviet docking.

India / Soviet Union · 1975

India's first satellite; power failure limited scientific experiments to a few days.

ESA · 1975

First ESA space mission; provided the first comprehensive gamma-ray map of the Milky Way.

United States · 1975

X-ray source localization mission.

Soviet Union · 1975

First images from Venus’s surface.

United States · 1975

First successful long-lived Mars lander; returned extensive surface science.

United States · 1977

Broad-band X-ray and gamma-ray survey observatory.

United States · 1977

Transformative flybys of the giant planets; both later entered interstellar space.

United States / ESA · 1978

First spacecraft placed at Sun–Earth L1; later flew by comet Giacobini–Zinner.

United States · 1978

First satellite designed for global oceanographic remote sensing.

Soviet Union · 1978

Returned Venus atmospheric science during descent.

India / Soviet Union · 1979

India's first low-orbit Earth observation satellite.

United States · 1979

First fully imaging X-ray telescope.

United States · 1980

Observed solar flares and the solar maximum.

Japan · 1981

Japan’s first solar observatory.

United States · 1981

First Space Shuttle flight; inaugurated reusable orbital spacecraft operations.

United States / Netherlands / United Kingdom · 1982

First all-sky infrared survey satellite.

Soviet Union · 1982

Returned colour images and in-situ surface analyses from Venus.

Japan · 1983

Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite.

Soviet Union · 1983

Radar mapping of Venus’s northern hemisphere.

Soviet Union / international · 1984

Venus lander-balloon and Halley flyby mission.

Soviet Union / international · 1984

Companion Venus and Halley mission.

ESA · 1985

First deep-space mission by ESA; close flyby of Halley’s Comet.

Japan · 1985

Japan’s first deep-space mission.

Japan · 1985

Studied Halley’s cometary coma.

Soviet Union · 1986

Added astrophysics instruments to Mir.

Soviet Union / Russia · 1986

First continuously inhabited modular space station; operated until 2001.

Japan · 1987

Japanese X-ray astronomy observatory.

Soviet Union · 1988

Contact lost en route to Mars.

Soviet Union · 1988

Reached Mars orbit; contact lost before Phobos landing operations.

United States · 1989

Measured the cosmic microwave background spectrum and anisotropy.

United States · 1989

First Jupiter orbiter; revealed complex Jovian-system science.

ESA · 1989

First space astrometry mission.

United States · 1989

Mapped most of Venus with radar.

Japan · 1990

Japan’s first lunar probe and first Asian lunar mission.

NASA / ESA · 1990

Landmark optical/UV/near-IR observatory; transformed astronomy.

Germany / United States / United Kingdom · 1990

All-sky X-ray survey observatory.

ESA / NASA · 1990

First mission to study the heliosphere above and below the Sun’s poles.

Japan / United States / United Kingdom · 1991

Observed solar flares and coronal activity.

United States · 1992

Lost before Mars-orbit insertion.

United States · 1992

Studied energetic particles in Earth’s magnetosphere.

NASA / CNES · 1992

Precision ocean-altimetry mission; foundational climate and ocean data.

India · 1993

Indian scientific satellite with gamma-ray burst observations.

United States · 1994

Global lunar mapping; evidence consistent with polar ice.

United States · 1994

Solar-wind and magnetospheric science mission.

United States · 1995

Timing studies of X-ray sources.

ESA / NASA · 1995

Long-running solar and heliospheric observatory.

United States · 1996

Established long-term, high-resolution global Mars mapping.

United States · 1996

First spacecraft to orbit and land on an asteroid.

ESA / NASA · 1996

Solar and heliospheric observatory.

United States · 1997

Solar wind and energetic particle observatory.

NASA / ESA / ASI · 1997

Cassini orbited Saturn; Huygens made the first landing in the outer Solar System.

United States · 1997

First Mars rover mission; demonstrated low-cost landing approach.

United States · 1998

Ion-propulsion technology mission; flew by asteroid Braille and comet Borrelly.

United States · 1998

Strengthened evidence for hydrogen at lunar poles.

United States · 1998

High-resolution solar transition-region and coronal imaging.

International partnership · 1998

First ISS module; start of a continuously inhabited international laboratory.

United States · 1999

Flagship X-ray observatory.

United States · 1999

Far-ultraviolet spectroscopy observatory.

United States · 1999

Flagship Earth Observing System satellite.

ESA · 2000

Four-spacecraft mission studying Earth’s magnetic environment.

United States · 2000

Imaged Earth’s magnetosphere and aurora.

United States · 2001

Collected solar-wind samples; capsule crash limited recovery but useful material was retrieved.

United States · 2001

Mapped elemental composition and found evidence of near-surface water ice.

United States · 2001

Thermosphere-ionosphere-mesosphere energetics mission.

United States · 2002

Water-cycle and climate-observing satellite.

ESA · 2002

International gamma-ray observatory.

Japan · 2003

First asteroid sample-return mission; returned particles in 2010.

ESA · 2003

Mars Express remains a major orbiter; Beagle 2 failed to fully deploy.

United States · 2003

Great Observatory infrared mission.

ESA · 2003

Electric-propulsion lunar science mission.

China · 2003

First Chinese crewed spaceflight.

ESA · 2004

First mission to orbit and land on a comet (Philae, 2014).

Scaled Composites · 2004

First privately funded crewed spacecraft to reach space twice.

United States · 2004

Found extensive evidence of ancient watery environments.

United States · 2004

First mission to return cometary material to Earth.

United States / United Kingdom / Italy · 2004

Rapid-response gamma-ray burst observatory.

Japan / United States / United Kingdom / ESA · 2005

Solar magnetic-field and corona mission.

ESA / NASA / ASI · 2005

First landing in the outer Solar System.

United States · 2005

High-resolution imaging and relay supporting Mars exploration.

ESA · 2005

Long-duration Venus atmospheric science mission.

United States / France · 2006

Lidar measurements of clouds and aerosols.

France / ESA partners · 2006

Early space exoplanet and asteroseismology mission.

China · 2007

First Chinese lunar mission; inaugurated the Chang’e exploration programme.

United States · 2007

First spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial bodies.

Japan · 2007

High-definition lunar mapping and science.

United States · 2007

Multi-spacecraft mission studying substorms.

India · 2008

Confirmed widespread lunar water/hydroxyl signatures.

United States / international · 2008

High-energy gamma-ray observatory.

United States · 2008

Confirmed water ice in the Martian arctic.

ESA · 2009

Far-infrared and submillimetre observatory.

United States · 2009

Revolutionized exoplanet discovery and occurrence-rate studies.

ESA · 2009

Precision cosmic microwave background mission.

Japan · 2010

Entered Venus orbit in 2015 after an initial insertion failure; studies Venus’s atmosphere.

ESA · 2010

Ice-sheet and sea-ice elevation monitoring.

Japan · 2010

First interplanetary solar-sail demonstration.

United States · 2011

Twin spacecraft mapped the Moon’s gravity field.

United States · 2011

Entered Jupiter orbit in 2016; studies interior and atmosphere.

Russia · 2011

Failed to leave Earth orbit; included the Yinghuo-1 payload.

China · 2011

First Chinese space-laboratory module.

United States · 2012

Established that Gale Crater once offered habitable conditions.

United States · 2012

Focusing hard X-ray telescope.

China · 2013

First soft lunar landing since 1976 and first Chinese lunar surface mission.

ESA · 2013

Created an unprecedented 3D map of the Milky Way.

United States · 2013

Solar interface-region imaging spectrograph.

India · 2013

India’s first interplanetary mission and first successful Mars mission on its first attempt.

Japan · 2014

Returned asteroid samples to Earth in 2020.

United States · 2014

Atmospheric carbon-dioxide observatory.

ESA · 2014

First comet landing; Rosetta’s long-term comet study was transformative.

India · 2015

India’s first dedicated multiwavelength space observatory.

International · 2015

Opened gravitational-wave astronomy (included as a cross-disciplinary space-science milestone).

ESA · 2015

Demonstrated precision technology for space gravitational-wave observatories.

United States · 2015

First close exploration of Pluto; later flew by Arrokoth.

ESA / Russia · 2016

TGO entered Mars orbit successfully; Schiaparelli crashed during descent.

United States · 2016

Collected Bennu material; sample returned to Earth in 2023.

China · 2016

Supported China’s crewed-spaceflight and in-orbit refuelling demonstrations.

United States · 2017

X-ray timing instrument studying neutron stars.

ESA / JAXA · 2018

Joint mission en route to investigate Mercury and its environment.

United States · 2018

First dedicated Martian geophysics mission; detected marsquakes.

United States · 2018

First mission to fly through the solar corona.

United States · 2018

All-sky transiting-exoplanet survey.

ESA · 2019

Characterizes known exoplanets.

India · 2019

Orbiter remains productive; Vikram lander was lost during descent.

China · 2019

First soft landing on the lunar far side.

China · 2020

First lunar samples returned since 1976.

United Arab Emirates · 2020

First interplanetary mission led by an Arab country; studies the Martian atmosphere.

United States · 2020

Mars sample-caching mission; Ingenuity achieved first powered flight on another world.

China · 2020

Successful Mars orbiter and Zhurong rover mission.

United States / Italy · 2021

X-ray polarimetry observatory.

NASA / ESA / CSA · 2021

Flagship infrared observatory for early-universe, exoplanet and solar-system science.

Russia · 2021

Major Russian ISS-segment additions after Mir; not standalone deep-space exploration missions.

ESA / NASA · 2021

Studies the Sun and heliosphere, including high-latitude solar views.

China · 2021

Core module launched; China established a permanently inhabited modular station.

United States / international · 2022

Uncrewed Orion mission completed a lunar-orbit test for the Artemis programme.

United States · 2022

First demonstration of kinetic-impact asteroid deflection.

United States · 2022

Maps mineral dust sources and their climate effects.

India · 2023

India’s first solar observatory; entered halo orbit in January 2024.

India · 2023

First Indian soft landing on the Moon; first near the lunar south polar region.

ESA · 2023

Maps the dark universe through a wide extragalactic survey.

ESA · 2023

En route to study Jupiter and its ocean-bearing moons.

Russia · 2023

Reached lunar orbit but crashed during landing attempt; first Russian lunar mission since the Soviet era.

United States · 2023

Delivered Bennu samples to Earth.

United States · 2023

En route to investigate a metal-rich asteroid and planetary building blocks.

Japan / NASA · 2023

High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy observatory.

China · 2024

First samples returned from the lunar far side.

United States · 2024

Launched to investigate Europa’s habitability during planned flybys.

ESA · 2024

Launched to examine the outcome of DART’s asteroid deflection.

Intuitive Machines · 2024

First U.S. soft lunar landing since 1972 and first commercial lunar soft landing.

United States · 2024

Ocean colour, aerosol and cloud-polarimetry mission.

Japan · 2024

Demonstrated a precision lunar landing.

India · 2024

India’s X-ray polarimetry observatory.

Firefly Aerospace / NASA CLPS · 2025

Successful upright landing with ten NASA science and technology payloads.

NASA / ISRO · 2025

Joint radar mission monitoring land, ice, hazards and ecosystems.

United States · 2025

Four-spacecraft mission imaging the corona and solar wind.

United States · 2025

All-sky near-infrared spectral survey of galaxies, stars and cosmic ices.

United States / international · 2026

Crewed lunar flyby; first people around the lunar far side since Apollo.