List of extraterrestrial orbiters

This list of extraterrestrial orbiters is a listing of spacecraft that achieved an extraterrestrial orbit.

Legend

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Color legend for orbital status
Departed
Unclear
Inactive
Operational

Sun

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Main article: List of artificial objects in heliocentric orbit

The first artificial object in heliocentric orbit was Luna 1 (1959).

Moon

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See also: list of crashed or landed lunar orbiters and other artificial objects on the Moon
The Apollo 17 Command Module America seen in lunar orbit from the ascent stage of the Lunar Module
Mission Country/agency Orbital insertion Current status Notes
Luna 10[1] Soviet Union USSR 3 April 1966 Contact lost 30 May 1966, probably decayed the same year First extraterrestrial and Moon orbiter
Lunar Orbiter 1 United States USA 14 August 1966 Impacted lunar surface 29 October 1966 First U.S. extraterrestrial orbiter
Luna 11[2] Soviet Union USSR 27 August 1966 Contact lost 1 October 1966, probably decayed the same or following year
Luna 12 Soviet Union USSR 25 October 1966 Contact lost 19 January 1967, probably decayed the same year
Lunar Orbiter 2 United States USA Launched 6 November 1966 Impacted lunar surface 11 October 1967
Lunar Orbiter 3 United States USA 8 February 1967 Impacted lunar surface 9 October 1967
Lunar Orbiter 4 United States USA Launched 4 May 1967 Contact lost 17 July 1967, impacted lunar surface 6 October 1967
Explorer 35 United States USA Launched 19 July 1967 Deactivated 24 June 1973; impacted lunar surface in the middle to late 1970s
Lunar Orbiter 5 United States USA 5 August 1967 Deorbited; impacted lunar surface 31 January 1968
Luna 14 Soviet Union USSR 10 April 1968 Mission terminated 24 June 1968, its orbit probably decayed
Luna 19 Soviet Union USSR 2 October 1971 Mission terminated 20 October 1972 and contact lost on 1 November 1972, probably decayed the following year
Explorer 49 United States USA Launched 10 June 1973 Contact lost August 1977, its orbit probably decayed
Luna 22 Soviet Union USSR 2 June 1974 Mission terminated November 1975, its orbit probably decayed in 1976
Apollo 8 United States USA Launched 21 December 1968; entered orbit after 69 hrs Left orbit after 10 orbits; splashdown on Earth First crewed lunar orbit
Apollo 10 United States USA Launched 18 May 1969 Left orbit 26 May 1969
Apollo 11 United States USA July 19, 1969 July 21, 1969; Lunar module ascent stage abandoned in orbit, impact site unknown First human Moon landing
Apollo 12 United States USA November 18, 1969 November 21, 1969 Human Moon landing
Apollo 14 United States USA February 4, 1971 February 7, 1971 Human Moon landing
Apollo 15 United States USA July 29, 1971 August 4, 1971 Human Moon landing
Apollo 15 subsatellite (PFS-1) United States USA August 4, 1971 January 1973
Apollo 16 United States USA April 19, 1972 April 25, 1972; Lunar module ascent stage abandoned in orbit, impact site unknown Human Moon landing
Apollo 16 subsatellite (PFS-2) United States USA April 24, 1972 May 29, 1972
Apollo 17 United States USA December 11, 1972 December 14, 1972 Human Moon landing
Hiten and Hagoromo Japan Japan Hiten: 15 February 1993 Hiten was deliberately deorbited and impacted the lunar surface 10 April 1993 First Japanese lunar orbiter
Clementine United States USA Launched 25 January 1994 Left lunar orbit and entered heliocentric orbit; contact lost June 1994
Lunar Prospector United States USA Launched 7 January 1998 Deliberately deorbited; impacted lunar surface 31 July 1999
SMART-1 ESA 11 November 2004 Deliberately deorbited; impacted lunar surface 3 September 2006
SELENE (Kaguya, Okina and Ouna) Japan Japan 3 October 2007 Deliberately deorbited; impacted lunar surface 10 June 2009
Chang'e 1 China China 5 November 2007 Deliberately deorbited 1 March 2009; impacted the Moon's surface. First Chinese lunar orbiter
Chandrayaan-1 India India 8 November 2008 Deliberately crashed into lunar surface. Impact probe remained operational for a few days. Contact lost 29 August 2009. First Indian lunar orbiter
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter[3] United States USA 23 June 2009 Active
Chang'e 2 China China 6 October 2010 Left lunar orbit 8 June 2011; currently in deep-space orbit
ARTEMIS P1 United States USA 2 July 2011 Active
ARTEMIS P2[4] United States USA 17 July 2011 Active
Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) United States USA 31 December 2011 / 1 January 2012 Both spacecraft were deliberately deorbited and impacted on the lunar surface 17 December 2012
LADEE United States USA 6 October 2013 Deliberately deorbited 18 April 2014
Chang'e 3 China China 6 December 2013 Landed on lunar surface 14 December 2013 First Chinese lunar landing
Chang'e 5-T1 China China 13 January 2015 Returned to Earth on 31 October 2014
Chang'e 4 China China 12 December 2018 Landed on lunar surface 3 January 2019. The Queqiao relay satellite was placed in an Earth-Moon L2 halo orbit. First lunar far-side landing
Longjiang-2 microsatellite China China 25 May 2018 Deorbited 2019
Beresheet Israel Israel 4 April 2019 Crashed onto lunar surface 11 April 2019 First private lunar lander. Successfully orbited for 7 days. Soft landing failed.
Chandrayaan-2 India India 20 August 2019 Orbiter is active. The Vikram lander lost contact at 2.1 km from the lunar surface, and was subsequently destroyed.[5] It was originally thought that Vikram had survived the impact, and ISRO continued trying to contact the lander until the lunar night.[6]
Chang'e 5 China China 1 December 2020 Orbiter is As of 2022 in lunar DRO orbit. First lunar sample return mission by China. Ascent stage deorbited on 7 December 2020. Capsule successfully returned sample via service module on 16 December 2020. The orbiter will make lunar flyby in extended mission on 9 September 2021 in Distant retrograde orbit.[7]
CAPSTONE United States USA 14 November 2022 Active and on a Near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) Lunar orbiting CubeSat that will test and verify the calculated orbital stability planned for the Gateway space station.
Artemis 1 United States USA 25 November 2022 Remained on a Selenocentric orbit (DRO) until 5 December 2022, then returned back to Earth First mission of the Artemis program.
LunaH-Map United States USA 25 November 2022 Decayed 20 February 2023
Lunar IceCube United States USA 25 November 2022 On a Selenocentric orbit Contact lost shortly after the launch. Conducted lunar flyby on 21 November 2022, likely in a heliocentric orbit.
Danuri KPLO United States USA / South Korea South Korea 16 December 2022 On a Selenocentric orbit Lunar Orbiter by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) of South Korea. The orbiter, its science payload and ground control infrastructure are technology demonstrators. The orbiter will also be tasked with surveying lunar resources such as water ice, uranium, helium-3, silicon, and aluminium, and produce a topographic map to help select future lunar landing sites.
Hakuto-R Mission 1 Japan Japan 21 March 2023 Crashed onto lunar surface on 25 April 2023 Carried the emirati Rashid and the japanese SORA-Q lunar rovers. Contact lost during landing attempt.
Chandrayaan-3 India India 5 August 2023 Success (returned to Earth Orbit) Propulsion module, also functioning as a Chandrayaan-3 relay satellite. Conducted 4 flybys enroute return to Earth's orbit.
Luna 25 Russia Russia 16 August 2023 Crashed onto lunar surface on 19 August 2023 Lunar south pole lander, landing scheduled for 21 August 2023. Contact lost after orbit lowering maneuver.
SLIM Japan Japan 25 December 2023 Landed on Lunar surface on 19 January 2024 Carried the japanese LEV-1 and LEV-2 lunar rovers. First Japanese soft landing.
IM-1 Odysseus[8] United States USA 21 February 2024 Landed on lunar surface on 22 February 2024 Carried the American EagleCam cubesat.
Queqiao-2 China China 24 March 2024 On a Selenocentric orbit
Tiandu-1 China China 24 March 2024 On a Selenocentric orbit
Tiandu-2 China China 24 March 2024 On a Selenocentric orbit
DRO A/B China China ~20 August 2024 On a Selenocentric orbit Yuanzheng 1S upper stage failed to deliver spacecrafts into correct orbit. The satellites were intended to test Distant retrograde orbit.[9] Tracking data appears to show China is attempting to salvage spacecraft and they appear to have succeeded in reaching their desired orbit.[10][11]
Chang'e 6 China China 8 May 2024 Left lunar orbit 21 June 2024; currently at Sun Earth L2 First lunar sample return mission from far side and south pole of Moon by China. Ascent stage was be deorbited on 6 June 2024. Capsule was be returned sample via service module on 25 June 2024.[12]
ICUBE-Q Pakistan Pakistan 8 May 2024 On a Selenocentric orbit First Pakistani lunar mission, piggybacking with Chang'e 6.[13]

Mars

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See also: List of Mars orbiters
Mission Country/agency Orbital insertion Current status Notes
Mariner 9 United States USA 14 November 1971 Deactivated 27 October 1972. In derelict orbit around Mars, expected to decay no sooner than 2022[14] First spacecraft to orbit another planet

First Mars orbiter

Mars 2 orbiter Soviet Union USSR 27 November 1971 [15] Mission terminated 22 August 1972; spacecraft in derelict orbit First Soviet spacecraft to orbit Mars
Mars 3 orbiter Soviet Union USSR 2 December 1971[15] Mission terminated on August 22, 1972
Mars 5 orbiter[16] Soviet Union USSR 12 February 1974 Contact lost on 28 February 1974 due to a loss of pressurization in the transmitter [17]
Viking 1 orbiter United States USA 19 June 1976 Mission terminated 17 August 1980, spacecraft in derelict high altitude orbit.
Viking 2 orbiter United States USA 7 August 1976 Mission terminated 25 July 1978, spacecraft in derelict high altitude orbit.
Phobos 2[18] Soviet Union USSR 29 January 1989 Contact lost 27 March 1989
Mars Global Surveyor United States USA 11 September 1997 Contact lost 2 November 2006; In derelict orbit around Mars, expected to decay no sooner than 2047[19]
2001 Mars Odyssey United States USA 24 October 2001 Active Longest-surviving, continuously active spacecraft in orbit around another planet
Mars Express ESA 20 December 2003 Active
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter United States USA 10 March 2006 Active
MAVEN United States USA 22 September 2014 Active
Mars Orbiter Mission India India 24 September 2014 Contact lost April 2022[20] India's first interplanetary mission
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter ESA 19 October 2016 Active Carried Schiaparelli EDM lander
Emirates Mars Mission
(Hope) 		United Arab Emirates UAE 9 February 2021 Active United Arab Emirates's first interplanetary mission
Tianwen 1 China China 10 February 2021 Active Tianwen-1 is China’s first interplanetary mission, which consists of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover named Zhurong.

Venus

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Mission Country/agency Orbital insertion Current status Notes
Venera 9 Soviet Union USSR 22 October 1975 Mission terminated on March 22, 1976 First Venus orbiter
Venera 10 Soviet Union USSR 23 October 1975 Contact lost sometime in June 1976
Pioneer Venus Orbiter United States USA 4 December 1978 Contact lost 8 October 1992; Atmospheric entry disintegration on 22 October 1992.
Venera 15 Soviet Union USSR 10 October 1983 Contact lost January 5, 1985
Venera 16 Soviet Union USSR 11 October 1983 Contact lost June 13, 1984
Magellan United States USA 7 August 1990 Contact lost 13 October 1994. Deliberately deorbited into Venus' atmosphere.
Venus Express ESA 11 April 2006 Contact lost 16 December 2014: Atmospheric entry disintegration in January 2015
Akatsuki Japan Japan 7 December 2015 Contact lost April 2024

Jupiter

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Mission Country/agency Orbital insertion Current status Notes
Galileo United States USA 8 December 1995 Intentionally deorbited and incinerated in Jupiter's atmosphere 21 September 2003 First Jupiter orbiter
Juno United States USA 4 July 2016 Active
JUICE ESA July 2031 (planned) en route mission to study Jupiter's three icy moons Callisto, Europa and Ganymede, eventually orbiting Ganymede as the first spacecraft to orbit a satellite of another planet.
Europa Clipper United States USA 11 April 2030 (planned) en route planned to orbit Jupiter and fly by Europa multiple times.

Saturn

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Mission Country/agency Orbital insertion Current status Notes
Cassini-Huygens United States USA
ESA
Italy ASI 		1 July 2004 Intentionally deorbited and incinerated in Saturn's atmosphere 15 September 2017 First Saturn orbiter

Mercury

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Mission Country/agency Orbital insertion Current status Notes
MESSENGER United States USA 18 March 2011 Deliberately crashed into surface 30 April 2015. Impact probably around 54.4° N, 149.9° W, near the crater Janáček. First Mercury orbiter
BepiColombo ESA

Japan Japan

November 2026 (planned) en route Consists of two satellites, the ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Japan's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO).

Minor planets and comets

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Mission Country/agency Object Orbital insertion Current status Notes
NEAR Shoemaker United States USA 433 Eros 14 February 2000 Landed 12 February 2001 on the surface of Eros. First spacecraft to orbit an asteroid
Dawn United States USA 4 Vesta 16 July 2011 Left Vesta orbit 5 September 2012
Dawn United States USA Ceres 9 March 2015 Mission concluded 1 November 2018. In derelict orbit around Ceres, expected to decay no sooner than 2038[21] First spacecraft to achieve orbit around two separate objects and to orbit a dwarf planet.
Rosetta ESA 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko 6 August 2014 On 30 September 2016, ended its mission by landing on the comet in its Ma'at region. First spacecraft to orbit a comet. Philae lander module successfully landed on 12 November 2014
OSIRIS-REx United States USA 101955 Bennu 31 December 2018 Collected surface sample and departed from Bennu on 20 October 2020[22] Smallest body to be orbited by spacecraft and closest ever orbit[23][24]
Psyche United States USA 16 Psyche August 2029 (planned) enroute Selected for mission #14 of NASA's Discovery Program to explore a metallic asteroid.
Hera, Milani and Juventas ESA 65803 Didymos and Dimorphos 11 December 2026 (planned) enroute studying effects of DART's impact on the asteroid
OSIRIS-APEX United States USA 99942 Apophis April 2029 (planned) enroute study of a C-type asteroid in 2029

References

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  1. ^ NSSDC - Luna 10
  2. ^ NSSDC - Luna 11
  3. ^ Where is LRO?
  4. ^ Hendrix, Susan (25 March 2015). "Second ARTEMIS Spacecraft Successfully Enters Lunar Orbit". The Sun-Earth Connection: Heliophysics. NASA.
  5. ^ Chang, Kenneth (2019-12-06). "A Billion Pixels and the Search for India's Crashed Moon Lander". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  6. ^ "Chandrayaan-2: Isro, not losing hope, continues to make all-out efforts to restore link with lander 'Vikram'". The Times of India. September 9, 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  7. ^ "China's Chang'e-5 orbiter is heading back to the moon". SpaceNews. 2021-09-06. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  8. ^ Chang, Kenneth (23 February 2024). "Moon Lander Is Lying on Its Side but Still Functional, Officials Say". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  9. ^ Jones, Andrew (2024-03-14). "Surprise Chinese lunar mission hit by launch anomaly". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  10. ^ Jones, Andrew (2024-08-20). "Chinese spacecraft appear to reach lunar orbit despite launch setback". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  11. ^ Jones, Andrew (2024-03-28). "China appears to be trying to save stricken spacecraft from lunar limbo". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
  12. ^ Jones, Andrew (10 January 2024). "China's Chang'e-6 probe arrives at spaceport for first-ever lunar far side sample mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  13. ^ Jones, Andrew (10 January 2024). "China's Chang'e-6 probe arrives at spaceport for first-ever lunar far side sample mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  14. ^ NASA - This Month in NASA History: Mariner 9 Archived 2013-05-14 at the Wayback Machine, November 29, 2011 — Vol. 4, Issue 9
  15. ^ a b "NASA Mars log". Archived from the original on 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2013-01-09.
  16. ^ Historic Spacecraft - Mars Probes
  17. ^ "Mars 5". US National Space Science Data Centre. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  18. ^ Encyclopedia Astronautica Fobos 1F Archived 2011-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ Dunn, Marcia (27 October 1996). "NASA Takes No Dirty Chances With Mars Rover". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  20. ^ "Update on the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mom)".
  21. ^ Chang, Kenneth (November 1, 2018). "NASA's Dawn Mission to the Asteroid Belt Says Good Night - Launched in 2007, the spacecraft discovered bright spots on Ceres and forbidding terrain on Vesta". The New York Times. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  22. ^ Chang, Kenneth (20 October 2020). "Seeking Solar System's Secrets, NASA's OSIRIS-REX Mission Touches Bennu Asteroid - The spacecraft attempted to suck up rocks and dirt from the asteroid, which could aid humanity's ability to divert one that might slam into Earth". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  23. ^ "NASA'S OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Arrives at Asteroid Bennu". NASA. 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  24. ^ "NASA's OSIRIS-REx Mission Breaks Another Orbit Record". NASA. 2019-06-13. Retrieved 2019-06-22.

See also

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