This is a list of NASA missions, both crewed and robotic, since the establishment of NASA in 1958. There are over 80 currently active science missions.
X-Plane program
Since 1945, NACA (NASA's predecessor) and, since January 26, 1958, NASA has conducted the X-Plane Program. The program was originally intended to create a family of experimental aircraft not intended for production beyond the limited number of each design built solely for flight research. The first X-Plane, the Bell X-1, was the first rocket-powered airplane to break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947. X-Planes have set numerous milestones since then, both crewed and unpiloted.
Human spaceflight
NASA has successfully launched over 200 crewed flights. Three have ended in failure, causing the death of the entire crew: Apollo 1 (which never launched) in 1967 lost three crew members, STS-51-L (the Challenger disaster) in 1986, and STS-107 (the Columbia disaster) in 2003.
Program Start date First crewed flight End date No. of crewed missions launchedNotesMercury program1958196119636First U.S. crewed programGemini program19641965196610Program used to practice space rendezvous and EVAsApollo program19601968197211Landed first humans on the MoonSkylab1964197319743First American space stationApollo–Soyuz Test Project1971197519751Joint with Soviet UnionSpace Shuttle program197219812011135First missions in which a spacecraft was reusedShuttle-Mir program19931995199811Russian partnershipInternational Space Station19931998Ongoing65Joint with Roscosmos, CSA, ESA, and JAXA; Americans flew on Russian Soyuz after 2011 retirement of Space ShuttleCommercial Crew Program20112020Ongoing13Current program to shuttle Americans to the ISSArtemis program20172026Ongoing1Current program to bring humans to the Moon again Notes:
Early Obama administration review
In May 2009, the Obama administration announced the launch of an independent review of planned U.S. human space flight activities with the goal of ensuring that the nation is on a vigorous and sustainable path to achieving its boldest aspirations in space. The review was conducted by a panel of experts led by Norman Augustine, the former CEO of Lockheed Martin, who served on the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology under both Democrat and Republican presidents.
The "Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans" was to examine ongoing and planned National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) development activities, as well as potential alternatives and present options for advancing a safe, innovative, affordable, and sustainable human space flight program in the years following Space Shuttle retirement. The panel worked closely with NASA and sought input from the United States Congress, the White House, the public, industry, and international partners as it developed its options. It presented its results on October 22, 2009.
In February 2010, Obama announced his proposal to cancel the Constellation program as part of his reform program. Constellation was officially canceled by the NASA Budget Authorization Act on October 11, 2010.
Artemis program
NASA brought the Orion spacecraft back to life from the defunct Constellation program and successfully test-launched the first capsule on December 5, 2014, aboard EFT-1. After a near-perfect flight traveling above Earth, the spacecraft was recovered for study. NASA plans to use the Orion crew vehicle to send humans to deep space locations such as the Moon and Mars starting in the 2020s. Orion will be powered by NASA's new heavy-lift vehicle, the Space Launch System (SLS), which is currently under development.
Artemis I was the first flight of the SLS and was launched as a test of the completed Orion and SLS system. During the mission, an uncrewed Orion capsule spent 10 days in a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon before returning to Earth. Artemis II, the first crewed mission of the program, launched four astronauts in April 2026 on a free-return flyby of the Moon at a distance of .
After Artemis II, the Power and Propulsion Element of the Lunar Gateway and three components of an expendable lunar lander are planned to be delivered on multiple launches from commercial launch service providers.
Artemis III is planned to launch in 2027 aboard an SLS Block 1 rocket and will use the minimalist Gateway and expendable lander to achieve the first crewed lunar landing of the program. The flight is planned to touch down on the lunar south pole region, with two astronauts staying there for about one week.
Robotic missions
Suborbital Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX) – five consecutive launches, 80 seconds apart on March 27, 2012, studied the high-altitude jet stream. NASA Sounding Rocket Program SHIELDS – launched April 19, 2021, collected data from the heliopause.
Earth and Heliocentric satellites
Applications Technology Satellites ATS-1, launched December 1966, ATS-2, launched April 1967, ATS-3, launched November 1967, ATS-4, launched August 1968, ATS-5, launched August 1969, ATS-6, launched May 1974, Explorers Program Explorer 1, launched January 1958, Explorer 2, launched March 1958, Explorer 3, launched March 1958, Explorer 4, launched July 1958, Explorer 5, launched August 1958, Explorer S-1 launched July 1959, Explorer 6, launched August 1959, Explorer 7, Launched October 1960, Biosatellite program Biosatellite 1, launched December 1966, Biosatellite 2, launched September 1967, Biosatellite 3, launched June 1969, Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), launched November 1989, Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), launched September 1991, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), launched March 2002, Gravity Recover and Climate Experiment - Follow-On (GRACE-FO), launched May 2018, NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) – National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), launched October 2011, Echo 1 and 2, launched August 1960 and January 1964, respectively, Great Observatories Hubble Space Telescope, launched April 1990, Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, launched April 1991, Chandra X-ray Observatory, launched July 1999, Spitzer Space Telescope, launched August 2003, High Energy Astronomy Observatory program High Energy Astronomy Observatory 1 (HEAO 1), launched August 1977, Einstein Observatory (HEAO 2) launched November 1978, – first fully imaging X-ray telescope High Energy Astronomy Observatory 3 (HEAO 3), launched September 1979, Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE), launched March 2000, Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), launched January 1983, Jason-1, launched December 2001, OSTM/Jason-2, launched June 2008, Jason-3, launched January 2016, / Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory (SWIFT), launched November 2004, Landsat program Landsat 1, launched July 1972, Landsat 2, launched January 1975, Landsat 3, launched March 1978, Landsat 4, launched July 1982, Landsat 5, launched March 1984, Landsat 6, launched October 1993, Landsat 7, launched April 1999, Landsat 8, launched February 2013, Landsat 9, launched September 2021, Living With a Star Van Allen Probes, launched August 2012, – Twin probes studying the Van Allen radiation belt Earth Observing System Terra, launched December 1999, Aqua, launched May 2002, Aura, launched July 2004, New Millennium Program (NMP) Earth Observing-1 (EO-1), launched November 2000, Space Technology 5 (ST5), launched March 2006, Space Technology 6 (ST6) NanoSail-D, launched August 2008, NanoSail-D2, launched November 2010, Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO), launched February 2009, Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2), launched July 2014, Origins program Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE), launched June 1999, Kepler, launched March 2009, – searching for Earth-sized exoplanets in the habitable zone James Webb Space Telescope, launched December 2021, Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS), launched February 2007, Small Explorer program (SMEX) Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM), launched April 2007, Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer (FAST), launched August 1996, Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), launched April 2003, Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), launched October 2008, Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), launched June 2012, – X-ray telescope orbiting Earth Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), launched February 2002, – Sun observing, Earth satellite Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX), launched July 1992, Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS), launched December 1998, Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE), launched August 1998, – Sun observing, Earth satellite Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE), launched March 1999, Solar Terrestrial Probes program Hinode (Solar-B) Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers (TWINS) Uhuru Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) BioSentinel Carruthers Geocorona Observatory Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, launching August 2026, INCUS, launching 2027,
Sun Pioneer program Pioneer 6, 7, 8, and 9, launched between December 1965 and November 1968, – Solar wind, solar magnetic field and cosmic rays Helios 1 and 2, launched December 1974 and January 1976, Ulysses spacecraft, launched October 1990, – ESA partnership Genesis, launched August 2001, – returned sample of solar wind Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), launched December 1995, – ESA partnership Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), launched August 1997, Solar Maximum Mission (SolarMax), launched February 1980, – suffered partial failure after launch; repaired in April 1984 during a Space Shuttle mission Solar Terrestrial Probes program TIMED, launched December 2001, Hinode, launched September 2006, STEREO, launched October 2006, MMS, launched March 2015, IMAP, launched September 2025, Parker Solar Probe, launched August 2018, – the first mission into the Sun's corona Living With a Star Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), launched February 2010, Balloon Array for RBSP Relativistic Electron Losses (BARREL) – two campaigns of 20 balloons each, studying the Van Allen radiation belts, 2012 to 2014 This mission is a complement to the Van Allen Probes (RBSP). CubeSat for Solar Particles (CuSP), launched November 2022
Moon
Pioneer program Pioneer 0, launched August 1958, Pioneer 1, launched October 1958, Pioneer 2, launched November 1958, Pioneer 3, launched December 1958, Pioneer 4, launched March 1959, Pioneer P-1, launched September 1959, Pioneer P-3, launched November 1959, Pioneer P-30, launched September 1960, Pioneer P-31, launched December 1960, Ranger program Ranger 1, launched August 1961, Ranger 2, launched November 1961, Ranger 3, launched January 1962, Ranger 4, launched April 1962, Ranger 5, launched October 1962, Ranger 6, launched January 1964, Ranger 7, launched July 1964, Ranger 8, launched February 1965, Ranger 9, launched March 1965, Surveyor program Surveyor 1, launched May 1966, Surveyor 2, launched September 1966, Surveyor 3, launched April 1967, Surveyor 4, launched July 1967, Surveyor 5, launched September 1967, Surveyor 6, launched November 1967, Surveyor 7, launched January 1968, Lunar Orbiter program Lunar Orbiter 1, launched August 1966, Lunar Orbiter 2, launched November 1966, Lunar Orbiter 3, launched February 1967, Lunar Orbiter 4, launched May 1967, Lunar Orbiter 5, launched August 1967, Clementine, launched January 1994, Discovery Program Discovery 3 – Lunar Prospector, launched January 1998, Discovery 11 – GRAIL, launched September 2011,