This is a timeline of Solar System exploration ordering events in the exploration of the Solar System by date of spacecraft launch. It includes:

All spacecraft that have left Earth orbit for the purposes of Solar System exploration (or were launched with that intention but failed), including lunar probes. A small number of pioneering or notable Earth-orbiting spacecraft.

It does not include:

Centuries of terrestrial telescopic observation. The great majority of Earth-orbiting satellites. Space probes leaving Earth orbit that are not concerned with Solar System exploration (such as space telescopes targeted at distant galaxies, cosmic background radiation observatories, and so on). Probes that failed at launch.

The dates listed are launch dates, but the achievements noted may have occurred some time laterin some cases, a considerable time later (for example, Voyager 2, launched 20 August 1977, did not reach Neptune until 1989).

1950s

+Mission nameLaunch dateDescription Sputnik 14 October 1957First Earth orbiter Sputnik 23 November 1957Earth orbiter, first animal in orbit, a dog named Laika Explorer 11 February 1958Earth orbiter; discovered Van Allen radiation belts Vanguard 117 March 1958Earth orbiter; oldest spacecraft still in Earth orbit Luna 12 January 1959First lunar flyby (failed lunar impact); first artificial satellite in heliocentric orbit. Pioneer 43 March 1959Lunar flyby Luna 212 September 1959First extraterrestrial impact and lunar impact, First artificial object on Moon Luna 34 October 1959Lunar flyby; First images of another celestial body taken from space, most notably, the far side of Moon

1960s

+Mission nameLaunch dateDescription Pioneer 511 March 1960Interplanetary space investigations Venera 112 February 1961First probe to another planet; Venus flyby (contact lost before flyby) Vostok 112 April 1961First crewed Earth orbiter (Yuri Gagarin) Ranger 123 August 1961Attempted lunar test flight (failed to leave Earth orbit) Ranger 218 November 1961Attempted lunar test flight (failed to leave Earth orbit) Ranger 326 January 1962Attempted lunar impact (missed Moon) Ranger 423 April 1962Lunar impact (but unintentionally became the first spacecraft to hit the lunar farside and returned no data) Mariner 227 August 1962First successful planetary encounter, First successful Venus flyby Ranger 518 October 1962Attempted lunar impact (missed Moon) Mars 11 November 1962First probe to Mars: flyby (contact lost) Luna 42 April 1963Attempted lunar lander (missed Moon) Cosmos 2111 November 1963Attempted Venera test flight? Ranger 630 January 1964Lunar impact (cameras failed) Zond 12 April 1964Venus flyby (contact lost) Ranger 728 July 1964Lunar impact (success) Voskhod 112 October 1964First orbiter with multimember crew Mariner 35 November 1964Attempted Mars flyby (failed to attain correct trajectory) Mariner 428 November 1964First successful Mars flyby (taking the first close-up image of another planet) Zond 230 November 1964Mars flyby (contact lost) Ranger 817 February 1965Lunar impact Voskhod 218 March 1965First space walk, by Alexei Leonov Ranger 921 March 1965Lunar impact Lincoln Calibration Sphere 16 May 1965Oldest spacecraft still in use Luna 59 May 1965Lunar impact (attempted soft landing) Luna 68 June 1965Attempted lunar lander (missed Moon) Zond 318 July 1965Lunar flyby Luna 74 October 1965Lunar impact (attempted soft landing) Venera 212 November 1965Venus flyby (contact lost) Venera 316 November 1965Venus lander (contact lost) – First spacecraft to reach another planet's atmosphere and surface, First Venus impact Luna 83 December 1965Lunar impact (attempted soft landing?) Pioneer 616 December 1965"Space weather" observations Luna 931 January 1966First extraterrestrial lander and lunar lander Luna 1031 March 1966First extraterrestrial orbiter (except heliocentric) and first lunar orbiter Surveyor 130 May 1966Lunar lander Explorer 331 July 1966Attempted lunar orbiter (failed to attain lunar orbit) Lunar Orbiter 110 August 1966Lunar orbiter Pioneer 717 August 1966"Space weather" observations Luna 1124 August 1966Lunar orbiter Surveyor 220 September 1966Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon) Luna 1222 October 1966Lunar orbiter Lunar Orbiter 26 November 1966Lunar orbiter Luna 1321 December 1966Lunar lander Lunar Orbiter 35 February 1967Lunar orbiter Surveyor 317 April 1967Lunar lander Lunar Orbiter 44 May 1967Lunar orbiter Venera 412 June 1967First functioning extraterrestrial atmospheric probe (Venus) Mariner 514 June 1967Venus flyby Surveyor 414 July 1967Attempted lunar lander (crashed into Moon) Explorer 35 (IMP-E)19 July 1967Lunar orbiter Lunar Orbiter 51 August 1967Lunar orbiter Surveyor 58 September 1967Lunar lander Surveyor 67 November 1967Lunar lander, first lift-off from an extraterrestrial body Apollo 49 November 1967Lunar programme test flight in Earth orbit (uncrewed) Pioneer 813 December 1967"Space weather" observations Surveyor 77 January 1968Lunar lander Apollo 5 22 January 1968Lunar programme test flight in Earth orbit (uncrewed) Zond 42 March 1968Lunar programme test flight out of Earth orbit (uncrewed) Luna 147 April 1968Lunar orbiter Zond 514 September 1968First lunar flyby and return to Earth, first life forms to circle the Moon Apollo 7 11 October 1968Lunar programme test flight in Earth orbit (crewed) Pioneer 98 November 1968"Space weather" observations Zond 610 November 1968Lunar flyby and return to Earth Apollo 821 December 1968First crewed spacecraft to leave Earth orbit, first crewed lunar orbiter Venera 55 January 1969Venus atmospheric probe Venera 610 January 1969Venus atmospheric probe Mariner 625 February 1969Mars flyby Apollo 93 March 1969Crewed lunar lander (LEM) flight test in Earth orbit Mariner 727 March 1969Mars flyby Apollo 1018 May 1969Crewed lunar orbiter Luna 1513 July 1969Second attempted lunar sample return Apollo 1116 July 1969First crewed lunar landing and first successful sample return mission Zond 77 August 1969Lunar flyby and return to Earth Apollo 1214 November 1969Crewed lunar landing

1970s

+Mission nameLaunch dateDescription Apollo 1311 April 1970Crewed lunar flyby and return to Earth (crewed lunar landing aborted). Farthest from Earth a human traveled until Artemis II in 2026 (400,171 km). Venera 717 August 1970First Venus lander and the first spacecraft to "soft" land on another planet (with some data returned from the surface) Luna 1612 September 1970First robotic lunar sample return Zond 820 October 1970Lunar flyby and return to Earth Luna 17/Lunokhod 110 November 1970First remote controlled rover Apollo 1431 January 1971Crewed lunar landing Salyut 119 April 1971First space station Mars 219 May 1971First Mars impact, Mars orbiter and attempted lander; First rover (Prop-M) sent to another planet (Mars) Mars 328 May 1971Mars orbiter (arrived after Mariner 9); First Mars lander (first image taken from the surface of another planet, though the received image did not show anything); First rover (Prop-M) to be landed but not deployed on another planet (Mars) Mariner 930 May 1971First to orbit another planet (Mars) Apollo 1526 July 1971Crewed lunar landing; First crewed lunar rover Luna 182 September 1971Attempted lunar sample return (crashed into Moon) Luna 1928 September 1971Lunar orbiter Luna 2014 February 1972Lunar robotic sample return Pioneer 103 March 1972First Jupiter flyby Venera 827 March 1972Venus lander Apollo 1616 April 1972Crewed lunar landing Apollo 177 December 1972Last crewed lunar landing Luna 21/Lunokhod 28 January 1973Lunar rover Pioneer 115 April 1973Jupiter flyby and First Saturn flyby Explorer 49 (RAE-B)10 June 1973Lunar orbiter/radio astronomy Mars 421 July 1973Mars flyby (attempted Mars orbiter) Mars 525 July 1973Mars orbiter Mars 65 August 1973Mars flyby and attempted lander (failed due to damage on Mars landing) Mars 79 August 1973Mars flyby and attempted lander (missed Mars) Mariner 103 November 1973Lunar and Venus flybys in addition to the First Mercury flyby Luna 2229 May 1974Lunar orbiter Luna 2328 October 1974Attempted lunar sample return (failed due to damage on lunar landing) Helios-A10 December 1974Solar observations Venera 98 June 1975First Venus orbiter and lander; First successful images from the surface of another planet (Venus) Venera 1014 June 1975Venus orbiter and lander Viking 120 August 1975Mars orbiter and lander; First clear pictures from Martian surface Viking 29 September 1975Mars orbiter and lander Helios-B15 January 1976Solar observations Luna 249 August 1976Lunar robotic sample return Voyager 220 August 1977Jupiter/Saturn/first Uranus/first Neptune flyby Voyager 15 September 1977Jupiter/Saturn flyby, first to exit the heliosphere Pioneer Venus 120 May 1978Venus orbiter Pioneer Venus 28 August 1978Venus atmospheric probes ISEE-312 August 1978Solar wind investigations; later redesignated International Cometary Explorer and performed Comet Giacobini-Zinner and Comet Halley flybys – First comet flyby Venera 119 September 1978Venus flyby and lander Venera 1214 September 1978Venus flyby and lander

1980s

+Mission nameLaunch dateDescription Venera 1330 October 1981Venus flyby and lander. First recording of sound on another planet. Venera 144 November 1981Venus flyby and lander Venera 152 June 1983Venus orbiter Venera 167 June 1983Venus orbiter Vega 115 December 1984Venus flyby, lander and first extraterrestrial aircraft (aerostat balloon); continued on to Comet Halley flyby Vega 221 December 1984Venus flyby, lander and balloon; continued on to Comet Halley flyby Sakigake8 January 1985Comet Halley flyby Giotto2 July 1985First close observation of comet (distance 596 kilometers), Comet Halley flyby Suisei (Planet-A)18 August 1985Comet Halley flyby Mir19 February 1986First modular space station (operational 1986–2000; final module added 1996) Phobos 17 July 1988Attempted Mars orbiter/Phobos landers (contact lost) Phobos 212 July 1988Mars orbiter/attempted Phobos landers (contact lost) Magellan4 May 1989Venus orbiter Galileo18 October 1989Venus flyby, first Asteroid flyby (Gaspra), first Asteroid moon discovery (Dactyl), first Jupiter orbiter, first Jupiter atmospheric probe

1990s

+Mission nameLaunch dateDescription Hiten (MUSES-A)24 January 1990Lunar flyby and orbiter Hubble Space Telescope24 April 1990Orbital space telescope (operational since 1990) Ulysses6 October 1990Solar polar orbiter Yohkoh (Solar-A)30 August 1991Solar observations (1991–2001) Mars Observer25 September 1992Attempted Mars orbiter (contact lost) Clementine25 January 1994Lunar orbiter/attempted asteroid flyby (contact lost) WIND1 November 1994Solar wind observations SOHO2 December 1995Solar observatory (operational since 1996) NEAR Shoemaker17 February 1996Eros orbiter, first near-Earth asteroid flyby, first asteroid orbit and first asteroid landing Mars Global Surveyor7 November 1996Mars orbiter Mars 9616 November 1996Attempted Mars orbiter/landers (failed to escape Earth orbit) Mars Pathfinder4 December 1996Mars lander and first successful planetary rover ACE25 August 1997Solar wind and "space weather" observations (operational since 1998) Cassini–Huygens15 October 1997First Saturn orbiter and first outer planet moon lander (on Titan) Lunar Prospector7 January 1998Lunar orbiter Nozomi (Planet-B)3 July 1998Attempted Mars orbiter (failed to enter Mars orbit) Deep Space 1 (DS1)24 October 1998Asteroid and comet flyby ISS20 November 1998International space station Mars Climate Orbiter11 December 1998Attempted Mars orbiter (orbit insertion failed; entered atmosphere and was destroyed) Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2 (DS2)3 January 1999Attempted Mars lander/penetrators (contact lost) Stardust7 February 1999First comet coma sample return (returned 15 January 2006)

2000s