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Mission record

Venera 3

Also known as Venus 3, Venera3

U.S.S.R · Launched

Explore trajectory

Lost · Partial success

A Venus lander launched from a Tyazheliy Sputnik, whose entry body contained a radio communication system, scientific instruments, electrical power sources and medallions bearing the coat of arms of the U.S.S.R. Contact was lost on 16 February 1966, thought to be due to overheating; the spacecraft continued on to Venus and released its lander probe autonomously, which entered the atmosphere and reached the surface on 1 March 1966. NSSDCA calls that impact the first time a spacecraft reached the surface of another planet, and records that no planetary data could be returned.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Modified SS-6 (Sapwood) with 2nd Generation Upper Stage + Escape Stage
Launch site
Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R
Countries
Soviet Union
Mission types
Lander

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched towards Venus from a Tyazheliy Sputnik

    NSSDCA's launch/orbital information page gives the launch date and time as 1965-11-16T04:19:00Z, recorded at minute precision because the page prints a whole minute with zero seconds. The two NSSDCA pages disagree on the launch time by six minutes and the disagreement is recorded rather than resolved: the master catalog records that Venera 3 launched on 16 November 1965 at 04:13 UT from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The record follows the launch/orbital information page, which is the page that publishes launch times for every other record in this segment. Source review: NSSDCA's orbit page gives launch 04:19 UTC, but its description and NASA history agree on 04:13 UT on November 16. The catalog is refined to the corroborated minute while retaining the discrepancy. NSSDCA calls the vehicle 3MV-4 and 963 kg; the NASA history identifies 3MV-3 no.1 and 969 kg. These are not resolved by copying Venera 2 geometry. NSSDCA gives impact about 06:56 UTC within 20 N–30 S, 60–80 E; the history gives 06:56:26 and 20 N–20 S. Neither supplies a measured post-contact vector or a surveyed surface coordinate.

    Earth

  2. Milestone

    Mid-course correction performed

    The master catalog records that a mid-course correction was performed on 26 December 1965.

  3. Loss of contact

    Contact lost, thought to be due to overheating

    The master catalog records that on 16 February 1966 contact with Venera 3 was lost, that the loss was thought to be due to overheating of the spacecraft, and that the communications systems had failed before planetary data could be returned.

  4. Impact

    Estimated Venus impact after loss of contact

    The probe is reported to have impacted Venus on March 1 after contact ended February 16. Sources give about 06:56 UTC and conflicting broad latitude bands within 60–80 E. These are post-contact estimates; neither a surveyed coordinate nor a telemetered release/impact epoch is established.

    Venus

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Venera 3 · Spacecraft

    Destinations: Venus

    • Venera 3 entry body · Lander

      Destinations: Venus

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

Known dates and encounters do not uniquely determine a flight path. This mission’s sourced timeline is available above; no verified trajectory is currently published here.

What is needed to reconstruct this path?
  • A frame-qualified position and vector velocity at an epoch, or equivalent complete orbital elements.
  • Independent descent/return states and a source-defined body-fixed landing location; a landing date alone does not define either.
  • Separate state histories and release epochs for the listed vehicles; a parent mission trajectory cannot be assigned to every component.
  • Finer event-time constraints where required by an orbital reconstruction; the stored day/month/year precision is retained.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through September 14, 2026