Launched 2023
Active missionESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, launched on 14 April 2023 on an Ariane 5 from Kourou and still in interplanetary cruise. Its targets are Jupiter and the ocean-bearing Galilean moons Ganymede, Europa and Callisto, due to be reached in July 2031. It has flown what ESA calls a world-first lunar-Earth gravity assist on 19-20 August 2024, passing the Moon and then Earth a day apart, and a Venus gravity assist on 31 August 2025; two further Earth gravity assists, planned for 2026 and 2029, have not happened. This atlas has no body record for Ganymede, Europa or Callisto, so those three are absent from the destinations listed here.
- Agency
- ESA · NASA · Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency · Israel Space Agency
- Destination
- Moon · Earth · Venus · Jupiter
- Trajectory
- Precise trajectory
Launched 2020
Active missionThe active ESA-NASA Solar Orbiter uses 10 science instruments to observe the Sun, solar wind, and the Sun's polar regions.
- Agency
- ESA · NASA
- Destination
- Sun · Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 2018
Active missionJoint ESA and JAXA mission to Mercury, launched on 20 October 2018 as a stack of ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter, JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio), Mio's sunshield and interface structure, and ESA's Mercury Transfer Module. Its cruise made one Earth flyby, two Venus flybys and six Mercury flybys between April 2020 and January 2025 on solar electric propulsion, which ESA switched off for the last time on 15 June 2026. ESA's mission page, read on 2 September 2026, gave the status as in operation and en route to Mercury. Its countries are the contractor countries ESA's An international endeavour page names, plus Japan for JAXA; not an ESA member-state contribution map.
- Agency
- ESA · Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
- Destination
- Mercury · Venus · Earth
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 2018
Active missionNASA's active Parker Solar Probe flies through the Sun's corona to provide unprecedented observations.
- Agency
- NASA
- Destination
- Sun · Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 2010
Completed · SuccessA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency mission designed to study the dynamics of the atmosphere of Venus from orbit, particularly the upper atmosphere super-rotation and the three-dimensional motion in the lower part of the atmosphere, using multi-wavelength imaging. Its first orbit insertion failed on 7 December 2010, when JAXA reports the main engine for orbit control was broken and the spacecraft flew by the planet instead; a second attempt on 7 December 2015 succeeded, and JAXA reports it then observed the atmosphere of Venus for more than eight years. Communication was lost near the end of April 2024 and JAXA terminated operations on 18 September 2025.
- Agency
- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 2005
Completed · SuccessA European Space Agency orbiter built on the Mars Express satellite bus to study the atmosphere and plasma environment of Venus from orbit, which ESA's mission page calls Europe's first mission to Venus. It investigated the role played by the greenhouse effect in creation of the atmosphere, the behavior and characteristics of cloud and haze formation at different altitudes, atmospheric escape and its interaction with solar winds, and the mechanism behind the super rotation in the upper atmosphere. It reached Venus on 11 April 2006 and operated in a 24 hour polar orbit until contact was lost on 28 November 2014.
- Agency
- ESA
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 2004
Completed · SuccessNASA Discovery-class orbiter, built and operated by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, that became the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. After one Earth, two Venus and three Mercury gravity-assist flybys it entered Mercury orbit on 18 March 2011 UTC, characterised the planet's surface composition, geological history, magnetic field and exosphere, verified water ice in permanently shadowed polar craters, and ended by impacting Mercury on 30 April 2015 after exhausting its propellant.
- Agency
- NASA · Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
- Destination
- Mercury · Venus · Earth
- Trajectory
- Precise trajectory
Launched 1997
Completed · SuccessThe joint NASA, ESA, and ASI mission placed Cassini in orbit around Saturn and delivered ESA's Huygens probe to the surface of Titan. Unable to be launched directly to Saturn with the propulsion systems available at the time, it flew what NSSDCA calls a VVEJGA (Venus-Venus-Earth-Jupiter Gravity Assist) trajectory, making two flybys of Venus, one of the Earth and one of Jupiter on the way.
- Agency
- NASA · ESA · ASI
- Destination
- Saturn · Titan · Venus · Earth · Jupiter
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
- Orbiter
- Lander
- Atmospheric Probe
Launched 1989
Completed · SuccessNASA mission, with participation by the Federal Republic of Germany, comprising a Jupiter orbiter and an atmospheric entry probe deployed from Space Shuttle Atlantis in October 1989. Flying a Venus-Earth-Earth gravity-assist trajectory, it made the first close flybys of asteroids (951 Gaspra and 243 Ida), observed the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts on Jupiter, delivered the first probe into a giant planet's atmosphere on 7 December 1995, and orbited Jupiter until it was deliberately steered into the planet on 21 September 2003 to avoid contaminating Europa.
- Agency
- NASA
- Destination
- Jupiter · Venus · Earth · Moon · 951 Gaspra · 243 Ida
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
- Orbiter
- Atmospheric Probe
- Flyby
Launched 1989
Completed · SuccessNASA's Magellan orbiter mapped Venus with synthetic aperture radar from 1990 to 1994. Deployed from Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-30R, it entered Venus orbit on 10 August 1990, imaged about 98 percent of the surface over three 243-day mapping cycles, then collected a global gravity field, performed the first planetary aerobraking demonstration, and was deliberately flown into the Venusian atmosphere; radio contact was lost on 12 October 1994.
- Agency
- NASA · JPL
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1984
Completed · SuccessA Soviet spacecraft mission that combined a Venus swingby, including dropping off a lander and balloon, and a Comet Halley flyby, flown six days behind the identical Vega 1. After deploying the descent module the Vega 2 bus flew by Venus on June 15, 1985 and was retargetted using Venus gravity field assistance to intercept Comet Halley in March 1986. Its lander probe, identical to those of Venera 9 through 14, touched down in eastern Aphrodite Terra, where the surface sample was found to be an anorthosite-troctolite, while a constant-pressure instrumented balloon aerostat floated in the middle, most active layer of the Venus three-tiered cloud system and transmitted directly to Earth.
- Agency
- Soviet Academy of Sciences
- Destination
- Venus · 1P/Halley
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
- Flyby
- Lander
- Atmospheric Probe
Launched 1984
Completed · SuccessA Soviet spacecraft mission that combined a Venus swingby, including dropping off a lander and balloon, and a Comet Halley flyby. The Vega 1 bus released the Venus entry package on June 9, 1985 and flew by Venus at a distance of 39,000 km two days later, and was then retargetted using Venus gravity field assistance to intercept Comet Halley in March 1986. Its lander probe, identical to those of Venera 9 through 14, touched down just north of eastern Aphrodite Terra and transmitted data for 56 minutes from the surface, while a constant-pressure instrumented balloon aerostat deployed from the upper heat protection hemisphere floated in the middle, most active layer of the Venus three-tiered cloud system and transmitted directly to Earth.
- Agency
- Soviet Academy of Sciences
- Destination
- Venus · 1P/Halley
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
- Flyby
- Lander
- Atmospheric Probe
Launched 1983
Completed · SuccessOne of a pair of Soviet spacecraft designed to use 8 cm band side-looking radar mappers to study the surface properties of Venus. The two were inserted into Venus orbit a day apart with their orbital planes shifted by an angle of 4.45 degrees relative to one another, so that an area could be reimaged if necessary, each in a nearly polar orbit with a periapsis at 62 N latitude. Together they imaged the area from the north pole down to about 30 degrees N latitude with a resolution of one to two km over the 8 months of mapping operations, completing the primary mapping mission on 10 July 1984.
- Agency
- Soviet Academy of Sciences
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1983
Completed · SuccessOne of a pair of Soviet spacecraft designed to use 8 cm band side-looking radar mappers to study the surface properties of Venus. The two were inserted into Venus orbit a day apart with their orbital planes shifted by an angle of 4.45 degrees relative to one another, so that an area could be reimaged if necessary, each in a nearly polar orbit with a periapsis at 62 N latitude. Together they imaged the area from the north pole down to about 30 degrees N latitude with a resolution of one to two km over the 8 months of mapping operations, completing the primary mapping mission on 10 July 1984.
- Agency
- Soviet Academy of Sciences
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1981
Completed · SuccessOne of a pair of identical Soviet spacecraft built to take advantage of the 1981 Venus launch opportunity and launched five days apart, each consisting of a flyby carrier bus and an attached descent craft. The descent craft plunged into the Venus atmosphere in March 1982, deployed a parachute at about 63 km altitude, released it at 47 km and used simple airbraking the rest of the way to the surface. After landing it started an imaging panorama and a mechanical drilling arm obtained a surface sample for analysis in a hermetically sealed chamber; the lander survived for 57 minutes against a planned design life of 32 minutes, transmitting to the carrier bus, which relayed its data as it flew by Venus.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1981
Completed · SuccessOne of a pair of identical Soviet spacecraft built to take advantage of the 1981 Venus launch opportunity and launched five days apart, each consisting of a flyby carrier bus and an attached descent craft. The descent craft plunged into the Venus atmosphere in March 1982, deployed a parachute at about 63 km altitude, released it at 47 km and used simple airbraking the rest of the way to the surface. After landing it started an imaging panorama and a mechanical drilling arm obtained a surface sample for analysis in a hermetically sealed chamber; the lander survived for 127 minutes against a planned design life of 32 minutes, transmitting to the carrier bus, which relayed its data as it flew by Venus.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1978
Completed · Partial SuccessOne of a pair of identical Soviet spacecraft built for the September 1978 Venus launch window, each comprising a descent craft mounted on a flyby bus rather than the orbiter used on earlier missions. The flight platform carried instruments to study solar-wind composition, gamma-ray bursts, ultraviolet radiation and the electron density of the ionosphere of Venus; the descent craft studied the detailed chemical composition of the atmosphere, the nature of the clouds, the thermal balance of the atmosphere and the composition and mechanical properties of the surface. The descent craft made a soft landing and transmitted to the flight platform for 110 minutes after touchdown, but the lens cover on the imaging system failed to eject so no images were returned, and the soil sample was not placed correctly into the chamber so the planned analysis could not be done.
- Agency
- Soviet Academy of Sciences
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1978
Completed · Partial SuccessOne of a pair of identical Soviet spacecraft built for the September 1978 Venus launch window, each comprising a descent craft mounted on a flyby bus rather than the orbiter used on earlier missions. The flight platform carried instruments to study solar-wind composition, gamma-ray bursts, ultraviolet radiation and the electron density of the ionosphere of Venus; the descent craft studied the detailed chemical composition of the atmosphere, the nature of the clouds, the thermal balance of the atmosphere and the composition and mechanical properties of the surface. The descent craft made a soft landing and transmitted to the flight platform for 95 minutes after touchdown, but the lens cover on the imaging system failed to eject so no images were returned, and the soil sample was not placed correctly into the chamber so the planned analysis could not be done.
- Agency
- Soviet Academy of Sciences
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1978
Completed · SuccessOne mission carrying four instrumented atmospheric entry probes plus the bus that delivered them. The probes were released in November 1978 and all four entered the Venus atmosphere on 9 December 1978, two Small Probes on the nightside and one Small Probe and the Large Probe on the dayside, studying the structure and composition of the atmosphere down to the surface, the nature and composition of the clouds, the radiation field and energy exchange in the lower atmosphere, and the local atmospheric circulation pattern. The bus itself carried Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometers, was targeted to enter at a shallow angle and returned signals until it was destroyed by the heat of atmospheric friction.
- Agency
- NASA-Office of Space Science Applications
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1978
Completed · SuccessThe first of a two-spacecraft orbiter-probe combination designed to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the atmosphere, surface and near-space environment of Venus. It entered Venus orbit on 4 December 1978 and measured the structure of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere, investigated the interaction of the solar wind with the ionosphere and the magnetic field, determined the characteristics of the atmosphere and surface on a planetary scale, determined the planet's gravitational field harmonics from perturbations of its own orbit, and detected gamma-ray bursts. In May 1992 it began the final phase of its mission, holding periapsis low until the fuel ran out; the last transmission was received on 8 October 1992 as the orbit was decaying.
- Agency
- NASA-Office of Space Science Applications
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1975
Completed · SuccessThe second of a pair of Soviet Venus spacecraft comprising an orbiter and an attached descent craft, launched six days after Venera 9 and nearly identical to it. The descent craft entered the atmosphere on 25 October 1975 and landed near Beta Regio, transmitting for 65 minutes after landing until the orbiter was out of range to act as a relay, and returned television photography showing large pancake rocks with lava or other weathered rocks in between. The orbiter relayed the descent craft's data and made observations from Venus orbit until the transmitter failed after three months.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1975
Completed · SuccessThe first of a pair of Soviet Venus spacecraft comprising an orbiter and an attached descent craft, launched six days before Venera 10. NSSDCA calls Venera 9 the first mission to return pictures from the surface of Venus and the first to go into orbit around another planet, and says its descent craft transmitted the first images ever sent back from the surface of another planet. The descent craft landed near Beta Regio on 22 October 1975 and transmitted for at least 53 minutes; the orbiter relayed its data and made observations from Venus orbit until the transmitter failed after three months.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1973
Completed · SuccessNASA Mariner-series spacecraft that flew past Venus once and Mercury three times between February 1974 and March 1975 and returned the first close-up images of both planets. NSSDCA records it as the first spacecraft to visit Mercury, the first to use the gravitational pull of one planet to reach another, and the first spacecraft mission to visit two planets. Engineering tests continued until 24 March 1975, when the supply of attitude-control gas was depleted and the mission was terminated.
- Agency
- NASA-Office of Space Science Applications
- Destination
- Mercury · Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1972
Failed · FailureAn attempted Soviet Venus probe which failed to escape low Earth orbit, launched four days after Venera 8 with an identical design and mission plan. After achieving an Earth parking orbit it made an apparent attempt to launch into a Venus transfer trajectory and separated into four pieces, two of which remained in low Earth orbit and decayed within 48 hours while two went into a higher 210 x 9800 km orbit. NSSDCA records that a malfunction resulted in an engine burn which did not achieve sufficient velocity for the Venus transfer, and that because the lander probe was designed to withstand entry into the Venus atmosphere it is possible it survived its eventual reentry over the Indian Ocean.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1972
Completed · SuccessOne of a pair of Soviet Venus atmospheric lander probes designed for the spring 1972 launch window, whose objectives were to make a more sophisticated set of scientific measurements at the Venus surface, including studies of the Venus regolith. Its companion, Cosmos 482, failed to leave Earth orbit. The descent craft separated on 22 July 1972, entered the atmosphere on the sunlit side and landed, continuing to send back data for 63 minutes after landing before failing due to the harsh surface conditions. NSSDCA records that the first measurements of the surface regolith of Venus were returned, along with a profile of the cloud layer including detection of sulfuric acid.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1970
Failed · FailureAn attempted Soviet Venus flight, which NSSDCA describes as perhaps a lander similar to the Venera 7 mission launched five days earlier on 17 August. That page prints the day without a year; Venera 7's own launch/orbital information page dates the launch 1970-08-17T05:38:22Z. The launcher successfully brought the spacecraft to Earth orbit and the payload separated from the Tyazheliy Sputnik, but the escape stage failed during firing, putting the payload into a slightly more elliptical geocentric orbit, and the mission was designated Cosmos 359. Its orbit decayed later the same year.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1970
Completed · SuccessVenera 7 was a Soviet Venus mission whose titanium descent craft entered the nightside atmosphere of Venus on 15 December 1970. Its parachute ripped during descent and the probe struck the surface hard at about 16.5 m/s, but it survived and kept transmitting a weak signal for roughly a further 23 minutes - a return recognised only in later analysis of recorded radio signals - making it the first spacecraft to return data from the surface of another planet. A commutator failure meant only temperature, not pressure, was transmitted.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1969
Completed · SuccessOne of a pair of identical Soviet spacecraft launched five days apart in January 1969 and designed to make in-situ measurements as they descended through the Venusian atmosphere, measuring temperature, pressure and composition. The descent craft was released on 17 May 1969, 25,000 km from the planet, entered the nightside atmosphere and sent read-outs every 48 seconds for 51 minutes before ceasing operation due to the temperature and pressure. NSSDCA records that together the Venera 5 and 6 probe data allowed a more precise determination of the atmospheric composition.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1969
Completed · SuccessOne of a pair of identical Soviet spacecraft launched five days apart in January 1969 and designed to make in-situ measurements as they descended through the Venusian atmosphere, measuring temperature, pressure and composition. The descent craft was released from the bus on 16 May 1969 at a distance of 37,000 km from Venus, entered the nightside atmosphere and sent read-outs every 48 seconds for 53 minutes before succumbing to the temperature and pressure. Approximately 70 pressure measurements and 50 temperature measurements were returned during the descent, confirming the high temperatures, pressures and carbon dioxide composition found by Venera 4.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1967
Failed · FailureA Soviet mission intended to be a Venus lander, similar in design to the Venera 4 spacecraft launched five days earlier on 12 June 1967. The spacecraft became stranded in Earth orbit and was designated Cosmos 167; its orbit decayed and it re-entered Earth's atmosphere eight days after launch. NSSDCA records that from 1962 the name Cosmos was given to Soviet spacecraft which remained in Earth orbit regardless of whether that was their intended final destination.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1967
Completed · SuccessA refurbished Mariner 4 backup spacecraft converted from a Mars mission to a Venus mission, whose project objectives were to pass within 2000 km of Venus and provide data on the structure of the planet's atmosphere and its radiation and magnetic field environment. It reached Venus on 19 October 1967 with a closest approach at an altitude of 4094 km, was occulted from Earth for approximately 26 minutes, and NSSDCA records that the mission was termed a success. Contact was lost on 4 December 1967 and temporarily regained on 14 October 1968.
- Agency
- NASA-Office of Space Science Applications
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1967
Completed · Partial SuccessA Soviet bus and descent craft launched in June 1967, designed with the announced scientific objective of in-situ studies of the atmosphere of Venus down to the surface. The descent craft entered the nightside Venusian atmosphere on 18 October 1967 and its instruments remained on for 93 minutes, returning 23 sets of readings until it reached an altitude of roughly 25 km. NSSDCA calls it the first probe to transmit data from the atmosphere of another planet, and records that it failed to reach the surface because the temperatures and pressures deep in the atmosphere were much higher than it was designed for.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1965
Failed · FailureAn attempted Venus flyby mission NSSDCA carries only on its list of tentatively identified missions and launch failures, describing it as possibly similar to the Venera 2 flyby mission launched two weeks earlier. It is believed the SL-6/A-2-e launcher failed. Its three NSSDCA pages disagree on the date: the two chronologies print 23 November 1965 and the tentative-launches page prints 26 November.
- Agency
- Soviet Union
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1965
Failed · FailureA mission NSSDCA describes as intended for a Venus lander, presumably similar in design to the Venera 3 which had launched a week earlier. The spacecraft attained Earth orbit and the main rocket body separated from the orbiting launch platform; it is believed an explosion, perhaps during ignition for insertion into a Venus transfer orbit, damaged the platform and produced at least six additional fragments. The damaged spacecraft remained in orbit for 16 days and reentered the Earth's atmosphere on 9 December 1965.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1965
Lost · Partial SuccessA 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.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1965
Lost · FailureA Venus mission launched with its Tyazheliy Sputnik platform from Baikonur and launched from Earth parking orbit into a heliocentric orbit towards the planet. Communications during the cruise were generally poor and sporadic, and the communication system ceased to operate before the planet was reached because radiator elements did not function correctly and allowed it to overheat. The spacecraft passed Venus at a distance of 23,950 km on 27 February 1966 and entered a heliocentric orbit, and returned no data from the encounter.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1964
Lost · FailureA spacecraft launched from an Earth orbiting Tyazheliy Sputnik platform towards Venus, originally described as a deep-space engineering test and, in NSSDCA's words, clearly intended as a Venus flyby and lander. Within a week of launch its pressurized inner compartment was found to be leaking, the internal pressure dropped to 1 mb and short circuits followed in some of the electronics including the radio transmitter; ground control worked out a way to communicate through the lander and control the spacecraft, and a second trajectory correction of 50 m/s put Zond 1 on a course to pass within about 100,000 km of Venus. Communications were lost on 24 May 1964 and the silent spacecraft flew past Venus and entered a heliocentric orbit.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1964
Failed · FailureA mission NSSDCA describes as intended for a Venus flyby and probe. The SL-6/A-2-e (Molniya + Blok I) launcher successfully achieved Earth orbit on 27 March 1964, but the circuit for the valves of the attitude control system malfunctioned, the spacecraft could not maintain a stable attitude for the burn to head for Venus, and it was left in Earth orbit and designated Cosmos 27. It reentered and burned up in the atmosphere the next day.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1964
Failed · FailureA 3MV series Zond planned as a Venus flyby mission, and one of the flights NSSDCA carries only on its list of tentatively identified missions and launch failures. The spacecraft was 3.6 m high and 1.1 m in diameter with a mass of 800 kg, and was a flyby bus only, carrying no probe. It and its SL-6/A-2-e (8K78 Molniya) launcher failed to attain Earth orbit when a frozen pipeline burst at third stage ignition and the stage exploded.
- Agency
- Soviet Union
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1963
Failed · FailureA flight NSSDCA has tentatively identified as a technology test of the Venera series space probes, which may have been an attempted Venus flyby presumably similar to the later Cosmos 27 mission, or may have been intended from the beginning to remain in geocentric orbit. In either case the spacecraft never left Earth orbit after insertion by the SL-6/A-2-e launcher: telemetry from the Blok L upper stage was lost at about 6:45:44 UT, and it is thought the main engine turbopump exploded upon ignition. NSSDCA records this as the first time the Soviet Union used the Cosmos designation for a mission that failed and remained stranded in Earth orbit.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
- Technology Demonstrator
- Flyby
Launched 1962
Failed · FailureAn attempted Venus flyby. NSSDCA records that the third stage liquid oxygen valve failed to close and that 531 seconds after launch the SL-6/A-2-e third stage exploded and broke into seven pieces; it still put the craft into Earth orbit, but the engine pump failed when the burn started to head for Venus, and Sputnik 21 was left in low Earth orbit and reentered.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1962
Failed · FailureA Venera-type spacecraft intended to be a Venus landing mission. The SL-6/A-2-e launcher inserted it into geocentric orbit on 1 September 1962, but ignition of the Block L engine failed when a fuel valve did not open, and the spacecraft was stranded in Earth orbit until it reentered the atmosphere five days later.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1962
Completed · SuccessThe backup for the failed Mariner 1 mission and, in NSSDCA's words, the first spacecraft to successfully encounter another planet. Its objective was to fly by Venus and return data on the planet's atmosphere, magnetic field, charged particle environment and mass, and to measure the interplanetary medium during the cruise. It approached Venus from 30 degrees above the dark side and passed below the planet at its closest distance of 34,773 km on 14 December 1962. NSSDCA credits it with finding a slow retrograde rotation rate for Venus, hot surface temperatures and high surface pressures, a predominantly carbon dioxide atmosphere, continuous cloud cover with a top altitude of about 60 km, and no detectable magnetic field.
- Agency
- NASA-Office of Space Science Applications
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1962
Failed · FailureA Venera-type spacecraft intended to make a landing on Venus. The SL-6/A-2-e launcher put it into Earth orbit on 25 August 1962, but the escape stage failed: one of the four small solid-fuel rockets of the ullage maneuver did not fire, leaving the spacecraft pointed in the wrong direction, and when the block L firing occurred the spacecraft began to tumble violently and cut out from lack of fuel after 45 seconds. It remained in geocentric orbit for three days until the orbit decayed on 28 August and it reentered.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1962
Failed · FailureThe first Mariner mission, intended to perform a Venus flyby, and destroyed by the Range Safety Officer 293 seconds after launch when it veered off course. NSSDCA attributes the failure to a combination of two factors: improper operation of the Atlas airborne beacon equipment, which lost the rate signal from the vehicle for prolonged periods, and the omission of a superscript overbar when the handwritten guidance equations were translated into coded computer instructions, which allowed incorrect guidance signals to be transmitted while the beacon was inoperative.
- Agency
- NASA-Office of Space Science Applications
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1961
Lost · Partial SuccessAn Automatic Interplanetary Station launched from an Earth orbiting platform towards Venus, which NSSDCA calls the first spacecraft to fly by Venus. It carried a magnetometer, ion traps, micrometeorite detectors and cosmic radiation counters, and a pressurized sphere carrying a Soviet pennant designed to float on the putative Venus oceans after the intended Venus impact. A session on 17 February from 1.89 million km showed normal operations with a temperature of 29 C and a pressure of 900 mm inside the dome, and the scientific instruments also returned data; a command session on 22 February at 3.2 million km was acknowledged according to the OKB-1 Design Bureau, but has also been reported as a failure. On 4 March, at a distance of 7.5 million km, communications failed and no further contact was made. The silent spacecraft passed within 100,000 km of Venus and entered a heliocentric orbit.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1961
Failed · FailureThe first Soviet attempt at a Venus probe. An SL-6/A-2-e (Molniya 8K78) launcher put an Earth orbiting launch platform and the attached Venera probe into orbit, but the fourth stage, a Blok L Zond rocket, failed to ignite for the Venus transfer, probably because of a fault in the power supply to the guidance system. The spacecraft and launch platform remained attached in a 212 x 318 km Earth orbit until it decayed and they reentered on 26 February 1961. NSSDCA records the flight as the first attempt to launch a spacecraft from a preliminary Earth orbit.
- Agency
- U.S.S.R
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable