This is a list of all spacecraft landings on other planets and bodies in the Solar System, including soft landings and both intended and unintended hard impacts. The list includes orbiters that were intentionally crashed, but not orbiters which later crashed in an unplanned manner due to orbital decay.

Colour key:

  – Unsuccessful soft landing, intentional hard landing, or mission still in progress.
  – Successful soft landing with intelligible data return. The tannish hue indicates extraterrestrial soil.
  – Successful soft landing, intelligible data return, and sample return to Earth. The greenish hue indicates terrestrial return.
  – Successful soft landing, data/voice/video communication, sample return to Earth, and safe astronaut landing and return to Earth.

Planets

Mercury

Mission Country/Agency Date of landing/impact Coordinates Notes
MESSENGERUnited States United States30 April 2015Probably around 54.4° N, 149.9° W, near the crater JanáčekIntentionally crashed at end of mission.

Venus

Mission Country/Agency Date of landing/impact Coordinates Notes
Venera 3Soviet Union USSR1 March 1966Probably around -20° to 20° N, 60° to 80° EFirst impact on the surface of another planet. Contact lost before atmospheric entry.
Venera 4Soviet Union USSR23 October 1967Estimated near 19°N 38°E / 19°N 38°E / 19; 38.[1] Crushed by atmospheric pressure before impact.
Venera 5Soviet Union USSR16 May 19693°S 18°E / 3°S 18°E / -3; 18Atmospheric probe; crushed by atmospheric pressure before impact.
Venera 6Soviet Union USSR17 May 19695°S 23°E / 5°S 23°E / -5; 23Atmospheric probe; crushed by atmospheric pressure before impact.
Venera 7Soviet Union USSR15 December 19705°S 351°E / 5°S 351°E / -5; 351First successful soft landing on another planet; transmitted from surface for 23 minutes.
The spacecraft definitively confirmed that humans cannot survive on the surface of Venus, and excluded the possibility of any liquid water on Venus.
Venera 8Soviet Union USSR22 July 1972Within 150 km radius of 10°42′S 335°15′E / 10.70°S 335.25°E / -10.70; 335.25Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 50 minutes.
Venera 9 landerSoviet Union USSR22 October 1975Within a 150 km radius of 31°01′N 291°38′E / 31.01°N 291.64°E / 31.01; 291.64Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 53 minutes. First pictures from surface.
Venera 10 landerSoviet Union USSR25 October 1975Within a 150 km radius of 15°25′N 291°31′E / 15.42°N 291.51°E / 15.42; 291.51Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 65 minutes.
Pioneer Venus Multiprobe United States USA 9 December 1978 Day Probe 31°18′S 317°00′E / 31.3°S 317.0°E / -31.3; 317.0Survived impact and continued to transmit from the surface for 67 minutes.[2]
Night Probe 28.7°S 56.7°E Survived impact and continued to transmit from the surface for 2 seconds.[2]
North Probe 59.3°N 4.8°E Signal lost upon impact.
Large probe 4.4°N 304.0°E Signal lost upon impact.
Venera 12 landerSoviet Union USSR21 December 19787°S 294°E / 7°S 294°E / -7; 294Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 110 minutes.
Venera 11 landerSoviet Union USSR25 December 197814°S 299°E / 14°S 299°E / -14; 299Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 95 minutes.
Venera 13 landerSoviet Union USSR1 March 19827°30′S 303°00′E / 7.5°S 303°E / -7.5; 303Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 127 minutes. First photographs in color of its surface, and it records atmospheric wind noises, the first sounds heard from another planet.[3]
Venera 14 landerSoviet Union USSR5 March 198213°15′S 310°00′E / 13.25°S 310°E / -13.25; 310Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 57 minutes.
Vega 1 landerSoviet Union USSR11 June 19857°12′N 177°48′E / 7.2°N 177.8°E / 7.2; 177.8Soft landing; some instruments failed to return data.
Vega 2 landerSoviet Union USSR15 June 19857°08′S 177°40′E / 7.14°S 177.67°E / -7.14; 177.67Soft landing; transmitted from surface for 57 minutes.

Mars

Mission Country/Agency Date of landing/impact Coordinates Notes
Mars 2 landerSoviet Union USSR27 November 197145°S 30°W / 45°S 30°W / -45; -30First man-made object on Mars. No contact after crash landing.
Mars 3 landerSoviet Union USSR2 December 197145°S 158°W / 45°S 158°W / -45; -158First soft landing on Mars. Transmission began about 90 seconds after landing.[4] Transmitted a partial image for 14.5 seconds before the signal was lost. [5]
Mars 6 landerSoviet Union USSR12 March 197423°54′S 19°25′W / 23.90°S 19.42°W / -23.90; -19.42Contact lost at landing.
Viking 1 landerUnited States USA20 July 197622°41′49″N 48°13′19″W / 22.697°N 48.222°W / 22.697; -48.222Successful soft landing. First to send images in color, as well as to perform in situ biological experiments with the Martian soil.[6]
Viking 2 landerUnited States USA3 September 197648°16′08″N 134°00′36″E / 48.269°N 134.010°E / 48.269; 134.010Successful soft landing.
Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner roverUnited States USA4 July 199719°08′N 33°13′W / 19.13°N 33.22°W / 19.13; -33.22First airbag landing on Mars and first Mars rover.
Mars Polar Lander and two penetrators Deep Space 2United States USA3 December 1999

73°N 210°W / 73°N 210°W / 73; -210

 Contact lost prior to landing.
Beagle 2United Kingdom UK/
ESA		25 December 200311°31′35″N 90°25′46″E / 11.5265°N 90.4295°E / 11.5265; 90.4295Successful soft landing. No contact due to solar "petals" not deploying fully, blocking antenna.[7]
MER-A SpiritUnited States USA3 January 200414°34′18″S 175°28′43″E / 14.5718°S 175.4785°E / -14.5718; 175.4785Mars rover. Contact lost 22 March 2010.
MER-B OpportunityUnited States USA25 January 20041°56′46″S 5°31′36″W / 1.9462°S 5.5266°W / -1.9462; -5.5266Mars rover. Contact lost 10 June 2018.
PhoenixUnited States USA25 May 200868°13′08″N 125°44′57″W / 68.2188°N 125.7492°W / 68.2188; -125.7492Successful soft landing in the north polar region.
Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity)United States USA6 August 20124°35′22″S 137°26′30″E / 4.5895°S 137.4417°E / -4.5895; 137.4417Mars rover. Landed in Gale Crater.
ExoMars Schiaparelli EDM lander ESA
Russia RFSA		19 October 20162°04′S 353°47′E / 2.07°S 353.79°E / -2.07; 353.79Contact lost after entry and parachute deployment, but before planned landing. Hard impact on the surface.[8]
InSight United States USA 26 November 2018 4°30′N 135°54′E / 4.5°N 135.9°E / 4.5; 135.9 (InSight landing site)Successful soft landing.
Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter United States USA 18 February 2021 18°26′41″N 77°27′03″E / 18.4447°N 77.4508°E / 18.4447; 77.4508 Mars rover and helicopter. Successful soft landing in Jezero Crater. Helicopter deployed from rover on 3 April 2021.
Tianwen-1 lander and Zhurong rover China China 14 May 2021 25°06′N 109°54′E / 25.1°N 109.9°E / 25.1; 109.9 Successful soft landing in Utopia Planitia. Zhurong rover deployed on 22 May 2021.

Jupiter

Jupiter is a gas giant with a very large atmospheric pressure and internal temperature and thus there is no known hard surface on which to "land". All missions listed here are impacts on Jupiter.

Mission Country/Agency Date of landing/impact Notes
Galileo atmospheric probeUnited States USA7 December 1995Atmospheric probe of Jupiter.
GalileoUnited States USA21 September 2003Main craft was intentionally directed at Jupiter and disintegrated in Jovian atmosphere.

Saturn

Saturn is a gas giant with a very large atmospheric pressure and internal temperature and thus there is no known hard surface on which to "land". All missions listed here are impacts on Saturn.

Mission Country/ Agency Date of landing/impact Notes
Cassini orbiterUnited States USA15 September 2017Main craft was intentionally directed at Saturn and disintegrated in Saturn's atmosphere

Planetary moons

Earth's Moon

Mission Country/Agency Date of landing/impact Coordinates Notes
Luna 2Soviet Union USSR13 September 195929°06′N 0°00′E / 29.1°N -0°E / 29.1; -0Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 4United States USA26 April 196215°30′S 130°42′W / 15.5°S 130.7°W / -15.5; -130.7Unintentional hard impact; hit lunar far side due to failure of navigation system.
Ranger 6United States USA2 February 19649°24′N 21°30′E / 9.4°N 21.5°E / 9.4; 21.5Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 7United States USA31 July 196410°21′S 20°35′W / 10.35°S 20.58°W / -10.35; -20.58Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 8United States USA20 February 19652°43′N 24°37′E / 2.72°N 24.61°E / 2.72; 24.61Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 9United States USA24 March 196512°50′S 2°22′W / 12.83°S 2.37°W / -12.83; -2.37Intentional hard impact.
Luna 5Soviet Union USSR12 May 196531°S 8°W / 31°S 8°W / -31; -8Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon.
Luna 7Soviet Union USSR7 October 19659°48′N 47°48′W / 9.8°N 47.8°W / 9.8; -47.8Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon.
Luna 8Soviet Union USSR6 December 19659°36′N 62°00′W / 9.6°N 62°W / 9.6; -62Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon.
Luna 9Soviet Union USSR3 February 19667°08′N 64°22′W / 7.13°N 64.37°W / 7.13; -64.37First successful soft landing; first pictures from the surface.
Surveyor 1United States USA2 June 19662°28′S 43°20′W / 2.47°S 43.33°W / -2.47; -43.33Soft landing.
Surveyor 2United States USA23 September 1966Unsuccessful attempt at soft landing; crashed into Moon.
Lunar Orbiter 1United States USA29 October 1966Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Luna 13Soviet Union USSR24 December 196618°52′N 62°3′W / 18.867°N 62.050°W / 18.867; -62.050Soft landing.
Surveyor 3United States USA20 April 19673°01′41″S 23°27′30″W / 3.028175°S 23.458208°W / -3.028175; -23.458208Soft landing. First lander visited by a later crewed mission (Apollo 12) that even brought its components.
Surveyor 4United States USA17 July 1967Contact lost on descent.
Surveyor 5United States USA11 September 19671°28′N 23°12′E / 1.46°N 23.20°E / 1.46; 23.20Soft landing.
Surveyor 6United States USA10 November 19670°29′N 1°24′W / 0.49°N 1.40°W / 0.49; -1.40Soft landing.
Surveyor 7United States USA10 January 196840°52′S 11°28′W / 40.86°S 11.47°W / -40.86; -11.47Soft landing.
Apollo 11United States USA20 July 19690°40′26.69″N 23°28′22.69″E / 0.6740806°N 23.4729694°E / 0.6740806; 23.4729694First crewed landing on an extraterrestrial body.
Luna 15Soviet Union USSR21 July 1969Possible attempted sample return; crashed into Moon.

Not a crewed mission.

Apollo 12United States USA18 November 19693°00′45″S 23°25′18″W / 3.012389°S 23.421569°W / -3.012389; -23.421569Crewed mission.
Apollo 13United States USA14 April 1970S-IVB stage crashed for seismic research (rocket stages from some other Apollo missions that successfully landed were also crashed in this manner[9])
Luna 16Soviet Union USSR20 September 19700°41′S 56°18′E / 0.683°S 56.300°E / -0.683; 56.300First successful robotic sample return.
Luna 17/Lunokhod 1Soviet Union USSR17 November 197038°17′N 35°0′W / 38.283°N 35.000°W / 38.283; -35.000Robotic lunar rover.
Apollo 14United States USA5 February 19713°38′43.08″S 17°28′16.90″W / 3.6453000°S 17.4713611°W / -3.6453000; -17.4713611Crewed mission.
Apollo 15United States USA30 July 197126°7′55.99″N 3°38′1.90″E / 26.1322194°N 3.6338611°E / 26.1322194; 3.6338611 (Apollo 15 landing)Crewed mission; lunar rover.
Luna 18Soviet Union USSR11 September 1971Failed attempt at sample return; probable crash-landing.
Luna 20Soviet Union USSR21 February 19723°32′N 56°33′E / 3.533°N 56.550°E / 3.533; 56.550Robotic sample return.
Apollo 16United States USA21 April 19728°58′22.84″S 15°30′0.68″E / 8.9730111°S 15.5001889°E / -8.9730111; 15.5001889Crewed mission; lunar rover.
Apollo 17United States USA7 December 197220°11′26.88″N 30°46′18.05″E / 20.1908000°N 30.7716806°E / 20.1908000; 30.7716806 (Apollo 17 landing)Crewed mission; lunar rover. Last crewed landing on extraterrestrial bodies to date.
Luna 21/Lunokhod 2Soviet Union USSR8 January 197325°51′N 30°27′E / 25.850°N 30.450°E / 25.850; 30.450Robotic lunar rover.
Luna 23Soviet Union USSR6 November 1974Failed attempt at sample return; damaged on landing. Operated for 3 days on the surface.
Luna 24Soviet Union USSR18 August 197612°45′N 62°12′E / 12.750°N 62.200°E / 12.750; 62.200Robotic sample return.
HitenJapan Japan10 April 1993Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Lunar ProspectorUnited States USA31 July 199987°42′S 42°06′E / 87.7°S 42.1°E / -87.7; 42.1Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed into polar crater at end of mission to test for liberation of water vapour (not detected).
SMART-1 ESA3 September 2006Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Chandrayaan-1 Moon Impact Probe India14 November 2008Impactor. Water found.
SELENE Rstar (Okina) Japan12 February 2009 Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Chang'e 1 China1 March 2009Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Kaguya Japan10 June 2009Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
LCROSS (Centaur)  USA 9 October 2009 84°40′30″S 48°43′30″W / 84.675°S 48.725°W / -84.675; -48.725
84°43′44″S 49°21′36″W / 84.729°S 49.360°W / -84.729; -49.360		 Impactors. Water confirmed.
LCROSS (Shepherding Spacecraft)
Chang'e 3 China14 December 201344°07′N 19°31′W / 44.12°N 19.51°W / 44.12; -19.51First soft landing on the Moon since 1976, lunar rover.
Chang'e 4 China3 January 201945°30′S 177°36′E / 45.5°S 177.6°E / -45.5; 177.6First soft landing on the far side of the Moon, lunar rover.
Beresheet Israel11 April 2019Israeli lunar lander crash landed on the Moon.
Chandrayaan-2 India8 September 2019First attempt to land near the Moon's south pole; lost contact at 2.1 km and crashed.
Chang'e 5  China 1 December 2020 43°03′27″N 51°54′58″W / 43.0576°N 51.9161°W / 43.0576; -51.9161[10][11] First lunar sample return mission by China. Sample successfully returned to Earth on 16 December 2020.
7 December 2020 30°S 0°E / 30°S 0°E / -30; 0[12] Intentional impact of ascent stage after delivering sample to orbiter.
OMOTENASHI Japan Japan November 2022 (planned) Unsuccessful attempt; contact was lost after deployment.
Hakuto-R Mission 1 Japan Japan 25 April 2023 47°34′52″N 44°05′38″E / 47.581°N 44.094°E / 47.581; 44.094 Unsuccessful attempt; contact was lost before landing alongside the lander being crash-landed.
Luna 25 Russia19 August 2023Unsuccessful attempt; crashed on lunar surface after failure during lunar orbit insertion.
Chandrayaan-3 India23 August 202369°22′23″S 32°19′08″E / 69.373°S 32.319°E / -69.373; 32.319[13]Soft landing. First soft landing in the south pole region of the Moon. Lunar rover.
Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) Japan19 January 2024Attempted soft landing. Two lunar rovers.
Peregrine Mission One USA23 February 2024Commercial lander made by Astrobotic Technology. Debut launch of United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket. Landing attempt was abandoned after propellant system failure and critical loss of fuel at deployment.
Nova-C USAMarch-April 2024Soft landing attempt. Commercial lander made by Intuitive Machines.

Moons of Mars

Phobos
Mission Country/Agency Date of landing/impact Coordinates Notes
Phobos 2 Soviet Union USSR February 1989 (planned) Phobos landing was planned but never attempted due to loss of contact

Moons of Saturn

Titan
Mission Country/Agency Date of landing/impact Coordinates Notes
Huygens probe ESA14 January 200510°17′37″S 163°10′39″E / 10.2936°S 163.1775°E / -10.2936; 163.1775Titan floating lander. Successful soft landing. Transmitted data for 90 minutes following landing.

Other bodies

Asteroids

Body Mission Country/Agency Date of landing/impact Coordinates Notes
ErosNEAR ShoemakerUnited States USA12 February 2001Designed as an orbiter, but an improvised landing was carried out on completion of the main mission. Transmission from the surface continued for about 16 days.
ItokawaHayabusaJapan Japan19 November 2005Accidentally stayed for 30 min.
25 November 2005 Stayed for 1 sec. Sample return (very small amount of dust successfully returned to Earth).
RyuguHayabusa2Japan Japan21 September 2018MINERVA-II Rover-1A and Rover-1B, deployed successfully and returned data from the surface.
France France / Germany Germany3 October 2018MASCOT rover, deployed successfully and returned data from the surface.
Japan Japan21 February 2019Hayabusa2 first touchdown. Successfully collected sample from the surface. Sample returned to Earth on 5 December 2020.
5 April 2019Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI), fired at surface to create a crater from which to sample sub-surface material
April 2019 Deployable Camera 3, photographed the impact created by the Small carry-on Impactor. Presumed to have fallen on the asteroid.
11 July 2019Hayabusa2 second touchdown. Successfully collected sub-surface material sample from the crater created by the SCI. Sample returned to Earth on 5 December 2020.
October 2019MINERVA-II Rover-2, failed before deployment, so it was released in orbit around the asteroid to perform gravitational measurements before it impacted a few days later.
Bennu OSIRIS-REx United States USA 20 October 2020 56°N 43°E OSIRIS-REx touchdown, collected sample from surface. Sample returned to Earth on 24 September 2023
DimorphosDouble Asteroid Redirection TestUnited States USA26 September 2022Intentional hard impact. First Solar System body intentionally deviated (slightly) of its orbit.[14]

Comets

Body Mission Country/Agency Date of landing/impact Coordinates Notes
Comet 9P/Tempel 1Deep ImpactUnited States USA4 July 2005Impactor.
Comet 67P/Churyumov–GerasimenkoRosetta ESA 12 November 2014Philae lander. Successful soft landing, but anchors misfired and Philae bounced multiple times before coming to rest. Philae transmitted briefly but could not maintain power due to its awkward landing.
29 September 2016The Rosetta orbiter was intentionally crashed into the comet.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Brian Harvey (2007). Russian planetary exploration. Springer. pp. 98–101. ISBN 978-0-387-46343-8.
  2. 1 2 "Pioneer Venus Probes".
  3. ↑ "NSSDC Master Catalog - Venera 13 Descent Craft". NASA National Space Science Data Center. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "Mars 2, 3 (Mars M71 #1, #2, #3)".
  5. ↑ "Mars 3". Retrieved 28 May 2010.
  6. ↑ Williams, David R. Dr. (18 December 2006). "Viking Mission to Mars". NASA. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "Lost Beagle2 probe found 'intact' on Mars", BBC News, 16 January 2015
  8. ↑ "Schiaparelli crash site in colour". European Space Agency. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  9. ↑ "The Sky is Falling" Archived 2010-04-02 at the Wayback Machine, NASA, April 28, 2006
  10. ↑ Williams, David R. (7 December 2018). "Future Chinese Lunar Missions". NASA. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. ↑ Jones, Andrew (7 June 2017). "China confirms landing site for Chang'e-5 Moon sample return". GB Times. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  12. ↑ "Chang'e-5 spacecraft smashes into moon after completing mission". SpaceNews. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  13. ↑ Chandrayaan 3 - After The Landing What Happens Next?, retrieved 28 August 2023
  14. ↑ "NASA's DART Mission Hits Asteroid in First-Ever Planetary Defense Test". NASA. 27 September 2022.
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