68 years of space exploration
From landmark firsts to the milestones ahead: firsts, major missions, discoveries and accidents that shaped our relationship with space. Filter by event type.
Coming up
· 7 milestones aheadArtemis III: crewed demonstration in Earth orbit
Rendezvous and docking between Orion and the commercial landers, ahead of future Moon landings.
Artemis IV: first crewed landing at the south pole
A crew returns to the lunar surface, near the south pole (schedule to be confirmed).
Dragonfly sets off for Titan
A nuclear-powered rotorcraft heads off to explore Saturn's moon (arrival expected around 2034).
ExoMars Rosalind Franklin: a fresh start
The European rover sets off again to search for traces of life beneath the Martian surface (at the earliest).
Europa Clipper reaches Jupiter
Start of the Europa flybys to assess the habitability of its subsurface ocean.
JUICE arrives in the Jupiter system
After eight years of cruise, the European probe reaches Jupiter.
JUICE enters orbit around Ganymede
The first probe to orbit a moon other than our own.
Full timeline
The 1950s
Sputnik 1, first artificial satellite
The beginning of the space age: a human-made object in orbit for the first time.
The 1960s
Yuri Gagarin, first human in space
First crewed orbital flight, a turning point in the Space Race.
Apollo 11: first steps on the Moon
The first crewed Moon landing in history.
The 1970s
Launch of the Voyager probes
Exploration of the outer planets, then of interstellar space.
The 1980s
Challenger shuttle accident
Seven astronauts die; crewed spaceflight safety overhauled.
The 1990s
Hubble telescope placed in orbit
A revolution for astronomy and our view of the Universe.
Start of ISS assembly
The largest object ever assembled in orbit, the fruit of worldwide cooperation.
The 2010s
Curiosity lands on Mars
A mobile laboratory to study Mars's past habitability.
New Horizons flies by Pluto
First detailed images of the dwarf planet and its landforms.
The 2020s
Perseverance lands in Jezero Crater
A sample-collecting rover: it seals rock cores for a future sample return to Earth.
The James Webb telescope is launched
Observing the early Universe and exoplanet atmospheres.
Artemis I, Orion test flight
Uncrewed qualification of the spacecraft that will carry humans back to the Moon.
Launch of JUICE toward Jupiter
The large European probe sets off to study Jupiter's icy moons and their oceans.
OSIRIS-REx returns a sample from asteroid Bennu
First asteroid sample returned to Earth by the United States.
Launch of Europa Clipper
Heading to Jupiter to assess the habitability of the moon Europa.
Artemis II: successful crewed lunar flyby
First crew beyond low Earth orbit since 1972 (Apr 2026); Apollo 13's distance record broken.