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List of missions to Venus

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Launches to Venus
Decade
1960s
18
1970s
11
1980s
8
1990s
1
2000s
2
2010s
5
2020s
1
Global topographic map of Venus, with all probe landings marked (red: returned images; with additional black dot: analyzed samples).

There have been 46 space missions to the planet Venus (including gravity-assist flybys). Missions to Venus constitute part of the exploration of Venus. The Soviet Union, followed by the United States, have soft landed probes on the surface. Venera 7 was the first lander overall and first for the Soviet Union, touching down on 15 December 1970. Pioneer Venus 2 contained the first spacecraft to land from the United States, the Day Probe. It soft landed on 9 December 1978.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The most recent lander was part of the Vega 2 mission, which soft landed on 15 June 1985.

List

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As of 2020, the Soviet Union, United States, European Space Agency and Japan have conducted missions to Venus.

Mission Type Legend
  Mission to Venus
  Gravity assist, destination elsewhere
Spacecraft Launch date[7] Operator Mission Outcome Remarks Carrier rocket[8]
Tyazhely Sputnik
(1VA No.1) 		4 February 1961 OKB-1
 Soviet Union 		Impactor[9] Launch failure Power transformer failure, upper stage failed to ignite, never left LEO[9] Molniya
Venera 1
(1VA No.2) 		12 February 1961 OKB-1
 Soviet Union 		Impactor[9] Spacecraft failure Communications failure. First flyby past another planet, on 19 May 1961 at less than 100,000 kilometres (62,000 mi); no data returned Molniya
Mariner 1
(P-37) 		22 July 1962 NASA
 United States 		Flyby Launch failure Failed to orbit Earth; destroyed by range safety following guidance failure[10] Atlas-LV3 Agena-B
2MV-1 No.1 25 August 1962 OKB-1
 Soviet Union 		Lander Launch failure Premature upper stage cutoff due to ullage motor malfunction; never left LEO[10] Molniya
Mariner 2
(P-38) 		27 August 1962 NASA
 United States 		Flyby Successful First successful flyby past another planet on 14 December 1962 Atlas-LV3 Agena-B
2MV-1 No.2 1 September 1962 OKB-1
 Soviet Union 		Lander Launch failure Upper stage fuel valve failed to open, resulting in failure to ignite; never left LEO[10] Molniya
2MV-2 No.1 12 September 1962 OKB-1
 Soviet Union 		Flyby Launch failure Anomalous third stage cutoff resulted in air bubbles forming in fourth stage fuel; fourth stage shut down less than a second after ignition; failed to leave LEO[10] Molniya
3MV-1 No.2 19 February 1964 OKB-1
 Soviet Union 		Flyby Launch failure Third stage oxidizer leak caused propellant to freeze in feed lines, which subsequently cracked; failed to orbit[11] Molniya-M
Kosmos 27
(3MV-1 No.3) 		27 March 1964 OKB-1
 Soviet Union 		Flyby/Lander Launch failure Upper stage attitude control failure, never left LEO[11] Molniya-M
Zond 1
(3MV-1 No.4) 		2 April 1964 OKB-1
 Soviet Union 		Flyby/Lander Spacecraft failure Electronics shorted out, communications lost before flyby.[11] Flew past Venus on 14 July 1964. Molniya-M
Venera 2
(3MV-4 No.4) 		12 November 1965 OKB-1
 Soviet Union 		Flyby Spacecraft failure Flew past Venus on 27 February 1966, closest approach at 02:52 UTC. Communications lost after flyby, before any data could be returned.[12] Molniya-M
Venera 3
(3MV-3 No.1) 		16 November 1965 OKB-1
 Soviet Union 		Lander Spacecraft failure Communications lost as soon as spacecraft entered atmosphere on 1 March 1966, no data returned. First atmospheric entry and impact on another planet. Molniya-M
Kosmos 96
(3MV-4 No.6) 		23 November 1965 OKB-1
 Soviet Union 		Flyby Launch failure Third stage combustion chamber exploded, resulting in loss of control, upper stage failed to ignite; Never left LEO[12] Molniya-M
Venera 4
(4V-1 No.310) 		12 June 1967 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Atmospheric Successful Returned atmospheric data during entry on 18 October 1967. First successful atmospheric entry. Never intended to work on surface[13] Molniya-M
Mariner 5 14 June 1967 NASA
 United States 		Flyby Successful Flyby on 19 October 1967, closest approach at 17:34:56 UTC[14] Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D
Kosmos 167
(4V-1 No.311) 		17 June 1967 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Lander Launch failure Upper stage failed to ignite; turbopump cooling malfunction. Never left LEO[14] Molniya-M
Venera 5
(4V-1 No.330) 		5 January 1969 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Atmospheric Successful Entered atmosphere on 16 May 1969, operated for 53 minutes Molniya-M
Venera 6
(4V-1 No.331) 		10 January 1969 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Atmospheric Successful Entered atmosphere on 17 May 1969, operated for 51 minutes Molniya-M
Venera 7
(4V-1 No.630) 		17 August 1970 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Lander Partial success Landed at 05:37:10 UTC on 15 December 1970, rolled upon landing and returned severely limited data. First soft landing on another planet. Molniya-M
Kosmos 359
(4V-1 No.631) 		22 August 1970 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Lander Launch failure Never left LEO Molniya-M
Venera 8
(4V-1 No.670) 		27 March 1972 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Lander Successful Landed at 09:32 UTC on 22 July 1972. First fully successful landing on another planet. Molniya-M
Kosmos 482
(4V-1 No.671) 		31 March 1972 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Lander Launch failure Never left LEO Molniya-M
Mariner 10 3 November 1973 NASA
 United States 		Flyby Successful Flyby on 5 February 1974; closest approach at 17:01 UTC; observed Venus and performed gravity assist to reach Mercury Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1A
Venera 9
(4V-1 No.660) 		8 June 1975 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Orbiter/Lander Successful Entered orbit on 20 October 1975; lander landed at 05:13 UTC on 22 October. First orbiter of Venus and first images from the surface of another planet. Proton-K/D
Venera 10
(4V-1 No.661) 		14 June 1975 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Orbiter/Lander Successful Entered orbit on 23 October 1975; lander landed at 05:17 UTC on 25 October Proton-K/D
Venera 11
(4V-1 No.360) 		9 September 1978 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Flyby/Lander Mostly successful Flyby on 25 December; Lander landed at 03:24 UTC the same day. Multiple instrument failures on lander Proton-K/D-1
Venera 12
(4V-1 No.361) 		14 September 1978 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Flyby/Lander Mostly successful Lander landed at 03:20 UTC on 21 December 1978. Both cameras on lander failed Proton-K/D-1
Pioneer Venus 1
(PV Orbiter) 		20 May 1978 NASA
 United States 		Orbiter Successful Entered orbit on 4 December 1978, decayed on 22 October 1992 Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR
Pioneer Venus 2
(PV Multiprobe) 		8 August 1978 NASA
 United States 		Atmospheric Successful Entered the atmosphere on 9 December 1978; consisted of five spacecraft, two of which continued transmitting after reaching the surface[4][1][2][3][5][6] Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR
Venera 13
(4V-1M No.760) 		30 October 1981 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Flyby/Lander Successful Lander landed at 03:20 UTC on 1 March 1982. First recording of sounds from another planet. Proton-K/D-1
Venera 14
(4V-1M No.761) 		4 November 1981 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Flyby/Lander Successful Lander landed on 5 March 1982. Proton-K/D-1
Venera 15
(4V-2 No.860) 		2 June 1983 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Orbiter Successful Entered orbit 10 October 1983, operated until July 1984 Proton-K/D-1
Venera 16
(4V-2 No.861) 		7 June 1983 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Orbiter Successful Entered orbit 11 October 1983, operated until July 1984 Proton-K/D-1
Vega 1
(5VK No.901) 		15 December 1984 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Flyby/Atmospheric/Lander Mostly successful Landed 11 June 1985. Atmospheric probe deployed during entry operated for two days. Main bus continued to explore comet 1P/Halley Proton-K/D-1
Vega 2
(5VK No.902) 		21 December 1984 Lavochkin
 Soviet Union 		Flyby/Atmospheric/Lander Successful Landed 15 June 1985. Atmospheric probe deployed during entry operated for two days. Main bus continued to explore comet 1P/Halley Proton-K/D-1
Magellan 4 May 1989 NASA
 United States 		Orbiter Successful Entered orbit 10 October 1990, deorbited 13 October 1994 Space Shuttle Atlantis
STS-30 / IUS
Galileo 18 October 1989 NASA
 United States 		Gravity assist at Venus Successful Flyby on 10 February 1990 en route to Jupiter; observed Venus during closest pass. Space Shuttle Atlantis
STS-34 / IUS
Cassini 15 October 1997 NASA
 United States 		Gravity assist Successful Flybys on 26 April 1998 and 24 June 1999 en route to Saturn; observed Venus during closest pass. Titan IV(401)B
MESSENGER 3 August 2004 NASA
 United States 		Gravity assist Successful Flybys on 24 October 2006 and 5 June 2007 en route to Mercury; observed Venus during closest pass. Delta II 7925H
Venus Express 9 November 2005 ESA
 Orbiter Successful Entered orbit 11 April 2006. Full communications lost on 28 November 2014 [15] Soyuz-FG/Fregat
Akatsuki 20 May 2010 JAXA
 Japan 		Orbiter Mostly successful Flew past Venus on 6 December 2010 after failing to enter orbit. Insertion was successfully reattempted on 7 December 2015.

Last contact April 2024

H-IIA 202
IKAROS 20 May 2010 JAXA
 Japan 		Flyby Successful Experimental solar sail released from the Akatsuki spacecraft. Flew past Venus on 8 December 2010 but did not make observations. H-IIA 202
Shin'en 20 May 2010 UNISEC
 Japan 		Flyby Spacecraft failure Communications never established after launch. Flew past Venus in December 2010 H-IIA 202
Parker Solar Probe 12 August 2018 NASA
 United States 		Gravity assist Operational Flybys on 10 October 2018, 26 December 2019, 11 July 2020, 20 February 2021, 16 October 2021, 21 August 2023, and 6 November 2024 to lower perihelion for solar observation. Delta IV Heavy/Star 48BV
BepiColombo 20 October 2018 ESA
 Gravity assist Successful Flybys on 15 October 2020 and 11 August 2021 en route to Mercury; observed Venus during closest pass. Ariane 5 ECA
Solar Orbiter 10 February 2020 ESA
 Gravity assist Operational Flybys on 27 Dec 2020, 8 Aug 2021, 3 Sep 2022, 18 Feb 2025, 24 Dec 2026, 17 Mar 2028, 10 Jun 2029, and 2 Sep 2030 to adjust orbital inclination. Atlas V 411

Statistics

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Mission milestone by country

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Legend

  Achieved
  Failed attempt
† First to achieve

Country Flyby Orbit Atmospheric entry Impact Lander Rover
Soviet Union Soviet Union Venera 1, 1961 † Venera 9, 1975 † Venera 3, 1966 † Venera 3, 1966 † Venera 7, 1970 † —
United States United States Mariner 2, 1962 Pioneer Venus 1, 1978 Pioneer Venus 2, 1978 Pioneer Venus 2, 1978 Pioneer Venus 2, 1978 —
ESA Venus Express, 2006 Venus Express, 2006 — — — —
Japan Japan Akatsuki, 2010 Akatsuki, 2015 — — — —

By organization

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Country Agency
or company 		Successful Partial failure Failure Operational Gravity assist Total
Soviet Union USSR Energia - - 11 - - 11
Lavochkin 14 1 3 - - 18
 USA NASA 6 - 1 - 4 11
ESA ESA 1 - - - 2 3
 Japan JAXA 1 - - 1 - 2
UNISEC - - 1 - - 1

Future missions

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Under development

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Name Operator Proposed
launch year 		Type Status Reference
Venus Life Finder United StatesNew Zealand MIT/Rocket Lab 2025 Atmospheric probe under development [16]
MBR Explorer United Arab Emirates UAESA 2028 Flyby under development [17] [18]
Venus Orbiter Mission India ISRO 29 March 2028[19] Orbiter/atmospheric probe under development [20]
VERITAS United States NASA 2031 Orbiter under development [21][22]
DAVINCI United States NASA 2031–2032 Atmospheric probe under development [21][23]
EnVision Europe ESA 2031–2032 Orbiter under development [24]

Proposed missions

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Name Operator Proposed
launch year 		Type Status Reference
Venus Volcano Imaging and Climate Explorer (VOICE) China CNSA 2026 Orbiter not selected [25][26]
Venera-D Russia Roscosmos 2029 Orbiter/Lander proposed [27]
CUVE United States NASA orbiter proposed [28][29]
EVE Europe ESA orbiter not selected [30]
HAVOC United States NASA crewed aircraft not developed [needs update] [31]
VAMP United States NASA 2029 atmospheric balloon not selected [32][33]
VICI United States NASA 2027 lander not selected [34][35]
VISAGE United States NASA 2027 lander not selected [36][37][38]
VISE United States NASA 2024 lander and balloon not selected [39]
VOX United States NASA 2027 orbiter not selected [40][41]
Zephyr United States NASA 2039 rover Feasibility study [42]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Pioneer Venus Project Information". Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Pioneer Venus 2". Retrieved 30 December 2023. The so-called Day Probe transmitted data from the surface for 67 minutes, 37 seconds, before succumbing to the high temperatures, pressures and power depletion.
  3. ^ a b "Pioneer Venus Probes". Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b "NASA's Unintentional Venus Lander". 13 June 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Summary of the Pioneer Venus MIssion". Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b "40 Years Ago, Pioneers Encounter Venus". 10 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2023. Amazingly, two of the probes survived touchdown and continued to return data from the surface – Night Probe for just 2 seconds (it likely tipped over after landing) and Day Probe for 68 minutes.
  7. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  8. ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Interplanetary Probes". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  9. ^ a b c Siddiqi, Asif A. (2002). "1961" (PDF). Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000. Monographs in Aerospace History, No. 24. NASA History Office. pp. 29–32.
  10. ^ a b c d Siddiqi, Asif A. (2002). "1962" (PDF). Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000. Monographs in Aerospace History, No. 24. NASA History Office. pp. 34–37.
  11. ^ a b c Siddiqi, Asif A. (2002). "1964" (PDF). Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000. Monographs in Aerospace History, No. 24. NASA History Office. pp. 41–45.
  12. ^ a b Siddiqi, Asif A. (2002). "1965" (PDF). Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000. Monographs in Aerospace History, No. 24. NASA History Office. pp. 47–52.
  13. ^ "Venera-4: Plumbing the Atmosphere of Venus".
  14. ^ a b Siddiqi, Asif A. (2002). "1967" (PDF). Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000. Monographs in Aerospace History, No. 24. NASA History Office. pp. 61–68.
  15. ^ ESA Science & Technology: Venus Express goes gently into the night
  16. ^ Foust, Jeff (31 October 2023). "Rocket Lab plans launch of Venus mission as soon as late 2024". SpaceNews.com. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  17. ^ Howell, Elizabeth (28 May 2023). "UAE Asteroid Mission details". Space.com.
  18. ^ Davis, Leonard (4 September 2024). "UAE on track to launch bold 7-asteroid mission in 2028". Space.com.
  19. ^ "Isro announces launch date of ambitious Venus Orbiter Mission". India Today. 1 October 2024. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  20. ^ Jones, Andrew (18 September 2024). "India approves moon sample return, Venus orbiter, space station module and reusable launcher". SpaceNews. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  21. ^ a b Devarakonda, Yaswant (25 March 2024). "The FY25 Presidential Budget Request for NASA". American Astronomical Society. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  22. ^ Howell, Elizabeth (4 November 2022). "Problems with NASA asteroid mission Psyche delay Venus probe's launch to 2031". Space.com. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  23. ^ Neal Jones, Nancy (2 June 2022). "NASA's DAVINCI Mission To Take the Plunge Through Massive Atmosphere of Venus". NASA. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  24. ^ "ESA selects revolutionary Venus mission EnVision". ESA. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  25. ^ "Andrew Jones published (July 14, 2022). "China's proposed Venus mission would investigate the planet's atmosphere and geology". Space.com. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  26. ^ Jones, Andrew (22 October 2024). "Venus atmosphere sample return noted in China's long-term space science roadmap". SpaceNews. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  27. ^ Zak, Anatoly (5 March 2021). "New promise for the Venera-D project". RussianSpaceWeb. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  28. ^ Planetary Missions and Concepts - Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA. September 21, 2018.
  29. ^ NASA studies CubeSat mission to solve Venusian mystery. Lori Keesey. Published by PhysOrg. August 15, 2017.
  30. ^ Chassefière, E.; Korablev, O.; Imamura, T.; Baines, K. H.; Wilson, C. F.; Titov, D. V.; Aplin, K. L.; Balint, T.; Blamont, J. E. (1 March 2009). "European Venus Explorer (EVE): an in-situ mission to Venus". Experimental Astronomy. 23 (3): 741–760. Bibcode:2009ExA....23..741C. doi:10.1007/s10686-008-9093-x. ISSN 0922-6435.
  31. ^ Arney, Dale; Jones, Chris (2015). HAVOC: High Altitude Venus Operational Concept - An Exploration Strategy for Venus. SPACE 2015: AIAA Space and Astronautics Forum and Exposition. 31 August-2 September 2015. Pasadena, California. NF1676L-20719.
  32. ^ Wall, Mike (17 January 2017). "Russia, US Mulling Joint Mission to Venus". Space. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  33. ^ "NASA Studying Shared Venus Science Objectives with Russian Space Research Institute". NASA. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  34. ^ VICI: Venus In situ Composition Investigations. (PDF) L. Glaze, J. Garvin, N. Johnson, G. Arney, D. Atkinson, S. Atreya, A. Beck, B. Bezard, J. Blacksberg, B. Campbell, S. Clegg, D. Crisp, D. Dyar, F. Forget, M. Gilmore, D. Grinspoon, Juliane Gross, S. Guzewich, N. Izenberg, J. Johnson, W. Kiefer, D. Lawrence, S. Lebonnois, R. Lorenz, P. Mahaffy, S. Maurice, M. McCanta, A. Parsons, A. Pavlov, S. Sharma, M. Trainer, C. Webster, R. Wiens, K. Zahnle, M. Zolotov. EPSC Abstracts, Vol. 11, EPSC2017-346, 2017. European Planetary Science Congress 2017.
  35. ^ "NASA delays Dragonfly launch by a year". SpaceNews. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  36. ^ Venus In Situ Atmospheric and Geochemical Explorer (VISAGE): A Proposed New Frontiers Mission. (PDF) Esposito, L. W. Lunar and Planetary Science XLVIII (2017)
  37. ^ The New Frontiers Venus In Situ Atmospheric and Geochemical Explorer (VISAGE) Mission Proposal. (PDF) L.W. Esposito, D.H. Atkinson, K.H. Baines, A. Allwood, F. Altieri, S. Atreya, M. Bullock, A. Colaprete, M. Darrach, J. Day, M. Dyar, B. Ehlmann, K. Farley, J. Filiberto, D. Grinspoon, J. Head, J. Helbert, S. Madzunkov, G. Piccioni, W. Possel, M. Ravine, A. Treiman, Y. Yung, K. Zahnle. EPSC Abstracts. Vol. 11, EPSC2017-275-1, 2017. European Planetary Science Congress 2017.
  38. ^ "NASA delays Dragonfly launch by a year". SpaceNews. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  39. ^ LARRY W ESPOSITO. Mission Concept: Venus in situ Explorer (VISE).
  40. ^ Smrekar, Suzanne; Dyar, M. D.; et al. (eds.). Venus Origins Explorer (VOX), a Proposed New Frontier Mission (PDF). The Venus Exploration Analysis Group.
  41. ^ "NASA delays Dragonfly launch by a year". SpaceNews. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  42. ^ Zephyr: A Landsailing Rover For Venus. (PDF) Geoffrey A. Landis, Steven R. Oleson, David Grantier, and the COMPASS team. NASA John Glenn Research Center. 65th International Astronautical Congress, Toronto, Canada. February 24, 2015. Report: IAC-14,A3,P,31x26111
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