List of missions to the outer planets

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A total of nine spacecraft have been launched on missions that involve visits to the outer planets; all nine missions involve encounters with Jupiter, with four spacecraft also visiting Saturn. One spacecraft, Voyager 2, also visited Uranus and Neptune. The nine missions include two; Ulysses and New Horizons, whose primary objectives are not related to the outer planets, but which flew past Jupiter to gain gravity assists en route to a polar orbit around the Sun, and Pluto - at the time of its launch considered an outer planet - respectively. Cassini–Huygens also flew past Jupiter for a gravity assist on its mission to explore Saturn.

Only three of the missions to the outer planets have been orbiters: Galileo orbited Jupiter for eight years, and Juno will enter orbit around Jupiter in 2016, while Cassini has been in orbit of Saturn since 2004.

Jupiter

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Main article: Exploration of Jupiter

Six spacecraft have been launched to explore Jupiter, with an additional three spacecraft making gravity-assist flybys without the exploration of Jupiter being one of their primary objectives.

Timeline
Spacecraft Launch Date Operator Mission Outcome Remarks Carrier rocket
Pioneer 10 3 March 1972[1] NASA
United States		 Flyby Successful[2] Closest approach at 02:25 UTC on 4 December 1973[3] Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D[4]
Pioneer 11 6 April 1973[1] NASA
United States		 Flyby Successful[5] Closest approach at 05:22 UTC on 3 December 1974, later flew past Saturn[6] Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1A[4]
Voyager 2 20 August 1977[1] NASA
United States		 Flyby Successful Closest approach at 22:29 on 9 July 1979, later flew past Saturn, Uranus and Neptune[7] Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T[8]
Voyager 1 5 September 1977[1] NASA
United States		 Flyby Successful Closest approach at 12:05 UTC on 5 March 1979, later flew past Saturn[9] Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T[8]
Galileo 18 October 1989[1] NASA
United States		 Orbiter/Atmospheric Successful[10] Atmospheric probe entered atmosphere at 22:04 UTC on 7 December 1995 and operated for 57 minutes; main spacecraft entered orbit at 00:27 UTC on 8 December.[11] Spacecraft was deorbited on 21 September 2003, impacting Jupiter's atmosphere at 18:57:18 UTC.[12] Space Shuttle Atlantis
STS-34 / IUS[13]
Ulysses 6 October 1990[1] NASA
United States / ESA		 Gravity assist N/A Flyby on 8 February 1992 to reach a high-inclination heliocentric orbit.[14] Also made a distant incidental flyby on 4 February 2004[15] Space Shuttle Discovery
STS-41 / IUS[16]
Cassini–Huygens 15 October 1997[1] NASA
United States / ESA		 Gravity assist N/A Flyby on 30 December 2000 en route to Saturn[17] Titan IV(401)B Centaur-T[18]
New Horizons 19 January 2006[1] NASA
United States		 Gravity assist[19] N/A Flyby on 28 February 2007 (closest approach at 05:43:40[20]) en route to Pluto[21] Atlas V 551[19]
Juno 5 August 2011[1] NASA
United States		 Orbiter En route Scheduled to arrive in July 2016[22] Atlas V 551[23]
Missions whose primary objectives were not related to the exploration of Jupiter are indicated in grey

Saturn

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Main article: Exploration of Saturn

Four spacecraft have visited Saturn; Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 made flybys, while Cassini–Huygens entered orbit, and deployed a probe into the atmosphere of Titan.

Timeline
Spacecraft Launch Date Operator Mission Outcome Remarks Carrier rocket
Pioneer 11 6 April 1973[1] NASA
United States		 Flyby Successful Closest approach on 1 September 1979 at 16:31 UTC[6] Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1A[4]
Voyager 2 20 August 1977[1] NASA
United States		 Flyby Successful Closest approach at 01:21 UTC on 26 August 1981, later flew past Uranus and Neptune[7] Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T[8]
Voyager 1 5 September 1977[1] NASA
United States		 Flyby Successful Closest approach on 12 November 1980 at 23:45 UTC[9] Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T[8]
Cassini 15 October 1997[1] NASA
United States		 Orbiter Operational Entered orbit 1 July 2004; operational on extended mission[24] Titan IV(401)B Centaur-T[18]
Huygens 15 October 1997[1] ESA / ASI
Italy		 Titan lander Successful Deployed from Cassini; landed on Titan at 10:13 UTC on 14 January 2005 Titan IV(401)B Centaur-T[18]

Uranus

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Main article: Exploration of Uranus

Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus, making a single flyby as part of its grand tour of the outer planets.

Timeline
Spacecraft Launch Date Operator Mission Outcome Remarks Carrier rocket
Voyager 2 20 August 1977[1] NASA
United States		 Flyby Successful Closest approach at 17:59 UTC on 24 January 1986, later flew past Neptune[7] Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T[8]

Neptune

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Main article: Exploration of Neptune

Voyager 2 is also the only spacecraft to have visited Neptune, making a single flyby as part of its grand tour of the outer planets.

Timeline
Spacecraft Launch Date Operator Mission Outcome Remarks Carrier rocket
Voyager 2 20 August 1977[1] NASA
United States		 Flyby Successful Closest approach at 03:26 UTC on 25 August 1989[7] Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T[8]

References

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  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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