Mission Programs
The great programs of human and robotic exploration.
23 entries.
Project Mercury
1958–1963 · Completed
Project Mercury was the first United States human spaceflight programme, putting the first American astronauts into orbit.
Project Gemini
1961–1966 · Completed
Project Gemini developed the rendezvous, docking, and spacewalk techniques needed for the Apollo lunar missions.
Apollo program
1961–1972 · Completed
The Apollo program landed the first humans on the Moon between 1969 and 1972, carrying out six crewed lunar landings.
Skylab
1973–1979 · Completed
Skylab was the first United States space station, crewed by three missions in 1973–1974.
Space Shuttle program
1972–2011 · Completed
The Space Shuttle was NASA's reusable crewed launch system, flying 135 missions between 1981 and 2011.
Artemis program
2017–present · Active
Artemis is NASA's programme to return humans to the Moon and establish a sustainable lunar presence, in partnership with international and commercial partners.
Mariner program
1962–1973 · Completed
The Mariner program conducted the first successful flybys and orbits of Mercury, Venus, and Mars.
Pioneer program
1958–1978 · Completed
The Pioneer program included the first spacecraft to fly through the asteroid belt and past Jupiter and Saturn.
Voyager program
1977–present · Active
The Voyager program sent two probes on a grand tour of the outer planets; both have since entered interstellar space.
Viking program
1975–1982 · Completed
The Viking program placed two orbiter–lander pairs at Mars, returning the first images from the Martian surface and searching for life.
Mars Exploration Program
1993–present · Active
NASA's long-running programme of orbiters, landers, and rovers systematically exploring Mars.
Luna program
1959–1976 · Completed
The Soviet Luna program achieved many lunar firsts, including the first impact, first far-side images, and first robotic sample return.
Lunokhod program
1969–1973 · Completed
The Lunokhod program operated the first robotic rovers on the Moon.
Venera program
1961–1984 · Completed
The Soviet Venera program returned the first data and images from the surface of Venus.
Vostok program
1961–1963 · Completed
The Vostok program carried out the first human spaceflight, by Yuri Gagarin in 1961.
Voskhod program
1964–1965 · Completed
The Voskhod program achieved the first multi-crew flight and the first spacewalk.
Soyuz program
1967–present · Active
The Soyuz program has provided crewed access to orbit for over five decades and remains a mainstay of ISS crew transport.
Chang'e program
2007–present · Active
China's Chang'e program of lunar orbiters, landers, rovers, and sample-return missions, named for the lunar goddess.
Chandrayaan program
2008–present · Active
ISRO's lunar exploration program; Chandrayaan-3 achieved the first soft landing near the lunar south pole in 2023.
Hayabusa program
2003–present · Active
JAXA's asteroid sample-return program; Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 returned samples from asteroids Itokawa and Ryugu.
New Frontiers program
2006–present · Active
NASA's series of medium-class planetary missions, including New Horizons, Juno, and OSIRIS-REx.
Discovery Program
1992–present · Active
NASA's line of lower-cost, focused planetary science missions, including MESSENGER, Dawn, InSight, Lucy, and Psyche.
Mars Sample Return
2020–present · Planned
A planned NASA–ESA campaign to return the rock cores cached by the Perseverance rover to Earth.