List of rovers on extraterrestrial bodies
A rover is a planetary surface exploration vehicle designed to move over the rough surface of a planet or other celestial body. Rovers are used to explore, collect information, and take samples of the surface. This is a list of all rovers on extraterrestrial bodies in the Solar System. Since 1970, there have been seven lunar rovers, seven Mars rovers, and three asteroid rovers that have successfully landed and explored these extraterrestrial surfaces. In addition, a small helicopter on Mars, Ingenuity, operated from 2021 to 2024.
| Mission | Rover | Country/Agency | Date of landing | Coordinates | Operational time | Distance travelled | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luna E-8 No.201 | Lunokhod |  Lavochkin
|
10 November 1968 | N/A | 0 days | 0 km | Launch failure |
| First launch of the Lunokhod rover. Launch vehicle disintegrated 51 seconds after launch and exploded.[1] | |||||||
| Luna 17 | Lunokhod 1 | USSR
|
17 November 1970 | 38°14′16″N 35°00′06″W / 38.2378°N 35.0017°W | 322 days | 10.5 km (6.5 mi) | Successful |
| First rover on an extraterrestrial body. | |||||||
| Luna 21 | Lunokhod 2 | USSR
|
15 January 1973 | 25°51′N 30°27′E / 25.85°N 30.45°E | 117 days | 39 km (24 mi) | Successful |
| Farthest distance traveled on the Moon. | |||||||
| Chang'e 3 | Yutu |  CNSA
|
14 December 2013 | 44°07′17″N 19°30′42″W / 44.1214°N 19.5116°W | 42 days (mobile) 973 days (total) |
114.8 m (377 ft) | Successful |
| First Chinese extraterrestrial rover and first lunar rover in over 40 years. | |||||||
| Chang'e 4 | Yutu-2 | CNSA
|
3 January 2019 | 45°26′38″S 177°35′56″E / 45.444°S 177.599°E | 2150 days | 1.455 km (0.904 mi)[2] as of 3 January 2023[update] |
Operational |
| First rover on the far side of the Moon. Longest fully functioning rover on the Moon. | |||||||
| Chandrayaan-2 | Pragyan |  ISRO
|
6 September 2019 | 70°54′S 22°47′E / 70.90°S 22.78°E | 0 days | 0 km | Precluded |
| Lost when Vikram lander crash landed on the Moon. | |||||||
| Hakuto-R Mission 1 | Rashid |  MBRSC
|
April 2023 | TBD | 0 days | 0 km | Precluded |
| Sora-Q |  Tomy/JAXA/Doshisha University
|
April 2023 | Precluded | ||||
| Contact lost during final descent of the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander. Presumed crash landing and failure. | |||||||
| Chandrayaan-3 | Pragyan | ISRO
|
23 August 2023 | 69°22′23″S 32°19′08″E / 69.373°S 32.319°E[3] | 12 days | 101.4 m (333 ft)[4] as of 2 September 2023[update] |
Successful |
| First rover to successfully land near lunar south pole. | |||||||
| SLIM | LEV-1 | JAXA
|
19 January 2024 | 13°18′58″S 25°15′04″E / 13.3160°S 25.2510°E | 1 hour and 51 minutes | Successful | |
| LEV-2 (Sora-Q) | Successful | ||||||
| A hopper and a rover included in the SLIM mission which demonstrated precision landing technology. | |||||||
| Peregrine Mission One | Iris |  CMU
|
2024 | TBD | Precluded | ||
| Colmena x5 |  UNAM
|
Precluded | |||||
| Colmena would have been deployed using a small catapult mechanism. Mission cancelled along with the cancelled landing of Peregrine lander due to excessive propellant leak.[5] | |||||||
| Chang'e 6 | Jinchan | CNSA
|
1 June 2024 | 41°38′18″S 153°59′08″W / 41.63839°S 153.98545°W | 4 days | Success | |
| Conduct infrared spectroscopy of lunar surface and imaged Chang'e 6 lander on lunar surface.[6] | |||||||
| IM-2 | MAPP | Lunar Outpost
|
Q4 2024 | TBD | Planned | ||
| AstroAnt | MIT[7]
|
Planned | |||||
| Micro-Nova | Intuitive Machines
|
Planned | |||||
| Yaoki | Dymon
|
Planned | |||||
| MAPP and Micro-Nova will demonstrate a new lunar communication system. | |||||||
| Hakuto-R Mission 2 | Micro rover | ispace Europe
|
Q4 2024 | TBD | Planned | ||
| Hakuto-R Mission 2 will feature a rover for surface exploration and data collection. | |||||||
| IM-3 | Lunar Vertex | NASA/Lunar Outpost
|
Q4 2025 | TBD | Planned | ||
| CADRE x4 | NASA
|
Planned | |||||
| Mission to study Reiner Gamma. | |||||||
| Chang’e 7 | Chang’e 7 rover | CNSA
|
2026 | TBD | Planned | ||
| Chang’e 7 hopper | Planned | ||||||
| Will search for water ice in and around craters in the south pole of the Moon. | |||||||
| Starship lunar cargo mission | FLEX | Astrolab
|
2026 | TBD | Planned | ||
| Astrolab contracted with SpaceX to send their rover to the Moon aboard Starship[8][9] | |||||||
| LUPEX | LUPEX Rover | JAXA ISRO
|
2028 | TBD | Planned | ||
| Joint mission between ISRO and JAXA. | |||||||
| Chang’e 8 | Chang’e 8 rover | CNSA
|
2028 | TBD | Planned | ||
| Chang’e 8 Robot | Planned | ||||||
| Chinese ISRU mission in preparation for ILRS. | |||||||
| Mission | Rover | Country/Agency | Date of landing | Coordinates | Operational time | Distance travelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mars 2 | PrOP-M | USSR |
27 November 1971 | 45°S 47°E / 45°S 47°E | - | - |
| First rover to reach Mars. Lost when Mars 2 landing system crash landed on Mars. | ||||||
| Mars 3 | PrOP-M | USSR |
2 December 1971 | 45°S 202°E / 45°S 202°E | - | - |
| First rover to successfully land on Mars. The lander stopped communicating about 110 seconds after landing, before the rover was deployed. | ||||||
| Mars Pathfinder | Sojourner | NASA |
4 July 1997 | 38°14′16″N 35°00′06″W / 38.2378°N 35.0017°W | 85 days | 100 m (330 ft) |
| First rover to successfully run on Mars. | ||||||
| Mars Exploration Rover | Spirit | NASA |
4 January 2004 | 14°34′06″S 175°28′21″E / 14.5684°S 175.472636°E | 6 years 79 days | 7.73 km (4.80 mi) |
| Mission ended after rover got stuck in Martian sand. | ||||||
| Opportunity | NASA |
25 January 2004 | 1°56′46″S 354°28′24″E / 1.9462°S 354.4734°E | 14 years 140 days | 45.16 km (28.06 mi) | |
| Longest distance travelled by any rover and most days operated. | ||||||
| Mars Science Laboratory | Curiosity | NASA |
6 August 2012 | 4°35′22″S 137°26′30″E / 4.5895°S 137.4417°E | 12 years 108 days | 32.40 km (20.13 mi) as of 24 September 2024[update][10] |
| Rover for investigating past and present habitability, climate and geology. | ||||||
| Mars 2020 | Perseverance | NASA |
18 February 2021 | 18°26′41″N 77°27′03″E / 18.4447°N 77.4508°E | 3 years 278 days | 29.06 km (18.06 mi) as of 24 September 2024[update][11] |
| Ingenuity | 3 April 2021 (deployment) | 2 years 340 days | 17.242 km (10.714 mi) in 72 flights[12] | |||
| The Ingenuity helicopter is the first aircraft to fly on an extraterrestrial body. | ||||||
| Tianwen-1 | Zhurong | CNSA |
14 May 2021 | 25°06′N 109°54′E / 25.1°N 109.9°E | 356 days | 1.921 km (1.194 mi) as of 1 May 2022[update][13] |
| Inactive after dust storm and Martian winter. | ||||||
| MMX | IDEFIX |   CNES/DLR
|
2026 | TBD | ||
| Rover for studying the surface of Phobos. | ||||||
| Mars Sample Return | Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters | NASA
|
2030 | TBD | ||
| Two Ingenuity class helicopters designed to retrieve Martian surface samples. | ||||||
| Body | Mission | Rover | Country/Agency | Date of landing | Location | Operational time | Distance travelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 162173 Ryugu | Hayabusa2 | MINERVA-II Rover-1A | JAXA |
21 September 2019 | Tritonis | 36 days[14] | |
| MINERVA-II Rover-1B | 3 days[14] | ||||||
| Successfully landed, returned images, and hopped along surface. First rovers on an asteroid. | |||||||
| MASCOT | DLR/CNES |
3 October 2018 | Alice's Wonderland | 17 h 14 min[15] | ~17.9 m (59 ft)[15] | ||
| Successfully landed, returned images from the surface, and performed multiple hops along surface. | |||||||
| MINERVA-II Rover-2 | JAXA |
October 2019 | Unknown | 0 days | 0 m | ||
| Failed before deployment, so it was released into orbit around the asteroid to perform gravitational measurements before it impacted a few days later. | |||||||
| Mission | Rover | Country/Agency | Date of landing | Location | Operational time | Distance travelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragonfly | NASA |
2034 | Shangri-La | 10 years (planned) | 8 km per flight | |
| Rotorcraft to be sent to Titan in 2027. | ||||||
Crewed rovers
[edit]| Mission | Rover | Country/Agency | Date of landing | Coordinates | Operational time | Distance travelled | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo 15 | Lunar Roving Vehicle | NASA |
7 August 1971 | 26.1322°N 3.6339°E | 3 h 02 min | 27.76 km
(7.75 mi) |
First crewed lunar rover |
| Apollo 16 | Lunar Roving Vehicle | NASA
|
21 April 1972 | 8.97301°S 15.50019°E | 3 h 26 min | 26.55 km
(16.50 mi) |
|
| Apollo 17 | Lunar Roving Vehicle | NASA
|
11 December 1972 | 20.1908°N 30.7717°E | 4 h 26 min | 35.89 km
(22.30 mi) |
Furthest distance travelled by crewed lunar rover |
| Artemis V | Lunar Terrain Vehicle | NASA
|
2029 | TBD | Unpressurised crewed rover for the Artemis program | ||
| Chinese Crewed Lunar Mission | Chinese Crewed Rover | CNSA
|
2030 | TBD | Rover shown at the National Museum of China on 24 February 2023 | ||
| Artemis VII | Lunar Cruiser | JAXA
|
2031 | TBD | Developed jointly between JAXA and Toyota | ||
Proposed rovers
[edit]| Rover | Country/Agency | Proposed Date of launched | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MPR-1 |  STELLS
|
2025 | In range of a crater | Rover under study for power supply for future mining rovers |
| Canadensys Rover | Canadensys |
2026 | Lunar South Pole | Rover funded by CSA to scout for water ice on the Moon |
| Lunar Trailblazer |   Delft University of Technology
|
2026 | Lunar South Pole | Small rover studying swarm technologies |
| Luna-Grunt |  Roscosmos
|
2028 | Rover for proposed Luna 29 sample return mission, details of rover are unknown | |
| LIBER |  Qosmosys
|
2027 | TBD | Lunar Integrated Bulk Extraction Rover (LIBER) will mine on the lunar surface.[citation needed] |
| ExoMars Rosalind Franklin |  ESA
|
NET 2028 | 18°16′30″N 335°22′05″E / 18.275°N 335.368°E | Rover will search for previous signs of life on Mars. |
| HERACLES | CSA
|
2030 | Schrödinger basin | Part of European Large Logistic Lander program, will be used to transport samples and scout for resources on the Moon. |
| TBD |  KARI
|
2031 | KARI has requested a budget of $459 million for a lander and rover mission.[16] | |
| Asagumo |  Spacebit
|
TBD | Spider-like rover was planned to launch with Peregrine Mission One but its status is currently unknown | |
| CELV | Jilin University/CAST
|
TBD | Near a Lunar base | The Cubic Emergency Lunar Vehicle is an emergency crewed rover that will be stored on a larger crewed rover.[17] |
| MoonRanger | Astrobotic/Carnegie Mellon University
|
TBD | Lunar South Pole | Was intended to launch in November 2023 but lunar lander provider Masten Space Systems declared bankruptcy and the rover is on hold |
| Rashid 2 | MBRSC
|
TBD | TBD | Rover development announced after failure of first rover. |
See also
[edit]- List of landings on extraterrestrial bodies
- List of extraterrestrial orbiters
- List of Solar System probes
References
[edit]- ^ Siddiqi, Asif A. (2002). "1969" (PDF). Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958–2000. Monographs in Aerospace History, No. 24. NASA History Office. pp. 73–80. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^ Andrew Jones (2021-10-05). "1,000 days on the moon! China's Chang'e 4 lunar far side mission hits big milestone". Space.com. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
- ^ Chandrayaan 3 - After The Landing What Happens Next?, 27 August 2023, retrieved 2023-08-28
- ^ "Chandrayaan-3 Mission: All planned Rover movements have been verified. The Rover has successfully traversed a distance of about 100 meters. Rover payloads LIBS and APXS are turned ON. All payloads on the propulsion module, lander module, and rover are performing nominally. #Chandrayaan_3 #Ch3". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ Fisher, Jackie Wattles, Kristin (2024-01-08). "Peregrine mission abandons Moon landing attempt after suffering 'critical' fuel loss". CNN. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Jones, Andrew (6 May 2024). "China's Chang'e-6 is carrying a surprise rover to the moon". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 8 May 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
- ^ "AstroAnt". MIT Media Lab. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ^ Dinner, Josh (April 1, 2023). "SpaceX Starship will launch this new private moon rover in 2026 (video)". Space.com. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
- ^ Foust, Jeff (November 21, 2023). "Astrolab announces first customers for commercial lunar rover mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
- ^ "Where Is Curiosity?". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Where is Perseverance?". Mars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover. NASA. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
- ^ "Mars Helicopter Flight Log". Mars Helicopter Tech Demo. NASA. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
- ^ "中欧火星探测器成功开展在轨中继通信试验". 新华网. 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
- ^ a b Yoshimitsu, Tetsuo; Kubota, Takashi; Tomiki, Atsushi; Yoshikaw, Kent (2019-10-24). Operation results of MINERVA-II twin rovers onboard Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer (PDF). 70th International Astronautical Congress. International Astronautical Federation. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
- ^ a b Davis, Jason (28 August 2019). "Hayabusa2 Lander Mania: Results from MASCOT, Plans for MINERVA-II2". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
- ^ "South Korea seeks $459 million for lunar lander project". 30 August 2022.
- ^ "MSN". MSN.