Lunar Exploration Timeline

Lunar Missions

1959
Luna 1 - Jan 2, 1959 - Flyby
Pioneer 4 - Mar 3, 1959 - Flyby
Luna 2 - Sep 12, 1959 - Impact
Luna 3 - Oct 4, 1959 - Probe
1960
1961
Ranger 1 - Aug 23, 1961 - Attempted Test Flight
Ranger 2 - Nov 18, 1961 - Attempted Test Flight
1962
Ranger 3 - Jan 26, 1962 - Attempted Impact
Ranger 4 - Apr 23, 1962 - Impact
Ranger 5 - Oct 18, 1962 - Attempted Impact
1963
Luna 4 - Apr 2, 1963 - Flyby
1964
Ranger 6 - Jan 30, 1964 - Impact
Ranger 7 - Jul 28, 1964 - Impact
1965
Ranger 8 - Feb 17, 1965 - Impact
Ranger 9 - Mar 21, 1965 - Impact
Luna 5 - May 9, 1965 - Impact
Luna 6 - Jun 8, 1965 - Attempted Lander
Zond 3 - Jul 18, 1965 - Flyby
Luna 7 - Oct 4, 1965 - Impact
Luna 8 - Dec 3, 1965 - Impact
1966
Luna 9 - Jan 31, 1966 - Lander
Luna 10 - Mar 31, 1966 - Orbiter
Surveyor 1 - May 30, 1966 - Lander
Explorer 33 - July 1, 1966 - Attempted Orbiter
Lunar Orbiter 1 - Aug 10, 1966 - Orbiter
Luna 11 - Aug 24, 1966 - Orbiter
Surveyor 2 - Sep 20, 1966 - Attempted Lander
Luna 12 - Oct 22, 1966 - Orbiter
Lunar Orbiter 2 - Nov 6, 1966 - Orbiter
Luna 13 - Dec 21, 1966 - Lander
1967
Lunar Orbiter 3 - Feb 4, 1967 - Orbiter
Surveyor 3 - Apr 17, 1967 - Lander
Lunar Orbiter 4 - May 8, 1967 - Orbiter
Surveyor 4 - Jul 14, 1967 - Attempted Lander
Explorer 35 (IMP-E) - Jul 19, 1967 - Orbiter
Lunar Orbiter 5 - Aug 1, 1967 - Orbiter
Surveyor 5 - Sep 8, 1967 - Lander
Surveyor 6 - Nov 7, 1967 - Lander
1968
Surveyor 7 - Jan 7, 1968 - Lander
Luna 14 - Apr 7, 1968 - Orbiter
Zond 5 - Sep 15, 1968 - Return Probe
Zond 6 - Nov 10, 1968 - Return Probe
Apollo 8 - Dec 21, 1968 - Crewed Orbiter
1969
Apollo 10 - May 18, 1969 - Orbiter
Luna 15 - Jul 13, 1969 - Orbiter
Apollo 11 - Jul 16, 1969 - Crewed Landing
Zond 7 - Aug 7, 1969 - Return Probe
Apollo 12 - Nov 14, 1969 - Crewed Landing
1970
Apollo 13 - Apr 11, 1970 - Crewed Landing (aborted)
Luna 16 - Sep 12, 1970 - Sample Return
Zond 8 - Oct 20, 1970 - Return Probe
Luna 17 - Nov 10, 1970 - Rover
1971
Apollo 14 - Jan 31, 1971 - Crewed Landing
Apollo 15 - Jul 26, 1971 - Crewed Landing
Luna 18 - Sep 2, 1971 - Impact
Luna 19 - Sep 28, 1971 - Orbiter
1972
Luna 20 - Feb 14, 1972 - Sample Return
Apollo 16 - Apr 16, 1972 - Crewed Landing
Apollo 17 - Dec 7, 1972 - Crewed Landing
1973
Luna 21 - Jan 8, 1973 - Rover
Explorer 49 (RAE-B) - Jun 10, 1973 - Orbiter
1974
Luna 22 - Jun 2, 1974 - Orbiter
Luna 23 - Oct 28, 1974 - Lander
1975
1976
Luna 24 - Aug 14, 1976 - Sample Return
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
Hiten - Jan 24, 1990 - Flyby and Orbiter
1991
1992
1993
1994
Clementine - Jan 25, 1994 - Orbiter
1995
1996
1997
AsiaSat 3/HGS-1 - Dec 24, 1997 - Lunar Flyby
1998
Lunar Prospector - Jan 7, 1998 - Orbiter
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
SMART 1 - Sep 27, 2003 - Lunar Orbiter
2004
2005
2006
2007
Kaguya (SELENE) - Sep 14, 2007 - Lunar Orbiter
Chang'e 1 - Oct 24, 2007 - Lunar Orbiter
2008
Chandrayaan-1 - Oct 22, 2008 - Lunar Orbiter
2009
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - June 17, 2009 - Lunar Orbiter
LCROSS - June 17, 2009 - Lunar Orbiter and Impactor
2010
Chang'e 2 - Oct 1, 2010 - Lunar Orbiter
2011
Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) - Sep 10, 2011 - Lunar Orbiter
2012
2013
Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) - Sep 6, 2013 - Lunar Orbiter
Chang'e 3 - 01 December 2013 - Lunar Lander and Rover
2014
Chang'e 5 Test Vehicle - 23 October 2014 - Lunar Flyby and Return
2015
2016
2017
2018
Queqiao - 20 May 2018 - CNSA (China) Lunar Relay Satellite
Chang'e 4 - 7 December 2018 - CNSA (China) Lunar Farside Lander and Rover
2019
Beresheet - 22 February 2019 - SpaceIL and IAI (Israel) Lunar Lander
Chandrayaan 2 - April 2019 - ISRO (India) Moon Orbiter, Lander, and Rover
2020
Chang'e 5 - 23 November 2020 - CNSA (China) Lunar Sample Return Mission
2021
2022
CAPSTONE - 28 June 2022 - Lunar Navigation Test Orbiter
Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (Danuri) - 4 August 2022 - KARI (South Korea) Lunar Orbiter
LunaH-Map - 16 November 2022 - Lunar Orbiting CubeSat
Lunar Ice Cube - 16 November 2022 - Lunar Orbiting CubeSat
Lunar InfraRed imaging (LunIR) - 16 November 2022 - Lunar Flyby and Technology Test CubeSat
OMOTENASHI - 16 November 2022 - JAXA (Japan) Lunar Lander CubeSat
EQUULEUS - 16 November 2022 - JAXA (Japan) L2 Orbit Lunar CubeSat
Artemis 1 - 16 November 2022 - Lunar test Flight
Hakuto-R M1 - 11 December 2022 - Japanese Lunar Lander
Lunar Flashlight - 11 December 2022 - Lunar Orbiter CubeSat
2023
Chandrayaan 3 - 14 July 2023 - ISRO (India) Lunar Orbiter, Lander, and Rover
Luna 25 - 10 August 2023 - Russian Lunar Lander
SLIM - 6 September 2023 - JAXA (Japan) Lunar Lander
2024
Peregrine Mission 1 (Astrobotic) - 8 January 2024 - Lunar Lander
Intuitive Machines 1 (Odysseus) - 15 February 2024 - Lunar Lander
Queqiao 2 - 20 March 2024 - CNSA (China) Lunar Relay Satellite
Chang'e 6 - 3 May 2024 - CNSA (China) Lunar Sample Return Mission
Intuitive Machines 2 (PRIME 1) - 2024 (Quarter 4) - Lunar Lander
Lunar Trailblazer - 2024 (Quarter 4) - Lunar Orbiting Small Satellite
Blue Ghost 1 (Firefly) - 2024 - Lunar Lander
2025
Resilience/M2 - January 2025 - JAXA (Japan) Lunar Lander and Rover
Griffin Mission 1 - Fall 2025 - Lunar South Pole Lander
Lunar Pathfinder - 2025 - Lunar Orbiter
Intuitive Machines 3 (PRISM) - 2025 - Lunar Lander and Rovers
2026
Blue Ghost 2 (Firefly) - 2026 - Lunar Lander
Chang'e 7 - 2026 - CNSA (China) Lunar Survey Mission
Draper Lunar Lander - 2026 - Lunar Lander
2027
Intuitive Machines 4 (CP-22) - 2027 - Lunar Lander
2028
Chang'e 8 - 2028 - CNSA (China) Lunar Technology Test

Note all future launch dates are "no earlier than" dates.
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NASA Official: Dave Williams, david.r.williams@nasa.gov
Last Updated: 18 November 2024, DRW