List of missions to minor planets

Short description: None

List of missions to minor planets is a listing of spaceflight missions to minor planets, which are category of astronomical body that excludes planets, moons and comets, but orbit the Sun. Most missions to minor planets have been to asteroids or dwarf planets.

An artist's impression of New Horizons' close encounter with the Plutonian system

Spacecraft visits to minor planets have mostly been flybys, and have ranged from dedicated missions to incidental flybys and targets of opportunity for spacecraft that have already completed their missions. The first spacecraft to visit an asteroid was Pioneer 10, which flew past an unnamed asteroid on 2 August 1972; a distant incidental encounter while the probe was en route to Jupiter. The first dedicated mission was NEAR Shoemaker, which was launched in February 1996, and entered orbit around 433 Eros in February 2000, having first flown past 253 Mathilde. NEAR was also the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid, surviving what was intended to be an impact with Eros at 20:01 on 12 February 2001 at the planned end of its mission. As a result of its unexpected survival, the spacecraft's mission was extended until 1 March to allow data to be collected from the surface.

## Contents

* 1 Missions
* 2 Statistics
* 2.1 Major milestones
* 3 Future missions
* 4 See also
* 5 Notes
* 6 References

## Missions

There have been thirty-three overall missions towards minor planets, with four of them being flyby missions that were not intended to explore minor planets, marked in grey background.[1][2]

Many minor planets are in two domains:

* Asteroid belt, between 2–3 AU (0.30–0.45 billion km)
* Kuiper belt, between 30–60 AU (4.5–9.0 billion km)

Mission  | Spacecraft  | Launch date  | Carrier rocket  | Operator  | Destination  | Mission type  | Outcome

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

–  | Pioneer 10 | Pioneer 10 | 2 March 1972  | Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D Star-37E  |  NASA | Unnamed asteroid[3] | Flyby  | N/A
307 Nike | N/A
Distant incidental flybys en route to Jupiter; closest approaches occurred on 2 August 1972 and 2 December 1972, respectively, with a distance of 8.8 million km (5.5 million mi).
–  | Galileo project | Galileo | 18 October 1989  | Template:Ov
STS-34 / IUS |  NASA | 951 Gaspra | Flyby  | Successful
243 Ida | Successful
Incidental flybys en route to Jupiter; flyby of 951 Gaspra occurred on 29 October 1991 with closest approach of 1,604 kilometres (997 mi) at 22:37 UTC; flyby of 243 Ida occurred on 28 August 1993 with closest approach of 2,410 kilometres (1,500 mi) at 16:51:59 UTC;[4] discovered Dactyl
1  | DSPSE  | Clementine | 25 January 1994  | Titan II(23)G  |  NASA | 1620 Geographos | Flyby  | Spacecraft failure
Attitude control failure; failed to leave geocentric orbit after first phase of mission exploring the Moon. Flyby had been planned for August 1994[5]
2  | Discovery 1 | NEAR Shoemaker | 17 February 1996 | Delta II 7925 |  NASA | 253 Mathilde | Flyby  | Successful
433 Eros | Orbiter  | Mostly successful
Closest approach to Mathilde was 1,212 kilometres (753 mi) at 12:56 UTC on 27 June 1997. Three days before arrival at Eros the orbiter aborted a burn resulting in failure to enter orbit, instead flew past at 3,827 kilometres (2,378 mi) at 18:41:23 on 23 December 1998. Insertion reattempted successfully on 14 February 2000. Impacted asteroid at 20:01 on 12 February 2001 at end of mission, but survived impact and continued to operate on surface until 1 March.[6]
–  | Cassini-Huygens  | Cassini | 15 October 1997[1] | Titan IV(401)B Centaur-T[7] |  NASA | 2685 Masursky | Flyby  | N/A
Distant incidental flyby en route to Saturn; closest approach 1.5 million kilometres (0.9 million miles) at 09:58 UTC on 23 January 2000[8]
3  | New Millennium 1 | Deep Space 1 | 24 October 1998  | Delta II 7326 |  NASA | 4015 Wilson–Harrington[9] | Flyby  | Spacecraft failure
9969 Braille | Partial failure
Spacecraft was unable to reach Wilson–Harrington due to ion engine operation being suspended while a problem with the probe's star tracker was investigated.[10] Braille flyby added to mission following loss of ability to reach Wilson–Harrington. Closest approach 28.3 kilometres (17.6 mi) at 04:46 UTC[10] on 29 July 1999. Intended to pass within 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) but this was not achieved due to a computer failure; poor-quality images returned as a result.[11]
4  | Discovery 4  | Stardust | 7 February 1999  | Delta II 7426 |  NASA | 5535 Annefrank[12] | Flyby  | Successful
Closest approach of 3,079 kilometres (1,913 mi) at 04:50:20 UTC on 2 November 2002.
5  | Hayabusa (formerly: MUSES-C)  | Hayabusa | 9 May 2003  | M-V |  JAXA | 25143 Itokawa | Orbiter/Lander/Sample returner  | Successful
MINERVA | Lander  | Failure
First asteroid sample return mission. Reached Itokawa on 12 September 2005, landed briefly on 19 and 25 November, collected samples, missed return window due to communications outage, finally returned to Earth on 13 June 2010. MINERVA deployable lander was deployed from Hayabusa on 12 November 2005 but was accidentally released while Hayabusa was moving away from Itokawa; reached escape velocity and drifted off into heliocentric orbit
6  | Cornerstone 3  | Rosetta | 2 March 2004  | Ariane 5G+ | 23px ESA | 2867 Šteins | Flyby  | Successful
21 Lutetia | Successful
Philae | 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko  | Lander  | Successful
Closest approach of Šteins at 800 kilometres (500 mi) on 5 September 2008. Closest approach of Lutetia at 3,162 kilometres (1,965 mi) on 10 July 2010. Rendezvous with Churyumov–Gerasimenko 6 August 2014, orbit on 10 September 2014; Philae (lander) landed on 12 November 2014, Rosetta itself landed on 30 September 2016.
7  | Discovery 7  | Deep Impact | 12 January 2005  | Delta II 7426 |  NASA | (163249) 2002 GT | Flyby  | Spacecraft failure
(Extended mission)
Extended mission (EPOXI), flyby was expected in 2020, but communication with the spacecraft was lost in August 2013.
8  | New Frontiers 1  | New Horizons | 19 January 2006  | Atlas V 551 |  NASA | 132524 APL | Incidental flyby  | N/A
134340 Pluto and its five moons.  | Flyby  | Successful
486958 Arrokoth | Successful
Closest approach of APL at 101,867 kilometres (63,297 mi) at 04:05 UTC on 13 June 2006. First probe to flyby Pluto, on 14 July 2015. Flyby of Arrokoth occurred on 1 January 2019.
9  | Discovery 9  | Dawn | 27 September 2007  | Delta II 7925H |  NASA | 4 Vesta | Orbiter  | Successful
1 Ceres | Successful
Orbited Vesta from 16 July 2011 to 5 September 2012, before departing for Ceres. Arrived at Ceres in 2015.
10  | Chang'e 2 | Chang'e 2 | 1 October 2010  | Long March 3C |  CNSA  | 4179 Toutatis | Flyby  | Successful
Flyby on 13 December 2012, closest approach 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi).
11  | Hayabusa2 | Hayabusa-2 | 3 December 2014  | H-IIA 202  |  JAXA | 162173 Ryugu | Orbiter/Lander/Sample Returner  | Successful
DCAM-3 | Orbiter  | Successful
SCI impactor | Impactor  | Successful
HIBOU | Lander  | Successful
OWL | Successful
MINERVA II-2 | Spacecraft failure
MASCOT | Successful
PROCYON | (185851) 2000 DP107 | Flyby  | Spacecraft failure
Hayabusa-2 arrived in 2018, landed in February and July 2019; sample returned to Earth on 5 December 2020 UTC. HIBOU and OWL were both deployed on 21 September 2018. MINERVA-II was deployed on 2 October 2019; it had failed prior to deployment but was deployed anyway to observe the effects of gravity on it as it descended to the surface. MASCOT was deployed on 3 October 2018; operated for 17 hours. DCAM-3 and SCI Impactor were deployed on 5 April 2019; DCAM-3 observed SCI impact. PROCYON flyby of 2000 DP had been planned for 2016; cancelled due to ion engine failure in heliocentric orbit.[13]
12  | New Frontiers 3  | OSIRIS-REx / OSIRIS-APEX[lower-alpha 1] | 8 September 2016  | Atlas V 411 |  NASA | 101955 Bennu | Orbiter/Sample Returner  | Successful
99942 Apophis | Orbiter/Regolith Disturber  | en route
Successfully collected sample of Bennu on 20 October 2020 and returned the sample to Earth on 24 September 2023. For its extended mission called OSIRIS-APEX, the spacecraft is now en route to encounter Apophis on 8 April 2029.
13  | Discovery 13  | Lucy | 16 October 2021  | Atlas V 401 |  NASA | 152830 Dinkinesh | Flyby  | Successful
52246 Donaldjohanson | Successful
3548 Eurybates | en route
15094 Polymele | planned
11351 Leucus | planned
21900 Orus | planned
617 Patroclus | planned
Closest approach of Dinkinesh at 425 km (264 mi) at 16:54 UTC on 1 November 2023. Flyby of Donaldjohanson on 20 April 2025, Eurybates on 12 August 2027, Polymele on 15 September 2027, Leucus on 18 April 2028, Orus on 11 November 2028 and Patroclus on 2 March 2033.
14  | SSE 1 | DART | 24 November 2021  | Falcon 9 |  NASA | Dimorphos | Impactor  | Successful
LICIACube |  ASI | 65803 Didymos system  | Flyby  | Successful
The U.S. component of AIDA. DART impacted 23:14 UTC 26 September 2022. LICIACube separated from DART on 11 September 2022 and on flew by about 3 minutes after DART's impact.
–  | NEA Scout | NEA Scout | 16 November 2022  | SLS Block 1  |  NASA | 2020 GE  | Flyby  | Spacecraft failure
Spacecraft was to perform a series of lunar flybys before targeting asteroid in September 2023, but after launch contact was lost and later the mission was declared as a failure.
15  | Discovery 14  | Psyche | 16 November 2022  | Falcon Heavy |  NASA | 16 Psyche | Orbiter  | en route
Arrives in August 2029.[14]
16  | Hera | Hera | 7 October 2024  | Falcon 9 | 23px ESA | 65803 Didymos system  | Orbiter  | en route
Milani | Orbiter  | en route
Juventas | Orbiter  | en route
The European component of AIDA. Arrives in December 2026 according to current plans.[15]
17  | Brokkr-2  | Odin  | 2025  | Falcon 9 Block 5 |  AstroForge  | 2022 OB5 | Flyby  | Spacecraft failure
was expected to reach 2022 OB5, a suspected M-type near-Earth object, in December 2025, but failed after launch.[16]
18  | Tianwen-2 | Tianwen-2  | 2025  | Long March 3B |  CNSA  | 469219 Kamoʻoalewa | Sample return  | en route
311P/PANSTARRS  | Orbiter  | planned
Explore the co-orbital near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and the active asteroid 311P/PanSTARRS and collecting samples of the regolith of Kamo'oalewa.[17]

## Statistics

### Major milestones

Legend

Milestone achieved
Milestone not achieved
† First to achieve

Asteroid belt  Country/Agency  | Flyby  | Orbit  | Impact  | Touchdown  | Lander  | Hopper  | Rover  | Sample return

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

United States | Pioneer 10, (unnamed asteroid) 1972 †  | NEAR Shoemaker, (Eros) 2000 †  | NEAR Shoemaker, (Eros) 2001 †  | OSIRIS-REx, 2020 | —  | —  | —  | OSIRIS-REx, 2023
Japan | —  | —  | SCI, (Ryugu) 2014 | Hayabusa, (Itokawa) 2005 †  | —  | HIBOU and OWL, (Ryugu) 2018 †  | —  | Hayabusa, (Itokawa) 2010 †
23px ESA | Rosetta, (Šteins) 2008 | Rosetta, (Churyumov–Gerasimenko) 2014  | —  | —  | Philae, (Churyumov–Gerasimenko) 2014 †  | —  | —  | —
China  | Chang'e 2, (Toutatis) 2012 | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
Italy  | LICIACube, (Didymos system) 2022 | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —
Kuiper belt  Country/Agency  | Flyby  | Orbit

|
|

United States | New Horizons, (Pluto) 2015 †  | —

## Future missions

Mission  | Spacecraft  | Launch date  | Carrier rocket  | Operator  | Destination  | Mission type

|
|
|
|
|
|

DESTINY+ | DESTINY+ | 2028[18] | H3 |  JAXA | 3200 Phaethon | Flyby
Planned arrival in 2030.[18]
Ramses  | Ramses | 2028  | H3 | 23px ESA
JAXA | 99942 Apophis | Flyby
Don Quijote
Farinella
ESA Space Safety Programme mission.[19][20]
MBR Explorer | MBR Explorer | March 2028[21] | H3[22] |  UAESA | 10253 Westerwald | Flyby
623 Chimaera
13294 Rockox
88055 Ghaf
23871 Ousha
59980 Moza
MBR Lander | 269 Justitia | Orbiter/lander
Planned flybys of six asteroids between 2030 and 2033, then orbiting Justitia in October 2034 and landing there in May 2035.

## See also

* List of minor planets and comets visited by spacecraft
* Timeline of Solar System exploration
* List of missions to Venus
* List of missions to the Moon
* List of missions to Mars
* List of missions to the outer planets
* List of missions to comets

## Notes

1. ↑ The same spacecfraft used for Bennu mission will be used in studying Apophis. While the spacecraft remained same, only the mission was renamed as OSIRIS-APEX.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt.
2. ↑ Krebs, Gunter. "Interplanetary Probes". Gunter's Space Page. http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sat/ip_probe.htm.
3. ↑ "45 Years Ago, Pioneer 10 First to Explore Jupiter". https://www.nasa.gov/feature/45-years-ago-pioneer-10-first-to-explore-jupiter. ""It [pioneer 10] passed within 5.5 million miles of an unnamed 0.5-mile diameter asteroid on Aug. 2""
4. ↑ "Solar System Exploration - Galileo". NASA. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?Sort=Target&Target=Asteroids&MCode=Galileo&Display=ReadMore.
5. ↑ "Solar System Exploration - Clementine". NASA. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?Sort=Target&Target=Asteroids&MCode=Clementine&Display=ReadMore.
6. ↑ "Solar System Exploration - NEAR Shoemaker". NASA. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?Sort=Target&Target=Asteroids&MCode=Clementine&Display=ReadMore.
7. ↑ Krebs, Gunter. "Cassini". Gunter's Space Page. http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/cassini.htm.
8. ↑ "Solar System Exploration - Cassini". NASA. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?Sort=Target&Target=Asteroids&MCode=Cassini&Display=ReadMore.
9. ↑ Wilson–Harrington is catalogued as both a comet and an asteroid
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Solar System Exploration - Deep Space 1". NASA. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?Sort=Target&Target=Asteroids&MCode=DS1&Display=ReadMore.
11. ↑ Rayman, Marc D.; Varghese, Philip (2001). "The Deep Space 1 Extended Mission". Acta Astronautica 48 (5-12): 693–705. doi:10.1016/s0094-5765(01)00044-3. Bibcode: 2001AcAau..48..693R. https://trs.jpl.nasa.gov/bitstream/2014/15993/1/00-1834.pdf.
12. ↑ "STARDUST Successfully Images Asteroid Annefrank During Dress Rehearsal". NASA. 4 November 2002. http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news94.html.
13. ↑ "Due to ion engine failure, PROCYON will not fly by an asteroid". http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2015/05081421-procyon-failure.html.
14. ↑ "NASA Continues Psyche Asteroid Mission". JPL. NASA. 28 October 2022. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-continues-psyche-asteroid-mission.
15. ↑ "ESA - Hera". https://www.esa.int/Safety_Security/Hera/.
16. ↑ Berger, Eric (29 January 2025). "AstroForge selects target for “high risk, seat of the pants” asteroid mission". Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/01/astroforge-selects-target-for-high-risk-seat-of-the-pants-asteroid-mission/.
17. ↑ Gibney, Elizabeth (30 April 2019). "China plans mission to Earth's pet asteroid". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01390-5. PMID 32346150. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01390-5. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "宇宙科学・探査ミッションの進捗状況について" (in ja). ISAS. CAO. 9 October 2024. p. 11. https://www8.cao.go.jp/space/comittee/27-kagaku/kagaku-dai63/siryou2.pdf.
19. ↑ Foust, Jeff (9 September 2025). "Ramses asteroid mission on track ahead of key funding". https://spacenews.com/ramses-asteroid-mission-on-track-ahead-of-key-funding/.
20. ↑ Dickinson, David (19 February 2026). "Europe's RAMSES Mission to Asteroid Apophis Moves Ahead". https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/europes-ramses-mission-to-asteroid-apophis-moves-ahead/.
21. ↑ Foust, Jeff (3 June 2023). "UAE outlines plans for asteroid mission". SpaceNews. https://spacenews.com/uae-outlines-plans-for-asteroid-mission/.
22. ↑ Foust, Jeff (2024-10-10). "Japan’s H3 to launch Emirati asteroid mission" (in en-US). https://spacenews.com/japans-h3-to-launch-emirati-asteroid-mission/.

* v
* t
* e

Spacecraft missions to minor planets and comets

* List of minor planets and comets visited by spacecraft
* List of artificial objects on extra-terrestrial surfaces

Past and
current|

| Flybys|

* Cassini–Huygens
* Chang'e 2
* Clementine†
* CONTOUR†
* Deep Impact
* EPOXI
* Deep Space 1
* Galileo
* Halley Armada
* Giotto
* Sakigake
* Suisei
* Vega 1
* Vega 2
* International Cometary Explorer
* NEAR Shoemaker
* New Horizons
* Pioneer 7
* PROCYON†
* Rosetta
* Stardust/NExT
* Ulysses

|

Orbiters|

* Dawn
* Hayabusa
* Hayabusa2
* NEAR Shoemaker
* OSIRIS-REx
* Rosetta
* Timeline

Landers|

* Hayabusa
* MINERVA†
* Hayabusa2
* HIBOU
* MASCOT
* MINERVA-II 2
* OWL
* NEAR Shoemaker
* Philae

Impactors|

* Deep Impact

Sample return|

* Hayabusa
* Hayabusa2
* OSIRIS-REx
* Stardust

Planned|

* NEA Scout (flyby, 2020-2021)
* Lucy (multiple flybys, 2021)
* DART (impactor and flyby, 2021)
* DESTINY+ (multiple flybys, 2022)
* Psyche (orbiter, 2022)
* Hera (orbiter and landers, 2024)
* Comet Interceptor (flyby, 2028)

Proposed|

* ASTER (orbiter, 2021)
* Athena (flyby of Pallas, 2022)
* Centaurus (multiple flybys, 2026-2029)
* CORSAIR (sample return)
* HAMMER (nuclear impactor concept)
* MANTIS (multiple flybys)
* OKEANOS (multiple flybys and sample return, 2026)
* World Is Not Enough (spacecraft refueling concept)
* ZhengHe (multiple flybys and sample return, 2024)

Cancelled or
not developed|

* AGORA
* AIM
* Asteroid Redirect Mission
* CAESAR
* Castalia
* Clementine 2
* Comet Hopper
* CONDOR
* CRAF
* Don Quijote
* Hayabusa Mk2
* MAOSEP
* Marco Polo
* New Horizons 2
* Vesta

Related|

* Asteroid belt
* Asteroid capture
* Asteroid mining
* Colonization of asteroids
* Ceres
* Colonization
* Pluto
* Exploration
* Small Solar System bodies
* Near-Earth object
* Trans-Neptunian object
* Colonization
* Trojan
* Vesta

* Probes are listed in chronological order of launch. Italics indicate currently active missions. † indicates mission failures.

* v
* t
* e

Space missions by destination

Planets|

* Mercury
* Venus
* Mars
* Outer planets
* Jupiter
* Saturn
* Uranus
* Neptune

Others|

* The Moon
* lunar probes
* Minor planets
* Comets

Orbiters|

* Extraterrestrial orbiters
* Mars orbiters
* Objects in heliocentric orbit

* v
* t
* e

Asteroids

Main|

* Notable asteroids
* Physical characteristics
* dynamic method
* Impact avoidance
* Tracking
* Capture
* Gravitational keyhole
* Earth-crosser
* Close approaches
* Binary
* moon
* contact
* P–L

Distribution|

* Interior to Earth
* vulcanoids
* Mercury-crossers
* Venus-crossers
* Main-belt
* Kirkwood gap
* comets
* Trojans
* Venus trojan
* Earth
* Mars
* Jupiter
* Uranus trojan
* Neptune trojan
* Near-Earth
* Aten
* Amor
* Apollo
* Apohele
* Earth-crossers
* Between Earth and the main belt
* Mars crossers
* Mars trojans
* Outer Solar System, does not include distant minor planets
* Jupiter-crossers
* Jupiter trojan

Classification|

| Orbital|

* Group
* Family
* (list)

|

Spectral|

| Tholen|

* C-group
* B-type
* F-type
* G-type
* C-type
* S-type
* X-group
* M-type
* E-type
* P-type
* small classes
* A-type
* D-type
* J-type
* T-type
* Q-type
* R-type
* V-type

|

SMASS|

* C-group
* B-type
* C-type
* Cg
* Ch
* Cgh
* Cb
* S-group
* A-type
* Q-type
* R-type
* K-type
* L-type
* S-type
* Sa
* Sq
* Sr
* Sk
* Sl
* X-group
* X-type
* Xe
* Xc
* Xk
* small types
* T-type
* D-type
* Ld-type
* O-type
* V-type

Exploration|

* Asteroid Redirect Mission
* Asteroids visited by spacecraft
* Mining
* Ceres
* Colonization
* Near-Earth Object Surveillance Mission

Lists|

* Near-Earth
* Minor planets
* Lost
* Discovering observatories
* Space missions

* See also: Asteroids in fiction
* Asteroids in astrology
* occultation
* Comet
* Minor planet

* Category

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