STEREO

Solar observation mission (2006–present)

"STEREO satellite" redirects here. For the musical ensemble, see Stereo Satellite.

This article is about the NASA spacecraft. For other uses of "Stereo", see Stereo (disambiguation).

STEREO

Illustration of a STEREO spacecraft during solar array deployment

Mission type| Solar observation
Operator| NASA
COSPAR ID| STEREO-A: 2006-047A
STEREO-B: 2006-047Bn
SATCAT no.| STEREO-A: 29510
STEREO-B: 29511
Website| http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/
http://stereo.jhuapl.edu/
Mission duration|

* Planned: 2 years
* STEREO-A elapsed: 18 years, 4 months, 15 days
* STEREO-B final: 9 years, 10 months, 30 days

Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer| Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Launch mass| STEREO-A: 620 kg
STEREO-B: 620 kg[1]
Dry mass| 547 kg (1,206 lb)
Dimensions| 1.14 × 2.03 × 6.47 m
3.75 × 6.67 × 21.24 ft
Power| 475 W
Start of mission
Launch date| October 26, 2006, 00:52 (2006-10-26UTC00:52) UTC
Rocket| Delta II 7925-10L
Launch site| Cape Canaveral SLC-17B
Contractor| United Launch Alliance
End of mission
Last contact| STEREO-B: September 23, 2016
Orbital parameters
Reference system| Heliocentric
Period| STEREO-A: 346 days
STEREO-B: 388 days
| Instruments

SECCHI| Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation
IMPACT| In-situ Measurements of Particles and CME Transients
PLASTIC| Plasma and Suprathermal Ion Composition
S/WAVES| STEREO/WAVES

Solar Terrestrial Probes program

<- Hinode

MMS ->

STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) is a solar observation mission.[2] Two nearly identical spacecraft (STEREO-A, STEREO-B) were launched in 2006 into orbits around the Sun that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth. This enabled stereoscopic imaging of the Sun and solar phenomena, such as coronal mass ejections.

Contact with STEREO-B was lost in 2014 after it entered an uncontrolled spin preventing its solar panels from generating enough power. It was briefly resumed in 2016 before being interrupted and eventually declared lost.

## Mission profile

[edit]

This introductory video demonstrates STEREO's locations and shows a simultaneous image of the entire Sun.

Animation of STEREO's trajectory

Around the Sun

Relative to the Sun and the Earth

STEREO-A

STEREO-B Earth

Sun

The two STEREO spacecraft were launched at 00:52 UTC on October 26, 2006, from Launch Pad 17B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on a Delta II 7925-10L launcher into highly elliptical geocentric orbits. The apogee reached the Moon's orbit. On December 15, 2006, on the fifth orbit, the pair swung by the Moon for a gravity assist. Because the two spacecraft were in slightly different orbits, the "ahead" (A) spacecraft was ejected to a heliocentric orbit inside Earth's orbit, while the "behind" (B) spacecraft remained temporarily in a high Earth orbit. The B spacecraft encountered the Moon again on the same orbital revolution on January 21, 2007, being ejected from Earth orbit in the opposite direction from spacecraft A. Spacecraft B entered a heliocentric orbit outside the Earth's orbit. Spacecraft A took 347 days to complete one revolution of the Sun and Spacecraft B took 387 days. The A spacecraft/Sun/Earth angle will increase at 21.650° per year. The B spacecraft/Sun/Earth angle will change −21.999° per year. Given that the length of Earth's orbit is around 940 million kilometres, both craft have an average speed, in a rotating geocentric frame of reference in which the Sun is always in the same direction, of about 1.8 km/s, but the speed varies considerably depending on how close they are to their respective aphelion or perihelion (as well as on the position of Earth). Their current locations are shown here.

Over time, the STEREO spacecraft continued to separate from each other at a combined rate of approximately 44° per year. There were no final positions for the spacecraft. They achieved 90° separation on January 24, 2009, a condition known as quadrature. This was of interest because the mass ejections seen from the side on the limb by one spacecraft can potentially be observed by the in situ particle experiments of the other spacecraft. As they passed through Earth's Lagrangian points L4 and L5, in late 2009, they searched for Lagrangian (trojan) asteroids. On February 6, 2011, the two spacecraft were exactly 180° apart from each other, allowing the entire Sun to be seen at once for the first time.[3]

Even as the angle increases, the addition of an Earth-based view, e.g., from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, still provided full-Sun observations for several years. In 2015, contact was lost for several months when the STEREO spacecraft passed behind the Sun. They then started to approach Earth again, with closest approach in August 2023. They will not be recaptured into Earth orbit.[4]

### Loss of contact with STEREO-B

[edit]

On October 1, 2014, contact was lost with STEREO-B during a planned reset to test the craft's automation, in anticipation of the aforementioned solar "conjunction" period. The team originally thought that the spacecraft had begun to spin, decreasing the amount of power that could be generated by the solar panels. Later analysis of the received telemetry concluded that the spacecraft was in an uncontrolled spin of about 3° per second; this was too rapid to be immediately corrected using its reaction wheels, which would become oversaturated.[5][4]

NASA used its Deep Space Network, first weekly and later monthly, to try to re-establish communications.[4]

After a silence of 22 months, contact was regained at 22:27 UTC on August 21, 2016, when the Deep Space Network established a lock on STEREO-B for 2.4 hours.[6][5][7]

Engineers planned to work and develop software to fix the spacecraft, but once its computer was powered up, there would only have been about 2 minutes to upload the fix before STEREO-B entered failure mode again.[8] Further, while the spacecraft was power-positive at the time of contact, its orientation would drift, and power levels fall. Two-way communication was achieved, and commands to begin recovering the spacecraft were sent through the rest of August and September.[5]

Six attempts at communication between September 27 and October 9, 2016, failed, and a carrier wave was not detected after September 23. Engineers determined that during an attempt to despin the spacecraft, a frozen thruster fuel valve probably led to the spin increasing rather than decreasing.[5] As STEREO-B moved along its orbit, it was hoped that its solar panels may again generate enough power to charge the battery.

Four years after the initial loss of contact, NASA terminated periodic recovery operations effective October 17, 2018.[9]

## Mission benefits

[edit]

STEREO spacecraft in Delta II fairing

The principal benefit of the mission was stereoscopic images of the Sun. Because the satellites are at different points along the Earth's orbit, but distant from the Earth, they can photograph parts of the Sun that are not visible from the Earth. This permits NASA scientists to directly monitor the far side of the Sun, instead of inferring the activity on the far side from data that can be gleaned from Earth's view of the Sun. The STEREO satellites principally monitor the far side for coronal mass ejections — massive bursts of solar wind, solar plasma, and magnetic fields that are sometimes ejected into space.[10]

Since the radiation from coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, can disrupt Earth's communications, airlines, power grids, and satellites, more accurate forecasting of CMEs has the potential to provide greater warning to operators of these services.[10] Before STEREO, the detection of the sunspots that are associated with CMEs on the far side of the Sun was only possible using helioseismology, which only provides low-resolution maps of the activity on the far side of the Sun. Since the Sun rotates every 25 days, detail on the far side was invisible to Earth for days at a time before STEREO. The period that the Sun's far side was previously invisible was a principal reason for the STEREO mission.[11]

STEREO program scientist Madhulika Guhathakurta expected "great advances" in theoretical solar physics and space weather forecasting with the advent of constant 360° views of the Sun.[12] STEREO's observations are incorporated into forecasts of solar activity for airlines, power companies, satellite operators, and others.[13]

STEREO has also been used to discover 122 eclipsing binaries and study hundreds more variable stars.[14] STEREO can look at the same star for up to 20 days.[14]

On July 23, 2012, STEREO-A was in the path of the Carrington class CME of the solar storm of 2012.[15] This CME, it is estimated, if it had collided with Earth's magnetosphere, would have caused a geomagnetic storm of similar strength to the Carrington Event, the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history.[16] STEREO-A's instrumentation was able to collect and relay a significant amount of data about the event without being harmed.

## Science instrumentation

[edit]

Instrument locations on STEREO

Each of the spacecraft carries cameras, particle experiments and radio detectors in four instrument packages:

* Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) has five cameras: an extreme ultraviolet imager (EUVI) and two white-light coronagraphs (COR1 and COR2). These three telescopes are collectively known as the Sun Centered Instrument Package or SCIP. They image the solar disk and the inner and outer corona. Two additional telescopes, heliospheric imagers (called the HI1 and HI2), image the space between Sun and Earth. The purpose of SECCHI is to study the 3-D evolution of coronal mass ejections through their full journey from the Sun's surface through the corona and interplanetary medium to their impact at Earth.[17][18] The principal investigator for SECCHI was Russell Howard.
* In-situ Measurements of Particles and CME Transients (IMPACT), to study energetic particles, the three-dimensional distribution of solar-wind electrons and interplanetary magnetic field.[17][19] Janet Luhmann was the principal investigator for IMPACT.
* PLAsma and SupraThermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC), led by Antoinette Galvin, to study the plasma characteristics of protons, alpha particles and heavy ions.[17]
* STEREO/WAVES (SWAVES) is a radio-burst tracker to study radio disturbances traveling from the Sun to the orbit of Earth.[17] Jean Louis Bougeret was principal investigator for SWAVES, with co-investigator Michael Kaiser.

## Spacecraft subsystems

[edit]

Each STEREO spacecraft had a dry mass of 547 kg (1,206 lb) and a launch mass of 619 kg (1,364 lb). In their stowed configuration, each had a length, width and height of 2.0 × 1.2 × 1.1 m (6.67 × 4.00 × 3.75 ft). Upon solar-array deployment, its width increased to 6.5 m (21.24 ft).[20][21] With all of its instrument booms and antennae deployed, its dimensions are 7.5 × 8.7 × 5.9 m (24.5 × 28.6 × 19.2 ft).[22] The solar panels can produce an average of 596 watts of power, and the spacecraft consumes an average of 475 watts.[20][21]

The STEREO spacecraft are 3-axis-stabilized, and each has a primary and backup miniature inertial measurement unit (MIMU) provided by Honeywell.[23] These measure changes to a spacecraft's attitude, and each MIMU contains three ring laser gyroscopes to detect angular changes. Additional attitude information is provided by the star tracker and the SECCHI Guide Telescope.[24]

STEREO's onboard computer systems are based on the Integrated Electronics Module (IEM), a device that combines core avionics in a single box. Each single-string spacecraft carries two CPUs, one for command and data handling and one for guidance and control. Both are radiation-hardened 25-megahertz IBM RAD6000 processors, based on POWER1 CPUs (predecessor of the PowerPC chip found in older Macintoshes). The computers, slow by current personal computer standards, are typical for the radiation requirements needed on the STEREO mission.

STEREO also carries Actel FPGAs that use triple modular redundancy for radiation hardening. The FPGAs hold the P24 MISC and CPU24 soft microprocessors.[25]

For data storage, each spacecraft carries a solid-state recorder able to store up to 1 gigabyte each. Its main processor collects and stores on the recorder images and other data from STEREO's instruments, which can then be sent back to Earth. The spacecraft have an X-band downlink capacity of between 427 and 750 kbit/s.[20][21]

## Gallery

[edit]

* STEREO probes stacked at Astrotech in Florida
August 11, 2006

* Launch of the STEREO probes on a Delta II rocket
October 26, 2006

* One of the first images of the Sun taken by STEREO
December 4, 2006

* A lunar transit of the Sun captured during calibration of STEREO-B's ultraviolet imaging cameras. The Moon appears much smaller than it does from Earth, because the spacecraft–Moon separation was several times greater than the Earth–Moon distance.
February 25, 2007

* The Sun's South Pole. Material can be seen erupting from the Sun in the lower right side of the image.
March 2007

* A three-dimensional anaglyph taken by STEREO
March 2007
3D red cyan glasses are recommended to view this image correctly.

* A three-dimensional time-for-space wiggle image taken by STEREO
March 2007

* Jupiter as seen by STEREO-A HI1
November 23, 2008

* Nearly the entire far side of the Sun
February 2, 2011

* Nearly the entire surface of the Sun, taken in extreme ultraviolet at 19.5 nm, with white lines showing solar coordinates (0° is directly towards Earth)
February 10, 2011

* A full day of Sun data from the STEREO satellites
February 13–14, 2011

* For STEREO's 10th anniversary, Deputy Project Scientist Terry Kucera gives an overview of the mission's top 5 success stories.

## See also

[edit]

* Spaceflight portal

* Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), launched 1997, still operational as of 2024.
* Heliophysics
* Living With a Star (NASA program), still ongoing as of 2024[update]
* Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), launched 2010.
* Parker Solar Probe, launched August 2018.
* Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), launched 1995, still observational as of 2024[update].
* Solar Orbiter (SolO), launched February 2020.
* TRACE, launched 1998.
* Ulysses, spacecraft launched in 1990.
* Wind, spacecraft launched 1994, still operational as of 2024[update].
* Zooniverse – Solar Stormwatch

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "STEREO". NASA. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
2. ^ "NASA Launch Schedule". NASA. September 20, 2006. Retrieved September 20, 2006.
3. ^ Zell, Holly, ed. (February 6, 2011). "First Ever STEREO Images of the Entire Sun". NASA. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
4. ^ a b c Sarah, Frazier (December 11, 2015). "Saving STEREO-B: The 189-million-mile Road to Recovery". NASA.
5. ^ a b c d "What's New". STEREO Science Center. NASA. October 11, 2016. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016.
6. ^ Fox, Karen C. (August 22, 2016). "NASA Reestablishes Contact with STEREO Mission". NASA. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
7. ^ Geldzahler, Barry; et al. (2017). A Phased Array of Widely Separated Antennas for Space Communication and Planetary Radar (PDF). Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference. September 19–22, 2017. Wailea, Maui, Hawaii. pp. 13–14\. Bibcode:2017amos.confE..82G.13-14&rft.date=2017&rft_id=info:bibcode/2017amos.confE..82G&rft.aulast=Geldzahler&rft.aufirst=Barry&rft.au=Bershad,+Chris&rft.au=Brown,+Robert&rft.au=Cox,+Rachel&rft.au=Hoblitzell,+Richard&rft.au=Kiriazes,+John&rft.au=Ledford,+Bruce&rft.au=Miller,+Michael&rft.au=Woods,+Gary&rft.au=Cornish,+Timothy&rft.au=D'Addario,+Larry&rft.au=Davarian,+Faramaz&rft.au=Lee,+Dennis&rft.au=Morabito,+David&rft.au=Tsao,+Philip&rft.au=Soloff,+Jason&rft.au=Church,+Ken&rft.au=Deffenbaugh,+Paul&rft.au=Abernethy,+Keith&rft.au=Anderson,+William&rft.au=Collier,+John&rft.au=Wellen,+Greg&rft_id=https://amostech.com/TechnicalPapers/2017/Poster/Geldzahler.pdf&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:STEREO" class="Z3988">
8. ^ Mosher, Dave (August 23, 2016). "NASA may have less than 2 minutes to rescue its long-lost spacecraft". Business Insider. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
9. ^ Kucera, Therese A., ed. (October 23, 2018). "STEREO-B Status Update". NASA/STEREO Science Center. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
10. ^ a b "Sun bares all for twin space probes". CBC News. February 7, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
11. ^ Lemonick, Michael (February 6, 2011). "NASA Images the Entire Sun, Far Side and All". Time. Archived from the original on February 9, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
12. ^ Winter, Michael (February 7, 2011). "Sun shines in twin probes' first 360-degree images". USA Today. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
13. ^ "Stereo satellites move either side of Sun". BBC News. February 6, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
14. ^ a b "STEREO turns its steady gaze on variable stars". Astronomy. Royal Astronomical Society. April 19, 2011. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
15. ^ Bridgman, Tom (July 23, 2014). "NASA Scientific Visualization Studio | As Seen by STEREO-A: The Carrington-Class CME of 2012". NASA Scientific Visualization Studio.
16. ^ "Near Miss: The Solar Superstorm of July 2012". NASA. July 23, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
17. ^ a b c d "STEREO Spacecraft & Instruments". NASA. March 8, 2006. Archived from the original on May 23, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2006.
18. ^ Howard, R. A.; Moses, J. D.; Socker, D. G.; Dere, K. P.; Cook, J. W. (June 2002). "Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI)". Advances in Space Research. 29 (12): 2017–2026\. Bibcode:2002AdSpR..29.2017H. doi:10.1016/S0273-1177(02)00147-3. hdl:2268/21196.2017-2026&rft.date=2002-06&rft_id=info:hdl/2268/21196&rft_id=info:doi/10.1016/S0273-1177(02)00147-3&rft_id=info:bibcode/2002AdSpR..29.2017H&rft.aulast=Howard&rft.aufirst=R.+A.&rft.au=Moses,+J.+D.&rft.au=Socker,+D.+G.&rft.au=Dere,+K.+P.&rft.au=Cook,+J.+W.&rft_id=http://orbi.ulg.ac.be/handle/2268/21196&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:STEREO" class="Z3988">
19. ^ Luhmann, J. G.; Curtis, D. W.; Lin, R. P.; Larson, D.; Schroeder, P.; et al. (2005). "IMPACT: Science goals and firsts with STEREO". Advances in Space Research. 36 (8): 1534–1543\. Bibcode:2005AdSpR..36.1534L. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2005.03.033.1534-1543&rft.date=2005&rft_id=info:doi/10.1016/j.asr.2005.03.033&rft_id=info:bibcode/2005AdSpR..36.1534L&rft.aulast=Luhmann&rft.aufirst=J.+G.&rft.au=Curtis,+D.+W.&rft.au=Lin,+R.+P.&rft.au=Larson,+D.&rft.au=Schroeder,+P.&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:STEREO" class="Z3988">
20. ^ a b c Gurman, Joseph B., ed. (2007). "STEREO Spacecraft". NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
21. ^ a b c "STEREO - Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory" (PDF). NASA. 2005. NP-2005-8-712-GSFC. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
22. ^ Beisser, Kerri (ed.). "STEREO – Characteristics". Applied Physics Laboratory. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
23. ^ "Honeywell To Provide Miniature Inertial Measurement Units For STEREO Spacecraft". Honeywell International. Archived from the original on November 25, 2005. Retrieved October 25, 2006.
24. ^ Driesman, Andrew; Hynes, Shane; Cancro, George (April 2008). "The STEREO Observatory". Space Science Reviews. 136 (1): 17–44\. Bibcode:2008SSRv..136...17D. doi:10.1007/s11214-007-9286-z. S2CID 123239123.17-44&rft.date=2008-04&rft_id=https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:123239123#id-name=S2CID&rft_id=info:doi/10.1007/s11214-007-9286-z&rft_id=info:bibcode/2008SSRv..136...17D&rft.aulast=Driesman&rft.aufirst=Andrew&rft.au=Hynes,+Shane&rft.au=Cancro,+George&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:STEREO" class="Z3988">
25. ^ Mewaldt, R. A.; Cohen, C. M. S.; Cook, W. R.; Cummings, A. C.; Davis, A. J.; et al. (April 2008). "The Low-Energy Telescope (LET) and SEP Central Electronics for the STEREO Mission" (PDF). Space Science Reviews. 136 (1): 285–362\. Bibcode:2008SSRv..136..285M. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.459.4982. doi:10.1007/s11214-007-9288-x. S2CID 21286304.285-362&rft.date=2008-04&rft_id=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.459.4982#id-name=CiteSeerX&rft_id=https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:21286304#id-name=S2CID&rft_id=info:doi/10.1007/s11214-007-9288-x&rft_id=info:bibcode/2008SSRv..136..285M&rft.aulast=Mewaldt&rft.aufirst=R.+A.&rft.au=Cohen,+C.+M.+S.&rft.au=Cook,+W.+R.&rft.au=Cummings,+A.+C.&rft.au=Davis,+A.+J.&rft_id=ftp://mussel.srl.caltech.edu/pub/stereo/docs/LET-paper-full.pdf&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:STEREO" class="Z3988">

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to STEREO.

* STEREO website by Goddard Space Flight Center
* STEREO website by Applied Physics Laboratory
* STEREO Science Center by NASA
* Instrument sites
* SECCHI website Archived February 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine by the Naval Research Laboratory
* Heliospheric Imager by Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
* Comets
* Tail of Comet Encke removed by CME by Science@NASA
* STEREO/SECCHI Comets: The First 5 Years Archived April 1, 2012, at the Wayback Machine by the Sungrazer Project

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* 31 (2030s)

CLEP|

* Chang'e 7 (2026)
* 8 (2028)

Chandrayaan|

* 4 (2027)
* 5 (LUPEX) (2028)

KLEP|

* Korean lunar lander (2032)

Others|

* Beresheet 2 (2025)
* ispace M3 (2026)
* Lunar Pathfinder (2026)
* DESTINY+ (2028)
* Cislunar Explorers (2020s)
* CU-E3 (2020s)
* MoonRanger (2020s)
* Argonaut M1 (2031)
* International Lunar Research Station (2030s)

Proposed
missions|

| Robotic|

* ALINA
* Artemis-7
* Blue Moon
* BOLAS
* Garatéa-L
* ISOCHRON
* LunaNet
* Lunar Crater Radio Telescope
* McCandless
* Moon Diver

|

Crewed|

* DSE-Alpha
* Boeing Lunar Lander
* Lockheed Martin Lunar Lander
* Lunar Orbital Station

Cancelled /
concepts|

* Altair
* Baden-Württemberg 1
* #dearMoon project
* European Lunar Explorer
* First Lunar Outpost
* International Lunar Network
* LEO
* LK
* Lunar-A
* Lunar Lander
* Lunar Mission One
* Lunar Observer
* Lunokhod 3
* MoonLITE
* MoonRise
* OrbitBeyond
* Project Harvest Moon
* Prospector
* Resource Prospector
* SELENE-2
* Ukrselena
* XL-1
* VIPER

Related|

* Colonization of the Moon
* Google Lunar X Prize
* List of lunar probes
* List of missions to the Moon
* List of artificial objects on the Moon
* List of species that have landed on the Moon
* Lunar resources
* Apollo 17 Moon mice
* Moon landing conspiracy theories
* Third-party evidence for Apollo Moon landings
* Apollo 11 anniversaries
* List of crewed lunar landers

* Missions are ordered by launch date. Crewed missions are in italics.

* v
* t
* e

NASA

Policy and history|

| History
(creation)|

* NACA (1915)
* National Aeronautics and Space Act (1958)
* Space Task Group (1958)
* Paine (1986)
* Rogers (1986)
* Ride (1987)
* Space Exploration Initiative (1989)
* Augustine (1990)
* U.S. National Space Policy (1996)
* CFUSAI (2002)
* CAIB (2003)
* Vision for Space Exploration (2004)
* Aldridge (2004)
* Augustine (2009)

|

General|

* Space Race
* Administrator and Deputy Administrator
* Chief Scientist
* Astronaut Corps
* Ranks and positions
* Chief
* Budget
* NASA research
* spinoff technologies
* NASA+
* NASA TV
* NASA Social
* Launch Services Program
* Mercury Control Center
* Manned Space Flight Network
* Kennedy Space Center
* Vehicle Assembly Building
* Launch Complex 39
* Launch Complex 48
* Launch Control Center
* Operations and Checkout Building
* Johnson Space Center
* Mission Control
* Lunar Sample Laboratory
* Science Mission Directorate

Human spaceflight
programs|

| Past|

* X-15 (suborbital)
* Mercury
* Gemini
* Apollo
* Skylab
* Apollo–Soyuz (with the Soviet space program)
* Space Shuttle
* Shuttle–Mir (with Roscosmos)
* Constellation

|

Current|

* International Space Station
* Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
* Commercial Crew
* Orion
* Artemis
* Lunar Gateway

Robotic programs|

| Past|

* Hitchhiker
* Mariner
* Mariner Mark II
* MESUR
* Mars Surveyor '98
* New Millennium
* Lunar Orbiter
* Pioneer
* Planetary Observer
* Ranger
* Surveyor
* Viking
* Project Prometheus
* Mars Exploration
* Mars Exploration Rover

|

Current|

* Living With a Star
* Lunar Precursor Robotic Program
* Earth Observing System
* Great Observatories program
* Explorers
* Voyager
* Discovery
* New Frontiers
* Solar Terrestrial Probes
* Commercial Lunar Payload Services
* SIMPLEx

Individual featured
missions
(human and robotic)|

| Past|

* Apollo 11
* COBE
* Mercury 3
* Mercury-Atlas 6
* Magellan
* Pioneer 10
* Pioneer 11
* Galileo
* timeline
* GALEX
* GRAIL
* WMAP
* Space Shuttle
* Spitzer Space Telescope
* Sojourner rover
* Spirit rover
* LADEE
* MESSENGER
* Aquarius
* Cassini
* Dawn
* Kepler space telescope
* Opportunity rover
* timeline
* observed
* RHESSI
* InSight
* Ingenuity helicopter
* flights

|

Currently
operating|

* Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
* 2001 Mars Odyssey
* New Horizons
* International Space Station
* Hubble Space Telescope
* Swift
* THEMIS
* Mars Exploration Rover
* Curiosity rover
* timeline
* GOES 14
* Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
* GOES 15
* Van Allen Probes
* Solar Dynamics Observatory
* Juno
* Mars Science Laboratory
* timeline
* NuSTAR
* Voyager 1
* Voyager 2
* WISE
* MAVEN
* MMS
* OSIRIS-REx
* Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
* Mars 2020
* Perseverance rover
* timeline
* James Webb Space Telescope
* timeline
* PACE
* Europa Clipper

Future|

* NISAR
* Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
* DAVINCI
* VERITAS

Communications
and navigation|

* Near Earth Network
* Space Network
* Deep Space Network (Goldstone
* Madrid
* Canberra
* Space Flight Operations Facility)
* Deep Space Atomic Clock

NASA lists|

* Astronauts
* by name
* by year
* Gemini astronauts
* Apollo astronauts
* Space Shuttle crews
* NASA aircraft
* NASA missions
* uncrewed missions
* Apollo missions
* Space Shuttle missions
* United States rockets
* NASA cancellations
* NASA cameras on spacecraft

NASA images
and artwork|

* Earthrise
* The Blue Marble
* Family Portrait
* Pale Blue Dot
* Pillars of Creation
* Mystic Mountain
* Solar System Family Portrait
* The Day the Earth Smiled
* Fallen Astronaut
* Deep fields
* Lunar plaques
* Pioneer plaques
* Voyager Golden Record
* Apollo 11 goodwill messages
* NASA insignia
* Gemini and Apollo medallions
* Mission patches
* Hubble Space Telescope anniversary images

Related|

* "We choose to go to the Moon"
* Apollo 8 Genesis reading
* Apollo 15 postal covers incident
* Apollo Lunar Module
* Space Mirror Memorial
* The Astronaut Monument
* Lunar sample displays
* Moon rocks
* stolen or missing
* U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame
* Space program on U.S. stamps
* Apollo 17 Moon mice
* Moon tree
* Other primates in space
* NASA International Space Apps Challenge
* Astronauts Day
* National Astronaut Day
* Nikon NASA F4

* Category
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

Space telescopes

Operating|

| Radio and Microwave|

* NCLE (since 2018)
* Solar Orbiter (since 2020)
* STEREO (since 2006)
* Queqiao (since 2018)
* Wind (since 1994)
* Queqiao 2 (since 2024)

|

Infrared|

* Odin (since 2001)
* SOLAR (since 2008)
* James Webb (since 2022)

Optical|

* Aoi (since 2018)
* Astrosat (since 2015)
* BRITE constellation (since 2013)
* CHASE (since 2021)
* CHEOPS (since 2019)
* DSCOVR (since 2015)
* Euclid (since 2023)
* Hayabusa2 (since 2021)
* Gaia (since 2013)
* HiRISE (since 2005)
* Hubble (since 1990)
* Hinode (Solar-B) (since 2006)
* NEOSSat (since 2013)
* Odin (since 2001)
* SDO (since 2010)
* SOHO (since 1995)
* SOLAR (since 2008)
* Swift (since 2004)
* TESS (since 2018)
* PROBA-3 (since 2024)

Ultraviolet|

* Aditya-L1 (since 2023)
* ASO-S (since 2022)
* Astrosat (since 2015)
* Hibari (since 2021)
* Hinode (Solar-B) (since 2006)
* IRIS (since 2013)
* SDO (since 2010)
* SOHO (since 1995)
* SOLAR (since 2008)
* Solar Orbiter (since 2020)
* STEREO (since 2006)
* Swift (since 2004)
* PROBA-3 (since 2024)

X-ray and Gamma-ray|

* CALET (since 2015)
* Chandra (AXAF) (since 1999)
* DAMPE (since 2015)
* Einstein Probe (since 2024)
* HXMT (Insight) (since 2017)
* INTEGRAL (since 2002)
* Fermi (since 2008)
* GECAM (since 2020)
* IXPE (since 2021)
* Spektr-RG (since 2019)
* SVOM (since 2024)
* Swift (since 2004)
* Max Valier Sat (since 2017)
* MAXI (since 2009)
* MinXSS-2 (since 2018)
* NICER (since 2017)
* NuSTAR (since 2012)
* LEIA (since 2022)
* XRISM (since 2023)
* XPoSat (since 2024)
* XMM-Newton (since 1999)

Other (particle
or unclassified)|

* ACE (since 1997)
* AMS-02 (since 2011)
* CALET (since 2015)
* DAMPE (since 2015)
* IBEX (since 2008)
* ISS-CREAM (since 2017)
* Mini-EUSO (since 2019)
* SOHO (since 1995)
* Solar Orbiter (since 2020)
* STEREO (since 2006)

Planned|

* PETREL (2025)
* SPHEREx (2025)
* K-EUSO (2026)
* Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (2026)
* PLATO (2026)
* Xuntian (2026)
* COSI (2027)
* LORD (2027)
* NEO Surveyor (2027)
* JASMINE (2028)
* Solar-C EUVST (2028)
* ARIEL (2029)
* Spektr-UV (2030)
* UVEX (2030)
* Spektr-M (2030+)
* LiteBIRD (2032)
* Taiji (2033)
* Athena (2035)
* LISA (2035)

Proposed|

* Arcus
* Astro-1 Telescope
* AstroSat-2
* EXCEDE
* Fresnel Imager
* FOCAL
* GSST-PMM
* HabEx
* HWO
* Hypertelescope
* ILO-1
* iWF-MAXI
* JEM-EUSO
* LUCI
* LUVOIR
* Lynx
* Nano-JASMINE
* Nautilus Deep Space Observatory
* New Worlds Mission
* NRO donation to NASA
* ORBIS
* OST
* PhoENiX
* Solar-D
* Space Solar Telescope
* THEIA
* THESEUS

Retired|

* AGILE (2007–2024)
* Akari (Astro-F) (2006–2011)
* ALEXIS (1993–2005)
* Alouette 1 (1962–1972)
* Ariel 1 (1962, 1964)
* Ariel 2 (1964)
* Ariel 3 (1967–1969)
* Ariel 4 (1971–1972)
* Ariel 5 (1974–1980)
* Ariel 6 (1979–1982)
* ASTERIA (2017–2019)
* ATM (1973–1974)
* ASCA (Astro-D) (1993–2000)
* Astro-1 (1990)
* BBXRT
* HUT
* Astro-2 (HUT) (1995)
* Astron (1983–1991)
* ANS (1974–1976)
* BeppoSAX (1996–2003)
* CHIPSat (2003–2008)
* Compton (CGRO) (1991–2000)
* CoRoT (2006–2013)
* Cos-B (1975–1982)
* COBE (1989–1993)
* CXBN-2 (2017–2019)
* DXS (1993)
* EPOCh (2008)
* EPOXI (2010)
* Explorer 11 (1961)
* EXOSAT (1983–1986)
* EUVE (1992–2001)
* FUSE (1999–2007)
* Kvant-1 (1987–2001)
* GALEX (2003–2013)
* Gamma (1990–1992)
* Ginga (Astro-C) (1987–1991)
* Granat (1989–1998)
* Hakucho (CORSA-b) (1979–1985)
* HALCA (MUSES-B) (1997–2005)
* HEAO-1 (1977–1979)
* Herschel (2009–2013)
* Hinotori (Astro-A) (1981–1991)
* Hisaki (SPRINT-A) (2013–2023)
* HEAO-2 (Einstein Obs.) (1978–1982)
* HEAO-3 (1979–1981)
* HETE-2 (2000–2008)
* Hipparcos (1989–1993)
* ILO-X (2024)
* IRAS (1983)
* IRTS (1995–1996)
* ISO (1996–1998)
* IUE (1978–1996)
* IXAE (1996–2004)
* Kepler (2009–2018)
* Kristall (1990–2001)
* LEGRI (1997–2002)
* LISA Pathfinder (2015–2017)
* MinXSS (2015–2017)
* MOST (2003–2019)
* MSX (1996–1997)
* Mikhailo Lomonosov (2016–2019?)
* OAO-2 (1968–1973)
* OAO-3 (Copernicus) (1972–1981)
* Orbiting Solar Observatory
* OSO 1
* OSO B
* OSO 3
* OSO 4
* OSO 5
* OSO 6
* OSO 7
* OSO 8
* Orion 1 (1971)
* Orion 2 (1973)
* PAMELA (2006–2016)
* PicSat (2018)
* Planck (2009–2013)
* RELIKT-1 (1983–1984)
* R/HESSI (2002–2018)
* ROSAT (1990–1999)
* RXTE (1995–2012)
* SAMPEX (1992–2004)
* SAS-B (1972–1973)
* SAS-C (1975–1979)
* Solwind (1979–1985)
* Spektr-R (2011–2019)
* Spitzer (2003–2020)
* Suzaku (Astro-EII) (2005–2015)
* Taiyo (SRATS) (1975–1980)
* Tenma (Astro-B) (1983–1985)
* Uhuru (1970–1973)
* Vanguard 3 (1959)
* WMAP (2001–2010)
* WISE (2009–2024)
* Yokoh (Solar-A) (1991–2001)

Hibernating
(Mission completed)|

* SWAS (1998–2005)
* TRACE (1998–2010)

Lost/Failed|

* OAO-1 (1966)
* OAO-B (1970)
* CORSA (1976)
* CXBN (2012–2013)
* OSO C (1965)
* ABRIXAS (1999)
* HETE-1 (1996)
* WIRE (1999)
* Astro-E (2000)
* Tsubame (2014–2015)
* Hitomi (Astro-H) (2016)

Cancelled|

* Aelita
* AOSO
* Astro-G
* Constellation-X
* Darwin
* Destiny
* EChO
* Eddington
* FAME
* FINESSE
* GEMS
* HOP
* IXO
* JDEM
* LOFT
* OSO J
* OSO K
* Sentinel
* SIM & SIMlite
* SNAP
* SPICA
* SPOrt
* TAUVEX
* TPF
* XEUS
* XIPE

Related|

* Great Observatories program
* List of space telescopes
* List of proposed space telescopes
* X-ray telescope
* List of heliophysics missions
* List of planetariums
* Hubble (2010 documentary)
* Unknown: Cosmic Time Machine (2023 documentary)

* Category:Space telescopes

* v
* t
* e

← 2005

Orbital launches in 2006

2007 →

January|

* New Horizons
* Daichi

February|

* EchoStar X
* MTSAT-2
* Akari, CUTE-1.7 + APD
* Arabsat-4A

March|

* Spainsat, Hot Bird 7A
* ST-5
* FalconSAT-2
* Soyuz TMA-8

April|

* JCSAT-5A
* COSMIC
* Astra 1KR
* Progress M-56
* EROS-B
* Yaogan 1
* CALIPSO, CloudSat

May|

* Kosmos 2420
* GOES 13 / EWS-G1
* Satmex 6, Thaicom 5

June|

* Resurs-DK No.1
* KazSat-1
* Galaxy 16
* USA-187, USA-188, USA-189
* Progress M-57
* Kosmos 2421
* USA-184

July|

* STS-121 (MPLM)
* INSAT-4C
* Genesis I
* Kosmos 2422
* BelKA, Baumanets, PicPot, SACRED, ION, Rincon 1, ICECube-1, KUTESat Pathfinder, SEEDS, nCube, HAUSAT-1, MEROPE, CP-2, AeroCube-1, CP-1, Mea Huaka'i, ICECube-2
* Arirang-2

August|

* Hot Bird 8
* JCSAT-3A, Syracuse 3B
* Koreasat 5

September|

* Shijian 8
* STS-115 (ITS P3/4)
* IGS-3A
* Chinasat-22A
* Kosmos 2423
* Soyuz TMA-9
* Hinode, HIT-SAT, SSSAT
* USA-190

October|

* DirecTV-9S, Optus D1, LDREX
* MetOp-A
* Progress M-58
* Shijian 6C, Shijian 6D
* STEREO
* Sinosat-2
* XM-4

November|

* USA-191
* Badr-4
* USA-192

December|

* Fengyun 2-05
* WildBlue 1, AMC-18
* STS-116 (ITS P5, SpaceHab LSM, ANDE-MAA, ANDE-FACL, RAFT1, MARScom, MEPSI-2)
* MEASAT-3
* USA-193
* TacSat-2, GeneSat
* Kiku 8
* SAR-Lupe 1
* Meridian 1
* Kosmos 2424, Kosmos 2425, Kosmos 2426
* CoRoT

Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ).
Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
*[no.]: number
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template