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List of proposed Solar System probes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of proposed space probes that are planned to focus on the exploration of the Solar System, ordered by date of spacecraft launch.

For planned missions to the Moon see the dedicated list of missions to the Moon, with its section future missions. Launched probes are in the List of Solar System probes and the List of active Solar System probes.

Planned or scheduled missions

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Mission name Launch date Description Ref(s)
United States EscaPADE Spring 2025 Two Mars orbiters [1]
China Tianwen-2 May 2025 Asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa sample return, comet 311P/PanSTARRS orbiter [2]
JapanFranceGermany Martian Moons eXploration 2026 Martian moon sample return mission [3]
United StatesNew Zealand Venus Life Finder NET summer 2026 Private Venus atmospheric probe by Rocket Lab and MIT [4]
Japan DESTINY+ 2028 Asteroid 3200 Phaethon flyby [5]
United States Dragonfly July 2028 Titan rotorcraft lander [6][7]
Europe Rosalind Franklin 2028 Mars rover, ExoMars [8][9]
China Tianwen-3 2028 Mars sample return mission [10]
United Arab Emirates MBR Explorer 2028 Flyby mission to seven asteroids [11]
India Venus Orbiter Mission 2028 Venus orbiter [12]
China Tianwen-4 September 2029 Jupiter and Callisto orbiter, Uranus flyby [13][14]
China Solar Polar Orbit Observatory 2029 High-inclination solar orbiter, Jupiter flyby [15]
EuropeJapan Comet Interceptor 2029 Flyby of an Oort Cloud comet [16][17][18]
United States VERITAS 2029 Venus orbiter [19]
Europe EnVision 2031 Venus orbiter [20]
India Mangalyaan-2 2031 Mars orbiter and lander [21][22]
United States DAVINCI 2032 Venus orbiter and atmospheric probe [23]

Proposed missions

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Mission name Preliminary launch date estimate Description Ref(s)
Estimated launch date Estimate by Estimate as of
China Shensuo (Interstellar Express) 2024[needs update] Scientia Sinica Informationis 2019 "Voyager-like" mission to outer planets [24][25]
United StatesEurope NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return 2027[needs update] ESA 2023 Mars sample return mission [26]
Europe Ramses 2028 ESA 2024 Asteroid orbiter [27][28]
Japan Tera-hertz Explorer 2020s[citation needed] Mars orbiter and lander [29][30]
Russia Venera-D 2031 Russian Space Research Institute 2023 Venus orbiter and lander [31]
United States Uranus Orbiter and Probe NET 2031 NASA 2023 Uranus orbiter and probe [32][33]
China Venus atmospheric sample return 2033 DSEL/CNSA 2025 Return atmospheric samples from Venus [34]
United States Interstellar Probe 2036 NASA 2022 "Voyager on steroids" [35]
United States Enceladus Orbilander 2038 NASA 2023 Enceladus orbiter/lander [36]
China Mars Research Station for ISRU 2038 DSEL/CNSA 2025 Mars surface research station for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) [34]
China Probe to Neptune and Triton 2039 DSEL/CNSA 2025 Exploration of Neptune and its moon Triton [34]

Suspended missions

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The following missions were suspended or cancelled because of political, budgetary, or other reasons. The spacecraft were already assembled at the time of suspension/cancellation, so these missions can be resumed.

Mission name Cancellation date Description Status and reason Ref(s)
United States Janus 2023 Dual asteroids probe Was expected to be a secondary payload on the Psyche launch. After the delay, it was assessed that Janus wouldn't be able to reach the required trajectory. Both spacecraft were placed into long-term storage. [37]
Russia Kazachok 2022 Mars lander Originally part of the joint ExoMars mission with ESA, planned to deliver Rosalind Franklin rover. Mission was cancelled because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Spacecraft was returned to Roscosmos; officials stated that they will launch it without the rover, but no date was given. [38]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Foust, Jeff (25 April 2024). "NASA planning September launch of Mars smallsat mission on first New Glenn". SpaceNews. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  2. ^ Jones, Andrew (2022-05-18). "China to launch Tianwen 2 asteroid-sampling mission in 2025". Space.com. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
  3. ^ "MMX - Martian Moons eXploration". MMX - Martian Moons eXploration. Retrieved 2 June 2024. The current schedule has a launch date in JFY 2026, followed by Martian orbit insertion in JFY 2027 and the spacecraft will return to Earth in JFY 2031.
  4. ^ "Rocket Lab Mission to Venus". Venus Missions. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
  5. ^ "宇宙科学・探査ミッションの進捗状況について" [Space Science and Exploration Mission Progress] (PDF). ISAS (in Japanese). CAO. 9 October 2024. p. 11. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Dragonfly". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  7. ^ "NASA New Frontiers 5: Third Community Announcement". NASA Science Mission Directorate. 2021-05-12. Retrieved 2021-05-14. The launch date for Dragonfly, the fourth mission in the New Frontiers Program, has been delayed to June 2027.
  8. ^ "NASA, European Space Agency Unite to Land Europe's Rover on Mars - NASA". Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  9. ^ Foust, Jeff (2024-04-10). "ESA awards contract to Thales Alenia Space to restart ExoMars". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  10. ^ Jones, Andrew (2024-03-08). "China targets 2030 for Mars sample return mission, potential landing areas revealed". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  11. ^ Kenneth Chang (May 29, 2023). "The United Arab Emirates Is Heading for the Asteroid Belt". The New York Times.
  12. ^ "Union Cabinet Approves India's Mission to Venus, and Sample Return from the Moon". www.isro.gov.in. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  13. ^ CNSA Watcher [@CNSAWatcher] (23 December 2023). "Tianwen-4, launching Sept 2029, will journey to Jupiter using Venus & Earth gravity assists. Targeting Jupiter capture by Dec 2035 & a Uranus flyby in March 2045, the mission includes 2 probes, one exploring Jupiter's system and another flying by Uranus" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Andrew Jones published (2022-09-22). "China wants to probe Uranus and Jupiter with 2 spacecraft on one rocket". Space.com. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  15. ^ Jones, Andrew (2025-02-25). "China to send a spacecraft out of the ecliptic to study the Sun's poles". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2025-02-25.
  16. ^ "Ariel moves from blueprint to reality". ESA. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  17. ^ "ESA's new mission to intercept a comet". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  18. ^ "Comet Interceptor". www.cometinterceptor.space. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  19. ^ "NASA Selects 2 Missions to Study 'Lost Habitable' World of Venus - NASA". Retrieved 2023-11-30.
  20. ^ "ESA selects revolutionary Venus mission EnVision". www.esa.int. ESA. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  21. ^ Kuthunur, Sharmila (17 May 2024). "India's ambitious 2nd Mars mission to include a rover, helicopter, sky crane and a supersonic parachute". Space.com.
  22. ^ "Unmanned helicopter likely to join India's second space odyssey to Mars". rfi.
  23. ^ "FY 2025 PRESIDENT'S BUDGET REQUEST SUMMARY". NASA. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  24. ^ Wu, Weiren; Yu, Dengyun; Huang, Jiangchuan; Zong, Qiugang; Wang, Chi; Yu, Guobin; He, Rongwei; Wang, Qian; Kang, Yan; Meng, Linzhi; Wu, Ke; He, Jiansen; Li, Hui (2019-01-09). "Exploring the solar system boundary". Scientia Sinica Informationis. 49 (1): 1. doi:10.1360/N112018-00273. ISSN 2095-9486. S2CID 86476811.
  25. ^ Jones, Andrew (November 19, 2019). "China Considers Voyager-like Mission to Interstellar Space". Planetary.org. The Planetary Society. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  26. ^ "Earth Return Orbiter – the first round-trip to Mars". ESA. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  27. ^ "ESA moves forward with Apophis mission preparations". www.esa.int.
  28. ^ "Introducing Ramses, ESA's mission to asteroid Apophis". www.esa.int.
  29. ^ Takeshi Kuroda, Yasuko Kasai, Shinichi Nakasuka, Hiroyuki Maezawa, Takayoshi Yamada, Ryohei Takahashi: TEREX-1: A micro-satellite terahertz lander for the exploration of water/oxygen resources on Mars. 43rd COSPAR Scientific Assembly, Abstract B0.5-0006-21 (oral), id.223, January 2021.
  30. ^ Kasai, Yasuko (13 June 2018). "Tera-hertz Explorer, TEREX, Mission" (PDF). University of Tsukuba. NICT. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  31. ^ Zak, Anatoly (5 March 2021). "New promise for the Venera-D project". RussianSpaceWeb. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  32. ^ Simon, Amy; Nimmo, Francis; Anderson, Richard C. (7 June 2021). "Journey to an Ice Giant System: Uranus Orbiter and Probe". Planetary Mission Concept for the 2023–2032 Planetary Science Decadal Survey. NASA. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  33. ^ Foust, Jeff (2023-05-03). "Plutonium availability constrains plans for future planetary missions". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  34. ^ a b c Jones, Andrew (2025-03-27). "China unveils planetary exploration roadmap targeting habitability and extraterrestrial life". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
  35. ^ Stone, Richard (28 July 2022). "'Voyager on steroids.' Mission would probe mysterious region beyond our Solar System". Science. doi:10.1126/science.ade1070. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  36. ^ MacKenzie, Shannon M.; Kirby, Karen W.; Greenauer, Peter J.; Neveu, Marc; Gold, Rob; Davila, Alfonso; Lunine, Jonathan I.; Cable, Morgan; Craft, Kate; Eigenbrode, Jennifer; Glein, Christopher; Hofgartner, Jason; Mckay, Christopher; Phillips-Lander, Charity; Waite, Hunter; Burton, Dana; Seifert, Helmut; Boye, Jeff; Brock, Spencer; Chen, Michelle; Coker, Rob; Colonel, Grace; Criss, Tom; Crowley, Doug (14 October 2020). "Encealdus Orbilander: A Flagship Mission Concept for Astrobiology". NASA Technical Reports Server. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  37. ^ "NASA to Store Janus Spacecraft, Mission to Study Asteroid Systems – Janus". blogs.nasa.gov. 2023-07-11. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  38. ^ "Europe ending cooperation with Russia on life-hunting Mars rover". Space.com.