Planetary and lunar (and asteroid) satellites

Below are checklists of planetary and lunar (and asteroid) satellites, launch dates, and images of the satellites. Many solar and inter-planetary satellites are listed under the scientific/research discipline/category on this Website. This is a work in progress, and completeness is our goal. If readers know of additional information or images, please contact the authors using the e-mail addresses at the bottom of this page.

Satellite series covered on this page:

U.S. Pioneer-series (planetary) satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Earlier Pioneer-series (non-planetary) satellites (Pioneer-0 — Pioneer-E)			Pioneer (non-planetary)	Pioneer (non-planetary)
Pioneer-10 (Pioneer-F) (Jupiter flyby)	1972-03-03	Pioneer-10 Pioneer-10	Pioneer (planetary)	Pioneer (planetary)
Pioneer-11 (Pioneer-G) (Jupiter and Saturn flybys)	1973-04-06	Pioneer-11
Pioneer-12 (Pioneer-Venus-1 / Orbiter)	1978-05-20	Pioneer-12
Pioneer-13 (Pioneer-Venus-2 / Multi-probe)	1978-08-08	Pioneer-13

U.S. Mariner-series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Mariner-1 [failed]	1962-07-22		Mariner-1 Mariner-1 Mariner-1	Mariner-1 (Mariner-2, not Mariner-1)1
Mariner-2 (Venus flyby)	1962-08-27	Mariner-2	Mariner-2 Mariner-2 Mariner-2 Mariner-2 (Venus flyby) Mariner-2 Mariner-2 Mariner-2 (insert) Mariner-2 (Venus flyby)	Mariner-2 Mariner-2 Mariner-2 Mariner-2 Mariner-2 (not Mariner-1)1
Mariner-3 (Mars probe)	1964-11-05		Mariner-3	Mariner-3
Mariner-4 (Mars probe)	1964-11-28	Mariner-4	Mariner-4 Mariner-4 Mariner-4 Mariner-4 (25th anniv.) Mariner-4 Mariner-4 (Mars flyby)	Mariner-4 Mariner-4 Mariner-4 Mariner-4 Mariner-4 Mariner-4 Mariner-4 Mariner-4 (launch) Mariner-4 (wrong image)
Mariner-5 (Venus flyby)	1967-06-14	Mariner-5		Molniya-1+Surveyor-3+Mariner-5
Mariner-6 (Mariner-F) (Mars flyby)	1969-02-24	Mariner-6/7 Mariner-6/7	Mariner-6 Mariner-6 Mariner-6 (Mars flyby)
Mariner-7 (Mariner-G) (Mars flyby)	1969-03-27		Mariner-7
Mariner-8 (Mariner-H) [failed]	1971-05-09
Mariner-9 (Mariner-I) (Mars orbit)	1971-05-30	Mariner-9 Mariner-9	Mariner-9 (5th anniv.)	Mariner-9 Mariner-9 Mariner-9 Mariner-9 Mariner-9
Mariner-10 (Mariner-J) (Venus and Mercury flybys)	1973-11-03	Mariner10	Mariner-10 (not Mariner-10 image) Mariner-10 Mariner-10 (Venus flyby)	Mariner-10 Mariner-10 Mariner-10 Mariner-10 Mariner-10 Mariner-10 Mariner-10 Mariner-10 Mariner-10 Mariner-10
Mariner	Multiple		Mariner-1+2+3+4+5+6+7+H+9+10
Mariner	Unspecified	Mariner		Mariner Mariner Mariner Giotto+Vega-1+Viking-lander+Mariner

¹Mariner-2, not Mariner-1 as indicated on this item, was the first Mariner to make the trip to Venus.

U.S. Ranger-series (lunar) satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Ranger-1	1961-08-23	Ranger-1		Ranger-1
Ranger-2	1961-11-18
Ranger-3	1962-01-26	Ranger-3/4/5	Ranger-3
Ranger-4	1962-04-23		Ranger-4
Ranger-5	1962-10-18		Ranger-5
Ranger-6	1964-01-30	Ranger-6/7/8/9	Ranger-6
Ranger-7	1964-07-28		Ranger-7	Ranger-7 Ranger-7 (wrong image) Ranger-7 (wrong image) Ranger-7 (wrong image) Luna-2+Ranger-7 Ranger-7+Ranger-9 Ranger-7+Ranger-9
Ranger-8	1965-02-17		Ranger-8
Ranger-9	1965-03-21		Ranger-9 (25th anniv., Ranger-7 shown?)	Ranger-7+Ranger-9 Ranger-7+Ranger-9
Ranger	Unspecified	Ranger Ranger	Ranger (unknown event)

U.S. Lunar Orbiter-series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Lunar Orbiter-1 (Lunar Orbiter-A)	1966-08-10		Lunar Orbiter-1 Lunar Orbiter-1
Lunar Orbiter-2 (Lunar Orbiter-B)	1966-11-06		Lunar Orbiter-2
Lunar Orbiter-3 (Lunar Orbiter-C)	1967-02-05		Lunar Orbiter-3 Lunar Orbiter-3
Lunar Orbiter-4 (Lunar Orbiter-D)	1967-05-04		Lunar Orbiter-4
Lunar Orbiter-5 (Lunar Orbiter-E)	1967-08-01		Lunar Orbiter-5
Lunar Orbiter	Unspecified	Lunar Orbiter Lunar Orbiter Lunar Orbiter		Lunar Orbiter

U.S. Surveyor-series (lunar) satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Surveyor-1 (Surveyor-A)	1966-05-30	Surveyor
Surveyor-2 (Surveyor-B)	1966-09-20
Surveyor-3 (Surveyor-C)	1967-04-17	Surveyor-3	Surveyor-3	Surveyor-3 (Apollo-12 visit) Molniya-1+Surveyor-3+Mariner-5
Surveyor-4 (Surveyor-D)	1967-07-14
Surveyor-5 (Surveyor-E)	1967-09-08
Surveyor-6 (Surveyor-F)	1967-11-07		Surveyor-6
Surveyor-7 (Surveyor-G)	1968-01-07		Surveyor-7 Surveyor-7

Russian Luna / Lunik series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Luna-1 / Mechta	1959-01-02	Luna-1	Luna-1 (1st anniv.) Luna-1 (2nd anniv.) Luna-1/2	Luna-1 Luna-1/2 Luna-1+Luna-3
Luna-2	1959-09-12	Luna-2		Luna-2 Luna-2 (wrong image) Luna-2+Ranger-7 Luna-2
Luna-3	1959-10-04	Luna-3 Luna-3	Luna-3 (3rd anniv.) Luna-3 (1st anniv. far-side moon)2 Luna-3 (1st anniv. far-side moon)2 Luna-3 (30th anniv. far-side moon)2	Luna-3 Luna-1+Luna-3
Luna (soft landing attempt)	1963-01-04
Luna (soft landing attempt)	1963-02-03
Luna-4	1963-04-02		Luna-4	Luna-4 (propaganda design)1 Luna-4 (propaganda design)1
Luna (soft landing attempt)	1964-04-09
Luna-5	1965-05-09		Luna-5 Luna-5
Luna-6	1965-06-08
Luna-7	1965-10-04
Luna-8	1965-12-03
Luna-9	1966-01-31			Luna-9 Luna-9 Luna-9 Luna-9 Luna-9 Luna-9 Luna-9
Luna-10	1966-03-31	Luna-10	Luna-10 Luna-10
Luna-11	1966-08-24
Luna-12	1966-10-22	Luna-12
Luna-13	1966-12-21
Luna-14	1968-04-07
Luna [failed]	1969-04-15
Luna [failed]	1969-06-12
Luna-15	1969-07-13
Luna [failed]	1970-02-19
Luna-16	1970-09-12		Luna-16	Luna-16 Luna-16 Luna-16 Luna-16
Luna-17 / Lunokhod-1	1970-11-10	Luna-17		Lunokhod-1
Luna-18	1971-09-02
Luna-19	1971-09-28
Luna-20	1972-02-14		Luna-20
Luna-21 / Lunokhod-2	1973-01-08	Lunokhod-2		Luna-21 / Lunokhod-2
Luna-22	1974-05-29		Luna-22
Luna-23	1974-10-28
Luna [failed]	1975-10-13
Luna-24 (orbiter and lander)	1976-08-09
Luna	Unspecified	Luna	Luna

¹Propaganda-design satellite, not Luna-4 as indicated on this item. Likewise on other items, the same propaganda satellite design was intended as a substitute for the actual satellite design. For other examples, see the checklist for the Russian propaganda-design satellite.
²Rather than the launch of Luna-3, these items commemorate the photographing of the far side of the moon by Luna-3 on 1959-10-07.

Zond-series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Zond-1 (Venus)	1964-04-02		Zond-1 Zond-1
Zond-2 (Mars)	1964-11-30
Zond-3 (moon)	1965-07-18	Zond-3
Zond [failed]	1967-11-22
Zond-4	1968-03-02		Zond-4 Zond-4 Zond-4
Zond [failed]	1968-04-22
Zond-5 (moon)	1968-09-14		Zond-5 Zond-5 Zond-5 Zond-5 Zond-5
Zond-6 (moon)	1968-11-10
Zond [failed]	1969-01-05
Zond-7 (moon)	1969-08-07
Zond-8 (moon)	1970-10-20
Zond	Unspecified	Zond

Russian Venera (Venus / Venusik) series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Venera-1 / Sputnik-8	1961-02-12		Venera-1 (1st anniv.)
Venera [failed]	1962-08-25
Venera [failed]	1962-09-01
Venera [failed]	1962-09-12
Venera-2	1965-11-12
Venera-3	1965-11-16			Venera-3
Venera-4	1967-06-12		Venera-4 Venera-4 (Venus arrival) Venera-4 (Venus arrival)	Venera-4
Venera-5	1969-01-05			Venera-5 Venera-5+6 Venera-5+6
Venera-6	1969-01-10		Venera-6 Venera-6
Venera-7	1970-08-17
Venera-8	1972-03-27		Venera-8
Venera-9 (orbiter and lander)	1975-06-08		Venera-9 Venera-9 Venera-9
Venera-10 (orbiter and lander)	1975-06-14		Venera-10
Venera-11 (orbiter and lander)	1978-09-09
Venera-12 (orbiter and lander)	1978-09-14
Venera-13 (orbiter and lander)	1981-10-30		Venera-13
Venera-14 (orbiter and lander)	1981-11-04
Venera-15	1983-06-02
Venera-16	1983-06-07

Russian Mars-series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Mars [failed]	1960-10-10
Mars [failed]	1960-10-14
Mars [failed]	1962-10-24
Mars-1 / Sputnik-23 (Mars fly-by)	1962-11-01		Mars-1 (16 days) Mars-1 (1 month) Mars-1 (1 month)	Mars-1
Mars [failed]	1962-11-04
Mars [failed]	1969-03-27
Mars [failed]	1969-04-02
Mars-2 (orbiter and lander)	1971-05-19
Mars-3 (orbiter and lander)	1971-05-28
Mars-4	1973-07-21
Mars-5	1973-07-25
Mars-6	1973-08-05
Mars-7	1973-08-09

Russian Phobos / Fobos series (Mars) satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Phobos-1	1988-07-07	Phobos-1
Phobos-2	1988-07-12
Phobos	Unspecified			Phobos

Japanese Muses-series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Hiten (Muses-A) / Hagoromo (Muses-A lunar-orbiter)	1990-01-24	Muses-A lunar-orbiter Muses-A lunar-orbiter
Haruka (HALCA / Muses-B)	1997-02-12	Muses-B
Hayabusa (Muses-C)	2003-05-09	Muses-C		Muses-C Muses-C Muses-C Muses-C Muses-C Muses-C Muses-C Muses-C

U.S. Viking-series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Viking-1 (Mars orbiter and lander)	1975-08-20	Viking-orbiter Viking-lander	Viking	Viking
Viking-2 (Mars orbiter and lander)	1975-09-09

U.S. Voyager-series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Voyager-2 (Voyager-B) (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune flybys)	1977-08-20	Voyager	Voyager	Voyager
Voyager-1 (Voyager-A) (Jupiter and Saturn flybys)	1977-09-05

Other (selected) U.S. planetary and lunar satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Magellan (Venus orbiter) [Atlantis-launched]	1989-05-04	Magellan Magellan	Magellan	Magellan
Galileo (Jupiter orbiter) [Atlantis-launched]	1989-10-18	Galileo Galileo Galileo (Atlantis-launch, booster attached)	Galileo	Galileo
Mars Observer (orbiter)	1992-09-25	Mars Observer Mars Observer	TOPEX-Poseidon+Mars Observer Ulysses+Galileo+Mars Observer	Ulysses+Magellan+Mars Observer
NEAR / Discovery-2 (Eros asteroid)	1996-02-17	NEAR NEAR	NEAR	NEAR NEAR NEAR NEAR NEAR
MGS (Mars Global Surveyor)	1996-11-07	MGS	MGS
Mars Pathfinder Rover / Sojourner / Discovery-1	1996-12-04	Sojourner		Sojourner
Cassini-Huygens (Saturn)	1997-10-15	Cassini-Huygens	Cassini-Huygens	Cassini-Huygens
Lunar Prospector / Discovery-3	1998-01-07	Lunar Prospector	Lunar Prospector	Lunar Prospector Lunar Prospector Lunar Prospector
MCO (Mars Climate Orbiter) [lost]2	1998-12-11	MCO	MCO MCO MCO (mislabeled "Mars Climate Observer") [attempted orbit insertion and loss]2	MCO
MPL (Mars Polar Lander) / Deep Space-21	1999-01-03	MPL	MPL
Mars Odyssey (orbiter)	2001-04-07	Mars Odyssey
MESSENGER / Discovery-8 (Mercury orbit)	2004-08-03	MESSENGER
MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter)	2005-08-12	MRO		MRO MRO MRO MRO
New Horizons (Pluto)	2006-01-19	New Horizons	New Horizons New Horizons
Phoenix Mars Lander	2007-08-04	Phoenix Mars Lander	Phoenix Mars Lander
Dawn / Discovery-9 (two asteroids)	2007-09-27	Dawn
LRO (lunar orbit)	2009-06-18	LRO	LRO LRO LRO
GRAIL-A/B / Discovery-11A/B (lunar orbit)	2011-?	GRAIL

¹Deep Space-2 consists of a set of two probes launched with the Mars Polar Lander (MPL).
²The craft was lost as it was occulted by Mars (went behind Mars as viewed from Earth). The root cause of the loss was found to be the use of English units for thruster performance data generated by a ground based computer program. This data was used in the construction of trajectory models for the spacecraft, and the modellers assumed the data was in metric units as per the specifications.

Other (selected) non-U.S. planetary and lunar satellites:

Satellite	Country	Launch Date	Images
			reference	launch covers	postal items
Mars Express (orbiter and lander)	ESA	2003-06-02	Mars Express
Venus Express (orbiter)	ESA	2005-11-09	Venus Express		Venus Express Venus Express
Kaguya / SELENE (lunar orbit)	Japan	2007-09-14	SELENE
Chang'e-1 (lunar orbit)	China (PRC)	2007-10-24	Chang'e-1	Chang'e	Chang'e
Chandrayaan-1 (lunar orbit)	India	2008-10-22	Chandrayaan-1

Links to planetary and lunar satellite information:

(The links below lead to information sources that are maintained by others. They are not part of this Website.)

• NSSDC: Planetary missions
• NSSDC: Soviet lunar missions
• Braeunig: Planetary spacecraft
• Braeunig: Un-manned lunar spacecraft

Back to Un-Manned Satellite Philately.