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Canceled Spacecraft and Forerunners
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Canceled Spacecraft and Forerunners
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Below is a list of Canceled Spacecraft and Forerunner postal items (stamps, souvenir sheets, aerogrammes, postal cards, etc.). Catalog numbers, years of issue, and notes on the spacecraft are given when available. If viewers know of additional information or details about these items, please contact the authors using the e-mail addresses at the bottom of this page.
A canceled spacecraft is one that was designed and possibly even built but never launched! This page features only those canceled spacecraft for which postal items have been found that depict and name those spacecraft as future un-manned satellites. The stipulation that a spacecraft be named on postal items separates them from many other Unknown-identity or fantasy-design spacecraft. Also, other canceled spacecraft for which no postal items are found are not presented here.
A few other canceled spacecraft are found on other pages where they accompany similar missions that were launched. Those spacecraft are listed at the bottom of this page and links are provided to where postal items for these canceled spacecraft are found.
Not included in this collection of canceled spacecraft are any individual canceled spacecraft that are part of multiple-satellite series, where particular spacecraft in the series are either missing or skipped, or the series ended before the last of the spacecraft were built and launched.
Forerunner spacecraft are canceled spacecraft that preceded (but were never launched) and were later transformed/reworked into other spacecraft. These forerunners are presented along with the satellites that followed or were derived from the canceled forerunners.
| Launch covers (including anniversary-of-launch covers, and launch-related event covers) (farther below) |
Other postal items (stamps, souvenir sheets, aerogrammes, postal cards, etc.) (immediately below) |
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| Canceled Spacecraft (which are depicted and named on postal items) (found below) |
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| MCIM1 (NASA) [canceled] | |
| CNSR9 (NASA) [canceled] | |
| Marsnet8 (ESA/ESTEC) [canceled] | Marsnet8 (ESA/ESTEC) [canceled] |
| Mars Water10 (country and/or agency?) [canceled] | |
| Mars Sample Return (Russian Phobos-Grunt automatic probe) [canceled] | |
| Multi-Scout Mars Lander14 (NASA) [canceled] | |
| NetLander15 (CNES/ESA) [canceled] | |
| Lunar-A16 (JAXA) [canceled] | |
| GRASP11 (Europe/ESA) [canceled] | |
| STARS19 (ESA) [canceled] | |
| XEUS17 (ESA) [canceled] | |
| Darwin2 (ESA) [canceled] | |
| AGORA13 (CNES) [canceled] | |
| APMT18 (China/PRC and others) [canceled] | |
| Cariane3 (France/CNES) [canceled] | |
| Marco Polo4 (ESA-JAXA) [canceled] | |
| CESAR6 (Spain-Argentina) [canceled] | |
| CDRS7 (ESA) [canceled] | |
| Asteroid redirect mission12 (NASA) [canceled] | |
| Other Canceled Spacecraft as Forerunners (which are depicted and named on postal items) (found elsewhere) |
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This is a place for philatelic items of interest that otherwise are Canceled Spacecraft on postal items (stamps, souvenir sheets, aerogrammes, postal cards, etc.).
| Country | Catalog Number | Type of Item | Year of Issue | Notes on Content |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canceled Spacecraft (which are depicted and named on postal items) | ||||
| MCIM1 (NASA) [canceled] | ||||
| Central African Republic | 782 (Mi1190A) i782 (Mi1190B) | Imperforate | 1985 | "Sonde de la NASA" (MCIM)1 |
| Central African Republic | 782a (BL361A) i782a (BL361B) | On stamp of SS1 (782) On stamp of imperforate SS1 | ||
| Central African Republic | 784b (Mi1187A-1192A) i784b (Mi1187B-1192B) | On one of MS6 (779-784) On one of imperforate MS6 (i779-i784) | ||
| Central African Republic | 785 (BL357A) i785 (BL357B) | On stamp of SS1 On stamp of imperforate SS1 | ||
| Guinea Republic | 989 (Mi1111A) i989 (Mi1111B) | Imperforate | 1986 | "Sonde NASA" (MCIM)1 |
| Guinea Republic | 989a (BL218A) i989a (BL218B) | On stamp of SS1 (989) On stamp of imperforate SS1 (i989) | ||
| Guinea Republic | 989b (Mi1106A-1111A) | On one of MS6 (984-989) | ||
| Guinea Republic | 990 (BL212A) i990 (BL212B) | In (upper-right) margin of SS1 In (upper-right) margin of imperforate SS1 | ||
| Guinea Republic | Mi1113A Mi1113B | From MS4 (4x Mi1113A) From imperforate MS4 (4x Mi1113B) | MCIM1 (at left) | |
| Guinea Republic | BL219A BL219B | On stamp of SS1 (Mi1113A) On stamp of imperforate SS1 (Mi1113B) | ||
| CNSR9 (NASA) [canceled] | ||||
| Guinea Republic | B39a (BL328A, Mi1250A) | In (lower-left) margin of SS1 (B39) | 1989 | "Sonde CNSR"9 |
| Marsnet8 (ESA/ESTEC) [canceled] | ||||
| Chad | 683b (Mi1358aA) i683b (Mi1358aB) | One of pair (683 (a-b)), white border (Mi1357aA-1358aA) One of imperforate pair (i683 (a-b)), white border | 1996 | "multi-sondes Marsnet"8 |
| Chad | 683cb (Mi1358bA) i683cb (Mi1358bB) | One of MS2 (683c (a-b), blue border (BL256A, Mi1357bA-1358bA) One of imperforate MS2 (i683c (a-b)), blue border | ||
| Mars Water10 (country and/or agency?) [canceled] | ||||
| Nevis | 1212b (Mi1564) i1212b | One of MS6 (1212 (a-f)) (Mi1563-1568) One of imperforate MS6 (i1212 (a-f)) | 2000 | "Mars Water"10 |
| Mars Sample Return5 (Russian Phobos-Grunt automatic probe) [canceled] | ||||
| Madagascar | 1541e (Mi2509) | One of MS6 (1541 (a-f)) (Mi2505-2510) | 2000 | "Mars sample return" (in French text) |
| Madagascar | 1541 fdc | MS6 on FDC | ||
| Multi-Scout Mars Lander14 (NASA) [canceled] | ||||
| Guinea Republic | 2224 (Mi4054A) i2224 (Mi4054B) | Imperforate | 2003 | "Multi-Scout Mars Lander"14 |
| Guinea Republic | 2224a (BL818A) i2224a (BL818B) | On stamp of SS1 (2224) On stamp of imperforate SS1 (i2224) | ||
| Guinea Republic | 2224a fdc | SS1 on FDC | ||
| Guinea Republic | 2224b (BL none) i2224b | MS4 (4x 2224) Imperforate MS4 (4x i2224) | ||
| Guinea Republic | 2224b fdc | MS4 on FDC | ||
| NetLander15 (CNES/ESA) [canceled] | ||||
| Guinea Republic | 2232h (Mi4064A) i2232h (Mi4064B) | One of MS8 (2232 (a-h)) (Mi4057A-4064A) One of imperforate MS8 (i2232 (a-h)) (Mi4057B-4064B) | 2003 | "Net Lander (2007)"15 |
| Guinea Republic | 2232 fdc | MS8 on FDC | ||
| Lunar-A16 (JAXA) [canceled] | ||||
| Guinea Republic | Mi6516A Mi6516B | One of MS6 (Mi6512A-6517A) Imperforate | 2009 | "Lunar-A"16 |
| GRASP11 (Europe/ESA) [canceled] | ||||
| Guinea Republic | B43a (BL332A, Mi1254A) | In (lower-left) margin of SS1 (B43) | 1989 | "Télescope GRASP"11 |
| STARS19 (ESA) [canceled] | ||||
| Chad | 720a (BL281, Mi1641) | In (left) margin of SS1 (720) | 1997 | "STARS"19 |
| XEUS17 (ESA) [canceled] | ||||
| Guinea Republic | 2232f (Mi4062A) i2232f (Mi4062B) | One of MS8 (2232 (a-h)) (Mi4057A-4064A) One of imperforate MS8 (i2232 (a-h)) (Mi4057B-4064B) | 2003 | "télescope spatial XEUS"17 |
| Guinea Republic | 2232 fdc | MS8 on FDC | ||
| Darwin2 (ESA) [canceled] | ||||
| Benin | Unknown b (Mi none) | One of MS2 (a-b) [known illegal issue] | 2017 | "Darwin télescope spatial" |
| Djibouti | Unknown ms (Mi none) | On stamp and label from MS2 (2x single) [known illegal issue] | 2014 | "Darwin" |
| Djibouti | Unknown fdc | MS2 on FDC | ||
| Djibouti | Unknown iss (BL none) | On stamp of imperforate SS1 [known illegal issue] | ||
| Gabon | Unknown a (Mi none) Unknown ia | One of MS4 (a-d) [known illegal issue] One of imperforate MS4 (a-d) | 2016 | "Darwin" |
| Gabon | Unknown fdc Unknown ifdc | MS4 on FDC Imperforate MS4 and (multi-color printed) cachet on FDC | ||
| Gabon | Unknown a-d fdc | One of four stamps on FDC | ||
| Guinea Republic | 2232b (Mi4058A) i2232b (Mi4058B) | One of MS8 (2232 (a-h)) (Mi4057A-4064A) One of imperforate MS8 (i2232 (a-h)) (Mi4057B-4064B) | 2003 | "télescope spatial Darwin" |
| Guinea Republic | 2232 fdc | MS8 on FDC | ||
| AGORA13 (CNES) [canceled] | ||||
| Central African Republic | 848a (BL412A) i848a (BL412B) | In (upper-right) margin of SS1 (848) In (upper-right) margin of imperforate SS1 (i848) | 1987 | "Sonde AGORA"13 |
| APMT18 (China/PRC and others) [canceled] | ||||
| Niger | 1071a (Mi1883A) i1071a (Mi1883B) | One of MS4 (1071 (a-d)) (Mi1883A-1886A) One of imperforate MS4 (i1071 (a-d)) | 2001 | "... Asian Mobile Sat[ellite] System" (APMT)18 |
| Cariane3 (France/CNES) [canceled] | ||||
| Comoro Islands | 791 (Mi997A) i791 (Mi997B) | More perforations than MS6 or SS1, and no inscriptions at bottom | 1992 | "Cariane" |
| Comoro Islands | 791 var (Mi997A) i791 var (Mi997B) | One of MS6 (795a (790-795)) (Mi996A-1001A) One of imperforate MS6 (i795a (i790-i795)) (Mi996B-1001B) | ||
| Comoro Islands | 791b (BL374A) i791b (BL374B) | On stamp of SS1 (791) On stamp of imperforate SS1 (i791) | ||
| Marco Polo4 (ESA-JAXA) [canceled] | ||||
| Benin | Unknown c (Mi none) Unknown ic | One stamp and in (left) margin of MS4 (a-d) [known illegal issue] One stamp and in (left) margin of imperforate MS4 (a-d) | 2014 | "Marco Polo" and logo |
| Benin | Unknown a-d fdc | One of four stamps on FDC | ||
| Benin | Unknown c proof Unknown ic proof | One of MS4 proof (a-d) One of imperforate MS4 proof (a-d) | ||
| Benin | Unknown ms proof | Signed-proof MS4 (a-d) | ||
| Benin | Unknown ms proof fdc Unknown ims proof fdc | MS4 proof on FDC Imperforate MS4 proof and (multi-color printed) cachet on FDC | ||
| Chad | Unknown (Mi none) | 2010 | "Marco Polo" | |
| Chad | Unknown fdc | Stamp and (multi-color printed) cachet on FDC | ||
| Chad | Unknown ss (BL none) | On stamp of SS1 | ||
| Chad | Unknown ss fdc | SS1 and (multi-color printed) cachet on FDC | ||
| St. Thomas and Prince Islands | Unknown ms (Mi none) | In (lower-left) margin of MS9 (a-i) | 2004 | "Marco Polo" logo (different satellite and logo design from others in this section) |
| St. Thomas and Prince Islands | Unknown ms fdc | MS9 and (multi-color printed) cachet on FDC | ||
| CESAR6 (Spain-Argentina) [canceled] | ||||
| Guyana | 3504a (Mi6964) i3504a | One of MS6 (3504 (a-f)) (Mi6964-6969) One of imperforate MS6 (i3504 (a-f)) | 2000 | "CESAR" |
| Guyana | 3504 fdc | MS6 on FDC | ||
| CDRS7 (ESA) [canceled] | ||||
| France | 1148+2023 cover (Mi1539+? cover) | (Blue and black printed) cachet on cover | 1986 | (model of) the CDRS above the CNES/ESA "Hermes" space shuttle |
| Asteroid redirect mission12 (NASA) [canceled] | ||||
| St. Thomas and Prince Islands | 2606c (Mi5418) | One of MS4 (2606 (a-d)) (Mi5416-5419) | 2013 | "NASA Asteroid Redirect Mission"12 (in Portuguese text) |
1MCIM: Multi-Comet Intercept Mission spacecraft, a mission that was canceled; see https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19760028353.
2Darwin: A proposed constellation of four or five free-flying spacecraft designed to search for Earth-like planets around other stars and analyse their atmospheres for chemical signatures of life. See https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Darwin_overview.
3Cariane: A microgravity research capsule in low-Earth orbit. See https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/6.1991-878.
4Marco Polo: A proposed joint ESA-JAXA mission to return unaltered materials from a primitive Near Earth Object (NEO) to the Earth. See https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008epsc.conf..610G/abstract.
5Mars Sample Return: (Possibly) the proposed Russian mission to return samples of soil from Mars' moon Phobos, called the Phobos-Grunt automatic probe and planned for a launch in October 2009. See https://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Russia_To_Study_Martian_Moons_Once_Again_999.html.
6CESAR: Cooperation ESpañola-ARgentina, an Earth observation satellite mission developed in cooperation between INTA (Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial) from Spain and CONAE (Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales) from Argentina, with a proposed launch date circa 2002/2003. See https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S009457659900209X.
7CDRS: Work began in 1985 on ESA's ambitious Columbus program. One of its components was the CDRS (Columbus program Data Relay Satellite). ESA tried to integrate lessons learned from the American TDRS system into its design for the CDRS. Unfortunately, budgets were tight and all the elements of the Columbus program were eventually modified or canceled. Some of the design elements of the CDRS may have made their way into the EDRS (European Data Relay Satellite System) payloads that were integrated into other satellites launched in 2016 and 2019.
8Marsnet: A Mars-orbiting communications and navigation spacecraft constellation, an ESA/ESTEC mission that was canceled. See https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19940028693.
9CNSR: Comet Nucleus Sample Return spacecraft, a mission that was canceled. See http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1987LPI....18...11A. Another proposal was the "multiple asteroid sample return mission"; see https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19940021199.
10Mars Water: The authors have been unable to find any evidence for such a proposed spacecraft. We speculate that it might be a design that never got past the preliminary concept stage.
11GRASP: Gamma-Ray Astronomy with Spectroscopy and Positioning spacecraft, an European mission and spacecraft that was canceled. See https://www.academia.edu/13707677/The_GRASP_telescope.
12Asteroid redirect mission: This mission proposed by NASA in 2013 was later canceled. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_Redirect_Mission.
13AGORA: Affordable and Guaranteed Offers for Rural Areas (a broadband communications access service planned by the French CNES, but canceled). See http://globalforum.items-int.com/gf/gf-content/uploads/2014/04/GF04_-_Session_1_-_B_Mathieu.pdf.
14Multi-Scout Mars Lander: An early concept under consideration by NASA to be the first Scout mission in 2007. See http://www.fourth-millennium.net/mission-artwork/mars-multi-scout-landers-home.html for some artwork of this proposed mission.
15NetLander: In late 2007 CNES and ESA canceled plans to send a remote sensing orbiter and four small NetLanders to Mars. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetLander.
16Lunar-A: A canceled Japanese lunar orbiter that was originally scheduled to be launched in August 2004. See https://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/lunar_a/index.html.
17XEUS: X-ray Evolving Universe Spectroscopy (ESA astronomy mission). See https://www.academia.edu/67612957/XEUS_the_x_ray_evolving_universe_spectroscopy_mission.
18APMT: Asia Pacific Mobile Telecom (China/PRC-dominated spacecraft-based mobile phone system). See https://www.globalsecurity.org/space/world/china/apmt.htm.
19STARS: Seismic Telescope for Astrophysical Research from Space (proposed ESA astronomy mission). See https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1995ASPC...83..455R.
This is a place for philatelic items of interest that otherwise are Canceled Spacecraft on satellite launch and event and anniversary covers.
| Country | Cancel Date | Cancel Location | Type of Item | Notes on Content |
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| Canceled Spacecraft (which are depicted and named on postal items) | ||||
| Marsnet8 (ESA/ESTEC) [canceled] | ||||
| French Guiana | 1992-07-09 | Kourou | (ESA / KPS ?) cachet on Insat-2A and Eutelsat-2-F4 launch cover | (possible) Marsnet8 [canceled] |
8Marsnet: A Mars-orbiting communications and navigation spacecraft constellation, an ESA/ESTEC mission that was canceled.
| Other Canceled Spacecraft as Forerunners (which are depicted and named on postal items) (found elsewhere) |
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| Spacecraft (country and/or agency) | Forerunner for | Type/Discipline |
| Mariner Mark II (NASA) | Cassini-Huygens | planetary-exploration |
| CRAF (NASA) | Cassini-Huygens | cometary-exploration asteroid-exploration |
| ISPM (NASA) | Ulysses | solar-observing |
| PPF (ESA) | Envisat | environmental-observing |
| POEM (ESA) | Envisat | environmental-observing |
| Mars Surveyor 1998 Orbiter (NASA) | MCO | planetary-exploration |
| Mars Surveyor 1998 Lander (NASA) | MPL | planetary-exploration |
| Mars Surveyor 2001 Orbiter (NASA) | Mars Odyssey | planetary-exploration |
| Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander (NASA) | PML | planetary-exploration |
