List of rovers on extraterrestrial bodies

A rover is a planetary surface exploration vehicle designed to move over the rough surface of a planet or other celestial body. Rovers are used to explore, collect information, and take samples of the surface. This is a list of all rovers on extraterrestrial bodies in the Solar System. Since 1970, there have been seven lunar rovers, seven Mars rovers, and three asteroid rovers that have successfully landed and explored these extraterrestrial surfaces. In addition, a small helicopter on Mars, Ingenuity, continues to periodically fly.

Moon

Mission Rover Country/Agency Date of landing Coordinates Operational time Distance travelled Outcome
Luna 17 Lunokhod 1 Soviet Union USSR 17 November 1970 38.2378°N 35.0017°W / 38.2378; -35.0017 (Lunokhod 1) 322 days 10.5 km (6.5 mi) Successful
First rover on an extraterrestrial body.
Luna 21 Lunokhod 2 Soviet Union USSR 15 January 1971 25.85°N 30.45°E / 25.85; 30.45 (Lunokhod 2) 236 days 39 km (24 mi) Successful
Farthest distance traveled on the Moon.
Chang'e 3 Yutu China CNSA 14 December 2013 44.1214°N 19.5116°W / 44.1214; -19.5116 (Yutu) 42 days (mobile)
973 days (total)
114.8 m (377 ft) Successful
First Chinese extraterrestrial rover and first soft landing on the Moon in over 35 years.
Chang'e 4 Yutu-2 China CNSA 3 January 2019 45.444°S 177.599°E / -45.444; 177.599 (Yutu 2) 1756 days 1.455 km (0.904 mi)[1]
as of 3 January 2023
Operational
First soft landing on the far side of the Moon. Longest fully functioning rover on the Moon.
Chandrayaan-2 Pragyan India ISRO 6 September 2019 70.90°S 22.78°E / -70.90; 22.78 (Vikram lander) 0 days 0 km Failure
Lost when Vikram lander crash landed on the Moon.
Hakuto-R Mission 1 Rashid United Arab Emirates MBRSC April 2023 TBD 0 days 0 km Failure
Sora-Q Japan Tomy/JAXA/Doshisha University April 2023 Failure
Contact lost during final descent of the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander. Presumed crash landing and failure.
Chandrayaan-3 Pragyan India ISRO 23 August 2023 69.373°S 32.319°E / -69.373; 32.319[2] 2 months and 2 days 101.4 m (333 ft)[3]
as of 2 September 2023
Successful
First rover and first soft landing near lunar south pole.
SLIM LEV-1 Japan JAXA February 2024 TBD En route
LEV-2 (Sora-Q) En route
A hopper and a rover included in the SLIM mission which will demonstrate precision landing technology.
Mission One Colmena x5 Mexico UNAM 2024 TBD Planned
Iris United States CMU Planned
Colmena will be deployed using a small catapult mechanism.
IM-2 MAPP United States Lunar Outpost H1 2024 TBD Planned
AstroAnt United States MIT Planned
Micro-Nova United States Intuitive Machines Planned
Yaoki Japan Dymon Planned
MAPP and Micro-Nova will demonstrate a new lunar communication system.
IM-3 Lunar Vertex United StatesNASA/Lunar Outpost H1 2024 TBD Planned
CADRE x4 United StatesNASA Planned
Mission to study Reiner Gamma.
VIPER United States NASA November 2024 TBD Planned
Will land near Nobile crater to search for Lunar water.
Hakuto-R Mission 2 ispace Rover Japan ispace Europe 2024 TBD Planned
Hakuto-R Mission 2 will feature a rover for surface exploration and data collection.
Chang’e 7 Chang’e 7 rover China CNSA 2026 TBD Planned
Chang’e 7 hopper Planned
Will search for water ice in and around craters in the south pole of the Moon.
LUPEX LUPEX Rover Japan JAXA India ISRO 2025 TBD Planned
Joint mission between ISRO and JAXA.
ZeusX LIBER Singapore Qosmosys 2027 TBD Planned
Lunar Integrated Bulk Extraction Rover (LIBER) will mine on the lunar surface.
Chang’e 8 Chang’e 8 rover China CNSA 2028 TBD Planned
Chang’e 8 Robot Planned
Chinese ISRU mission in preparation for ILRS.
TBD Rashid 2 United Arab Emirates MBRSC TBD TBD Planned
Rover development announced after failure of first rover.

Mars

Mission Rover Country/Agency Date of landing Coordinates Operational time Distance travelled
Mars 2PrOP-MSoviet Union USSR27 November 197145°S 47°E--
First rover launched to Mars. Lost when Mars 2 lander crash landed on Mars.
Mars 3PrOP-MSoviet Union USSR2 December 197145°S 202°E--
Mars 3 lander stopped communicating about 20 seconds after landing, contact with rover was not established.
Mars PathfinderSojournerUnited States NASA4 July 199738.2378°N 35.0017°W / 38.2378; -35.0017 (Sojourner)85 days100 m (330 ft)
First successful rover on Mars.
Mars Exploration RoverSpiritUnited States NASA4 January 200414.5684°S 175.472636°E / -14.5684; 175.472636 (Spirit)6 years 79 days7.73 km (4.80 mi)
Mission ended after rover got stuck in Martian sand.
OpportunityUnited States NASA25 January 20041.9462°S 354.4734°E / -1.9462; 354.4734 (Opportunity)14 years 140 days45.16 km (28.06 mi)
Longest distance travelled by any rover and most days operated.
Mars Science LaboratoryCuriosityUnited States NASA6 August 20124.5895°S 137.4417°E / -4.5895; 137.4417 (Curiosity)11 years 80 days27.55 km (17.12 mi)
as of 24 March 2022[4]
Currently active.
Mars 2020PerseveranceUnited States NASA18 February 202118.4447°N 77.4508°E / 18.4447; 77.4508 (Mars 2020)2 years 249 days21.28 km (13.22 mi)
as of 19 October 2023[5]
Ingenuity 3 April 2021 (deployment) 14.659 km (9.109 mi) in 63 flights
as of 19 October 2023 (UTC)
Currently active, with Ingenuity helicopter. Ingenuity is the first Rotorcraft to fly on an extraterrestrial body.
Tianwen-1ZhurongChina CNSA14 May 202125.1°N 109.9°E / 25.1; 109.9356 days1.921 km (1.194 mi)
as of 1 May 2022[6]
Inactive after dust storm and Martian winter.
MMX IDEFIX GermanyFranceDLR/CNES 2025 TBD
Rover developed to study the surface of Phobos.
ExoMarsRosalind FranklinEurope ESA202818.275°N 335.368°E / 18.275; 335.368 (Rosalind Franklin)420 days (planned)
Rover will search for previous signs of life on Mars.
Mars Sample Return Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters United States NASA 2030 TBD
2 Ingenuity class helicopters designed to retrieve Martian regolith samples.

Asteroids

Body Mission Rover Country/Agency Date of landing Location Operational time Distance travelled
162173 RyuguHayabusa2MINERVA-II Rover-1AJapan JAXA21 September 2019Tritonis36 days[7]
MINERVA-II Rover-1B3 days[7]
Successfully landed, returned images, and hopped along surface. First rovers on an asteroid.
MASCOTGermanyFrance DLR/CNES3 October 2018Alice's Wonderland17 h 14 min[8]~17.9 m (59 ft)[8]
Successfully landed, returned images from the surface, and performed multiple hops along surface.
MINERVA-II Rover-2Japan JAXAOctober 2019Unknown0 days0 m
Failed before deployment, so it was released in orbit around the asteroid to perform gravitational measurements before it impacted a few days later.

Titan

Mission Rover Country/Agency Date of landing Location Operational time Distance travelled
DragonflyUnited States NASA2034Shangri-La10 years (planned)8 km per flight
Rotorcraft to be sent to Titan in 2027.

Proposed rovers

Rover Country/Agency Proposed Date of launch Location Notes
MPR-1 Canada STELLS 2025 In range of a crater Rover under study for power supply for future mining rovers
Canadensys RoverCanada Canadensys2026Lunar South PoleRover funded by CSA to scout for water ice on the Moon
Lunar Zebro Netherlands Delft University of Technology 2026 Lunar South Pole Small rover studying swarm technologies
Lunar Trailblazer Australia Australian Space Agency 2026 Rover being researched by Australian Businesses
Luna-Grunt Russia Roscosmos 2028 Rover for proposed Luna 29 sample return mission, details of rover are unknown
Work Robot China CNSA 2028 Might be part of Chang'e 8 mission.[9]
HERACLES Canada CSA 2030 Schrödinger basin Part of European Large Logistic Lander program, Will be used to transport samples and scout for resources on the Moon.
TBD South Korea KARI 2031 KARI has requested a budget of $459 million for a lander and rover mission.[10]
CELV China Jilin University/CAST TBD Near a Lunar base The Cubic Emergency Lunar Vehicle is an emergency crewed rover that will be stored on a larger crewed rover.[11]
Moonranger United States Astrobotic/Carnegie Mellon University TBD Lunar South Pole Was intended to launch in November 2023 but Lunar

Lander provider hit bankruptcy and rover is on hold for now

Asagumo United Kingdom Spacebit TBD Spider-like rover was planned to launch with

Peregrine Mission One but status is currently unknown

Crewed rovers

Mission Rover Country/Agency Date of landing Coordinates Operational time Distance travelled Notes
Apollo 15Lunar Roving VehicleUnited States NASA7 August 197126.1322°N 3.6339°E 3 h 02 min27.76 km

(7.75 mi)

First crewed lunar rover
Apollo 16 Lunar Roving Vehicle United States NASA 21 April 1972 8.97301°S 15.50019°E 3 h 26 min 26.55 km

(16.50 mi)

Apollo 17 Lunar Roving Vehicle United States NASA 11 December 1972 20.1908°N 30.7717°E 4 h 26 min 35.89 km

(22.30 mi)

Furthest distance

travelled by crewed lunar rover

Starship lunar cargo mission FLEX United States AstroLab 2026 TBD Contracted with SpaceX to land Astrolabs’ rover on the Moon aboard Starship
Artemis 5 Lunar Terrain Vehicle United States NASA 2029 TBD unpressurised crewed rover for the Artemis program
Artemis 7 Lunar Cruiser Japan JAXA 2031 TBD Developed jointly between JAXA and Toyota
Chinese Crewed Lunar Mission Chinese Crewed Rover China CNSA 2030> TBD Rover unrevealed at the National Museum of China on Feb 24th 2023

See also

References

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