Full globe view of Venus in space.
image of Venus with detailed surface features

Venus: Exploration

Dozens of spacecraft have launched to explore Venus, but not all have been successful. NASA's Mariner 2 was the first spacecraft to visit any planet beyond Earth when it flew past Venus on Dec. 14, 1962. NASA is planning two new missions to Venus: VERITAS, and DAVINCI.

All NASA Science Missions

PLANET Location

Inner Solar System

FIRST NASA MISSION

Mariner 2

TOTAL MISSIONS

40+

FUTURE NASA MISSIONS

2

Why Return to Venus?

How did Venus become a sulfurous inferno, while Earth evolved to become the only known world with life?

Although not currently habitable, Venus lies within the Sun’s "Goldilocks zone," and may have been habitable before Earth. Exploring the surface of Venus is difficult because of the intense heat and crushing air pressure.

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Venus
Contrary to its serene appearance, Venus is a world of intense heat, crushing atmospheric pressure and clouds of corrosive acid.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

VERITAS

Venus Emissivity, Radio science, InSAR, Topography, And Spectroscopy

VERITAS, together with NASA’s planned Davinci mission, represents the first U.S.-led exploration of Venus since Magellan three decades ago. The mission is designed to bring the VERITAS science investigations into a low, circular orbit around Venus, in order to collect high-resolution, global maps of the hellish surface hidden beneath the clouds.

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Illustration of VERITAS orbiter over Venus.
VERITAS: Expected to launch no earlier than 2031, VERITAS will map Venus’ surface to determine the planet’s geologic history and understand why it developed so differently than Earth.
NASA /JPL-Caltech

DAVINCI

Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging

DAVINCI will study Venus from its clouds down to the planet's surface – the first mission to study Venus using both flybys and a descent probe.

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DAVINCI Descent Probe
An illustration of the DAVINCI probe resting on the surface of Venus.
Credit: NASA/GSFC

EnVision

ESA's Cosmic Vision Program

ESA has selected EnVision to make detailed observations of Venus. As a key partner in the mission, NASA is providing the Synthetic Aperture Radar, called VenSAR, to make high-resolution measurements of the planet’s surface features.

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Illustration showing EnVision in front of alternate versions of Venus. One version is warm and wet. The other is the rugged wasteland we know today.
Artist's concept of EnVision at Venus.
Credt: ESA

Featured Missions to Venus

More than 40 missions have been launched to explore Venus.

Akatsuki

Akatsuki

Akatsuki is Japan's first mission to explore Venus. It launched in May 2010.

Two men hold up a more than 20-foot-long strip of paper containing Venus science data.

Mariner 2

Mariner 2 became the first successful mission to another planet when it flew by Venus on Dec. 14, 1962.

Pioneer Venus 1

Pioneer Venus 1 launched on May 20, 1978, and was the first American spacecraft to orbit Venus.

A long cylindrical spacecraft with an antenna dish on one end emerges from the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle.

Magellan

NASA's Magellan launched May 4, 1989, and was the first spacecraft to image the entire surface of Venus.

Venus Express

Venus Express launched Nov. 9, 2005, and was the first European spacecraft to orbit Venus. 

Artist concept of space probe descending to Venus

DAVINCI

This future NASA mission will study Venus from near the top of the clouds to the planet’s surface.

A gray spacecraft is illustrated over Venus with one of its instruments scanning the planet below.

VERITAS

VERITAS will be among the first NASA spacecraft to explore Earth’s sister planet Venus since the 1990s.

Illustration showing EnVision in front of alternate versions of Venus. One version is warm and wet. The other is the rugged wasteland we know today.

EnVision

EnVision is an ESA Venus orbiter set to launch in the early 2030’s, to study the planet’s history, activity and climate.

All Missions to Venus

Launch Date
Spacecraft
Nation
Type
Outcome
Feb. 4, 1961
USSR
Impact
Failure
Feb. 12, 1961
USSR
Impact
Failure
July 22, 1962
USA
Flyby
Failure
Aug. 27, 1962
USA
Flyby
Success-First
Sept. 1, 1962
USSR
Lander
Failure
Sept. 12, 1962
USSR
Flyby
Failure
Feb. 19, 1964
Zond 3MV-1A No. 4A (also No. 2)
USSR
Flyby
Failure
March 27, 1964
Cosmos 27 (Venera)
USSR
Flyby/Hard-Lander Probe
Failure
April 2, 1964
USSR
Flyby/Lander
Failure
Nov. 12, 1965
USSR
Flyby
Failure
Nov. 16, 1965
USSR
Impact
Success-First
Nov. 23, 1965
USSR
Lander
Failure
June 12, 1967
USSR
Atmospheric Lander Probe
Success-First
June 14, 1967
USA
Flyby
Success
June 17, 1967
USSR
Lander
Failure
Jan. 5, 1969
USSR
Descent Probe
Success
Jan. 10, 1969
USSR
Descent Probe
Success
Aug. 17,1970
USSR
Lander
Success-First
Aug. 22, 1970
USSR
Lander
Failure
March 27, 1972
USSR
Atmospheric Lander Probe
Success
March 31, 1972
USSR
Lander
Failure
Nov. 3, 1973
USA
Flyby
Success
June 8, 1975
USSR
Orbiter/Lander
Success-First
June 14, 1975
USSR
Orbiter/Lander
Success
May 20, 1978
USA
Orbiter
Success
Aug. 8, 1978
USA
Probes
Success
Sept. 9, 1978
USSR
Flyby and Lander
Success
Sept. 14, 1978
USSR
Flyby and Lander
Success
Oct. 30, 1981
USSR
Flyby and Lander
Success
Nov. 4, 1981
USSR
Flyby and Lander
Success
June 2, 1983
USSR
Orbiter
Success
June 7, 1983
USSR
Orbiter
Success
Dec. 15, 1984
USSR
Lander/Balloon/Flyby
Success
Dec. 21, 1984
USSR
Lander/Ballon/Flyby
Success
May 4, 1989
USA
Orbiter
Success
Oct. 18, 1989
USA
Flyby
Success
Oct. 15, 1997
USA
Flyby (multiple)
Success
Nov. 9, 2005
ESA
Orbiter
Success
May 20, 2010
Japan
Orbiter
Success
May 20, 2010
Japan
Flyby
Partial Success
May 20, 2010
Japan
Flyby
Success
Aug. 12, 2018
USA
Flyby (multiple)
Success
Oct. 20, 2018
ESA/JAXA
Flyby (multiple)
Success
Sources:
Siddiqi, Asif A. Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958-2016. NASA History Program Office, 2018.
NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA)

Future Missions

Proposed Launch
Spacecraft
Nation
Type
Status
~2029
USA
Orbiter/Atmospheric Descent Probe
In Development
~2030
EnVision
ESA
Orbiter
In Development
~2031
USA
Orbiter
In Development
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