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, operated from 2021 to 2024.

Moon

MissionRoverCountry/AgencyDate of landingCoordinatesOperational timeDistance travelledOutcome
Luna 17Lunokhod 1 USSR17 November 197038°14′16″N 35°00′06″W / 38.2378°N 35.0017°W / 38.2378; -35.0017 (Lunokhod 1)322 days10.5 km (6.5 mi)Successful
First rover on an extraterrestrial body.
Luna 21Lunokhod 2 USSR15 January 197125°51′N 30°27′E / 25.85°N 30.45°E / 25.85; 30.45 (Lunokhod 2)236 days39 km (24 mi)Successful
Farthest distance traveled on the Moon.
Chang'e 3Yutu CNSA14 December 201344°07′17″N 19°30′42″W / 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 lunar rover in over 40 years.
Chang'e 4Yutu-2 CNSA3 January 201945°26′38″S 177°35′56″E / 45.444°S 177.599°E / -45.444; 177.599 (Yutu 2)1977 days1.455 km (0.904 mi)[1]
as of 3 January 2023
Operational
First rover on the far side of the Moon. Longest fully functioning rover on the Moon.
Chandrayaan-2Pragyan ISRO6 September 201970°54′S 22°47′E / 70.90°S 22.78°E / -70.90; 22.78 (Vikram lander)0 days0 kmPrecluded
Lost when Vikram lander crash landed on the Moon.
Hakuto-R Mission 1Rashid MBRSCApril 2023TBD0 days0 kmPrecluded
Sora-Q Tomy/JAXA/Doshisha UniversityApril 2023Precluded
Contact lost during final descent of the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander. Presumed crash landing and failure.
Chandrayaan-3Pragyan ISRO23 August 202369°22′23″S 32°19′08″E / 69.373°S 32.319°E / -69.373; 32.319 (Pragyan)[2]12 days101.4 m (333 ft)[3]
as of 2 September 2023
Successful
First rover to successfully land near lunar south pole.
SLIMLEV-1 JAXA19 January 202413°18′58″S 25°15′04″E / 13.3160°S 25.2510°E / -13.3160; 25.2510 (SLIM LEV-1 & LEV-2)1 hour and 51 minutesSuccessful
LEV-2 (Sora-Q)Successful
A hopper and a rover included in the SLIM mission which demonstrated precision landing technology.
Peregrine Mission OneIris CMU2024TBDPrecluded
Colmena x5 UNAMPrecluded
Colmena would have been deployed using a small catapult mechanism. Mission cancelled along with the cancelled landing of Peregrine lander due to excessive propellant leak.[4]
Chang'e 6Chang'e 6 Rover CNSAMay 2024TBDOperational
Conduct infrared spectroscopy of lunar surface.[5]
IM-2MAPP Lunar OutpostH1 2024TBDPlanned
AstroAnt MIT[6]Planned
Micro-Nova Intuitive MachinesPlanned
Yaoki DymonPlanned
MAPP and Micro-Nova will demonstrate a new lunar communication system.
IM-3Lunar Vertex NASA/Lunar OutpostH1 2024TBDPlanned
CADRE x4 NASAPlanned
Mission to study Reiner Gamma.
Griffin Mission OneVIPER NASANovember 2024TBDPlanned
Will land near Nobile crater to search for Lunar water.
Hakuto-R Mission 2Micro rover ispace Europe2024TBDPlanned
Hakuto-R Mission 2 will feature a rover for surface exploration and data collection.
LUPEXLUPEX Rover JAXA ISRO2025TBDPlanned
Joint mission between ISRO and JAXA.
Chang’e 7Chang’e 7 rover CNSA2026TBDPlanned
Chang’e 7 hopperPlanned
Will search for water ice in and around craters in the south pole of the Moon.
Starship lunar cargo missionFLEX Astrolab2026TBDPlanned
Astrolab contracted with SpaceX to send their rover to the Moon aboard Starship[7][8]
Chang’e 8Chang’e 8 rover CNSA2028TBDPlanned
Chang’e 8 RobotPlanned
Chinese ISRU mission in preparation for ILRS.

Mars

MissionRoverCountry/AgencyDate of landingCoordinatesOperational timeDistance travelled
Mars 2PrOP-M USSR27 November 197145°S 47°E / 45°S 47°E / -45; 47 (Mars 2 lander)--
First rover to reach Mars. Lost when Mars 2 landing system crash landed on Mars.
Mars 3PrOP-M USSR2 December 197145°S 202°E / 45°S 202°E / -45; 202 (Mars 3 lander)--
First rover to successfully land on Mars. The lander stopped communicating about 110 seconds after landing, before the rover was deployed.
Mars PathfinderSojourner NASA4 July 199738°14′16″N 35°00′06″W / 38.2378°N 35.0017°W / 38.2378; -35.0017 (Sojourner)85 days100 m (330 ft)
First rover to successfully run on Mars.
Mars Exploration RoverSpirit NASA4 January 200414°34′06″S 175°28′21″E / 14.5684°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.
Opportunity NASA25 January 20041°56′46″S 354°28′24″E / 1.9462°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 LaboratoryCuriosity NASA6 August 20124°35′22″S 137°26′30″E / 4.5895°S 137.4417°E / -4.5895; 137.4417 (Curiosity)11 years 301 days31.06 km (19.30 mi)
as of 5 December 2023[9]
Rover for investigating past and present habitability, climate and geology.
Mars 2020Perseverance NASA18 February 202118°26′41″N 77°27′03″E / 18.4447°N 77.4508°E / 18.4447; 77.4508 (Mars 2020)3 years 105 days23.73 km (14.75 mi)
as of 3 January 2023[10]
Ingenuity3 April 2021 (deployment)2 years 340 days17.242 km (10.714 mi) in 72 flights[11]
The Ingenuity helicopter is the first aircraft to fly on an extraterrestrial body.
Tianwen-1Zhurong CNSA14 May 202125°06′N 109°54′E / 25.1°N 109.9°E / 25.1; 109.9 (Zhurong)356 days1.921 km (1.194 mi)
as of 1 May 2022[12]
Inactive after dust storm and Martian winter.
MMXIDEFIX CNES/DLR2026TBD
Rover for studying the surface of Phobos.
Mars Sample ReturnMars Sample Recovery Helicopters NASA2030TBD
Two Ingenuity class helicopters designed to retrieve Martian surface samples.

Asteroids

BodyMissionRoverCountry/AgencyDate of landingLocationOperational timeDistance travelled
162173 RyuguHayabusa2MINERVA-II Rover-1A JAXA21 September 2019Tritonis36 days[13]
MINERVA-II Rover-1B3 days[13]
Successfully landed, returned images, and hopped along surface. First rovers on an asteroid.
MASCOT DLR/CNES3 October 2018Alice's Wonderland17 h 14 min[14]~17.9 m (59 ft)[14]
Successfully landed, returned images from the surface, and performed multiple hops along surface.
MINERVA-II Rover-2 JAXAOctober 2019Unknown0 days0 m
Failed before deployment, so it was released into orbit around the asteroid to perform gravitational measurements before it impacted a few days later.

Titan

MissionRoverCountry/AgencyDate of landingLocationOperational timeDistance travelled
Dragonfly NASA2034Shangri-La10 years (planned)8 km per flight
Rotorcraft to be sent to Titan in 2027.

Crewed rovers

MissionRoverCountry/AgencyDate of landingCoordinatesOperational timeDistance travelledNotes
Apollo 15Lunar Roving Vehicle NASA7 August 197126.1322°N 3.6339°E3 h 02 min27.76 km

(7.75 mi)

First crewed lunar rover
Apollo 16Lunar Roving Vehicle NASA21 April 19728.97301°S 15.50019°E3 h 26 min26.55 km

(16.50 mi)

Apollo 17Lunar Roving Vehicle NASA11 December 197220.1908°N 30.7717°E4 h 26 min35.89 km

(22.30 mi)

Furthest distance travelled by crewed lunar rover
Artemis 5Lunar Terrain Vehicle NASA2029TBDUnpressurised crewed rover for the Artemis program
Artemis 7Lunar Cruiser JAXA2031TBDDeveloped jointly between JAXA and Toyota
Chinese Crewed Lunar MissionChinese Crewed Rover CNSA2030>TBDRover shown at the National Museum of China on 24 February 2023

Proposed rovers

RoverCountry/AgencyProposed Date of launchedLocationNotes
MPR-1 STELLS2025In range of a craterRover under study for power supply for future mining rovers
Canadensys Rover Canadensys2026Lunar South PoleRover funded by CSA to scout for water ice on the Moon
Lunar Trailblazer Delft University of Technology2026Lunar South PoleSmall rover studying swarm technologies
Luna-Grunt Roscosmos2028Rover for proposed Luna 29 sample return mission, details of rover are unknown
LIBER Qosmosys2027TBDLunar Integrated Bulk Extraction Rover (LIBER) will mine on the lunar surface.[citation needed]
Work Robot CNSA2028May become part of Chang'e 8 mission.[15]
ExoMars Rosalind Franklin ESANET 202818°16′30″N 335°22′05″E / 18.275°N 335.368°E / 18.275; 335.368 (Rosalind Franklin)Rover will search for previous signs of life on Mars.
HERACLES CSA2030Schrödinger basinPart of European Large Logistic Lander program, will be used to transport samples and scout for resources on the Moon.
TBD KARI2031KARI has requested a budget of $459 million for a lander and rover mission.[16]
Asagumo SpacebitTBDSpider-like rover was planned to launch with Peregrine Mission One but its status is currently unknown
CELV Jilin University/CASTTBDNear a Lunar baseThe Cubic Emergency Lunar Vehicle is an emergency crewed rover that will be stored on a larger crewed rover.[17]
MoonRanger Astrobotic/Carnegie Mellon UniversityTBDLunar South PoleWas intended to launch in November 2023 but lunar lander provider Masten Space Systems declared bankruptcy and the rover is on hold
Rashid 2 MBRSCTBDTBDRover development announced after failure of first rover.

See also

References