List of vehicle speed records

By type of vehicle

By surface

• 
  ThrustSSC, which has held the land speed record since 15 October 1997
• 
  VeloX3, the former world's fastest human-powered vehicle
• 
  Apollo 17 LRV, fastest vehicle driven on the moon

• 
  Lt. Col. John P. Stapp rides the rocket sled at Edwards Air Force Base
• 
  The V150, the world's fastest wheeled train, on its record-breaking run
• 
  Schienenzeppelin propeller-driven rail car
• 
  Mallard, the world's fastest steam train

Aircraft speed records are based on true airspeed, rather than ground speed.

Noted unofficial records

• 
  Artist's impression of the unmanned HTV-2
• 
  North American X-15, the fastest piloted rocket-powered aircraft
• 
  SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest piloted air-breathing aircraft
• 
  Rare Bear, the fastest piston-engined aircraft
• 
  Musculair 2, the fastest human-powered aircraft

• 
  Model of Spirit of Australia, which set the water speed record in 1978
• 
  Vestas Sailrocket, the fastest wind-powered watercraft
• 
  Decavitator, the world's fastest human-powered watercraft
• 
  Omer 5, the fastest human-powered submarine
• 
  The "Caspian Sea Monster", the fastest ground-effect vehicle

In order to unambiguously express the speed of a spacecraft, a frame of reference must be specified. Typically, this frame is fixed to the body with the greatest gravitational influence on the spacecraft, as this is the most relevant frame for most purposes.^[66] Velocities in different frames of reference are not directly comparable; thus the matter of the "fastest spacecraft" depends on the reference frame used.

Because of the influence of gravity, maximum velocities are usually attained when a spacecraft is close to its primary body: either just after launch, at a point of closest approach (periapsis), or during the early stages of atmospheric entry.

Frame of reference	Category	Speed relative to frame of reference			Vehicle	Operator	Crew	Date	Refs[a]
		km/h	km/s	mph
Sun	Periapsis	635,000	176	395,000	Parker Solar Probe	NASA	(uncrewed)	27 Sep 2023[b]	[68]
Earth	Escape	58,536	16.26	36,370	New Horizons	NASA	(uncrewed)	19 Jan 2006	[69]
	Entry	46,100	12.8	28,600	Stardust	NASA	(uncrewed)	15 Jan 2006	[70]
	Entry (crewed)	39,897	11.08	24,790	Apollo 10 CSM Charlie Brown	NASA	Thomas Stafford, John Young, Eugene Cernan	26 May 1969	[71]
Mars	Entry	27,000	7.6	17,000	Mars Pathfinder	NASA	(uncrewed)	4 Jul 1997	[72]
Jupiter	Orbit insertion	209,000	58	130,000	Juno	NASA	(uncrewed)	4 Jul 2016	[73][66]
	Entry	173,736	48.26	108,000	Galileo	NASA	(uncrewed)	21 Sep 2003	[74]
Saturn	Periapsis	122,000	34	76,000	Cassini	NASA	(uncrewed)	27 Apr 2017	[75]

• 
  Parker Solar Probe (artist rendering)
• 
  New Horizons (artist rendering)
• 
  Apollo 10 command module Charlie Brown, the fastest crewed vehicle relative to the Earth

• Orders of magnitude (speed)