The 21st Century

The European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Rosetta spacecraft in 2004, which successfully orbited comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in 2014.

SpaceX became the first private company to launch a spacecraft into orbit in 2010 with the Falcon 9 rocket.

China became the third country to successfully send humans into space in 2003 with the Shenzhou 5 mission.

The Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched into orbit in 1999 and is the first space telescope dedicated to observing X-rays.

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the Hayabusa spacecraft in 2003, which successfully landed on asteroid Itokawa in 2005.

The Opportunity rover landed on Mars in 2004 and operated for over 14 years, exploring the surface of the planet.

NASA launched the MESSENGER spacecraft in 2004, which successfully orbited Mercury in 2011.

The Philae lander was part of the Rosetta mission and successfully landed on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in 2014.

NASA launched the Galileo spacecraft in 1989, which successfully orbited Jupiter in 1995.

The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was a joint mission between NASA and ESA, and the Huygens probe successfully landed on Titan in 2005.

NASA launched the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1977, which successfully orbited Uranus in 1986.

The Philae lander was part of the Rosetta mission and successfully landed on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in 2014.

NASA launched the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1977, which successfully orbited Neptune in 1989.

The New Horizons spacecraft was launched by NASA in 2006 and successfully flew by Pluto in 2015.

NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe in 2018, which successfully orbited the Sun in 2020.