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

Mission	Rover	Country/Agency	Date of landing	Coordinates	Operational time	Distance travelled	Outcome
Luna E-8 No.201	Lunokhod	Lavochkin	10 November 1968	N/A	0 days	0 km	Launch failure
Luna E-8 No.201	First launch of the Lunokhod rover. Launch vehicle disintegrated 51 seconds after launch and exploded.^[1]
Luna 17	Lunokhod 1	USSR	17 November 1970	38°14′16″N 35°00′06″W / 38.2378°N 35.0017°W / 38.2378; -35.0017 (Lunokhod 1)	322 days	10.5 km (6.5 mi)	Successful
Luna 17	First rover on an extraterrestrial body.
Luna 21	Lunokhod 2	USSR	15 January 1973	25°51′N 30°27′E / 25.85°N 30.45°E / 25.85; 30.45 (Lunokhod 2)	117 days	39 km (24 mi)	Successful
Luna 21	Farthest distance traveled on the Moon.
Chang'e 3	Yutu	CNSA	14 December 2013	44°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
Chang'e 3	First Chinese extraterrestrial rover and first lunar rover in over 40 years.
Chang'e 4	Yutu-2	CNSA	3 January 2019	45°26′38″S 177°35′56″E / 45.444°S 177.599°E / -45.444; 177.599 (Yutu 2)	2178 days	1.455 km (0.904 mi)^[2] as of 3 January 2023^[update]	Operational
Chang'e 4	First rover on the far side of the Moon. Longest fully functioning rover on the Moon.
Chandrayaan-2	Pragyan	ISRO	6 September 2019	70°54′S 22°47′E / 70.90°S 22.78°E / -70.90; 22.78 (Vikram lander)	0 days	0 km	Precluded
Chandrayaan-2	Lost when Vikram lander crash landed on the Moon.
Hakuto-R Mission 1	Rashid	MBRSC	April 2023	TBD	0 days	0 km	Precluded
	Sora-Q	Tomy/JAXA/Doshisha University	April 2023	TBD	0 days	0 km	Precluded
	Contact lost during final descent of the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander. Presumed crash landing and failure.
Chandrayaan-3	Pragyan	ISRO	23 August 2023	69°22′23″S 32°19′08″E / 69.373°S 32.319°E / -69.373; 32.319 (Pragyan)^[3]	12 days	101.4 m (333 ft)^[4] as of 2 September 2023^[update]	Successful
Chandrayaan-3	First rover to successfully operate near lunar south pole.
SLIM	LEV-1	JAXA	19 January 2024	13°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 minutes		Successful
	LEV-2 (Sora-Q)	JAXA	19 January 2024		1 hour and 51 minutes		Successful
	A hopper and a rover included in the SLIM mission which demonstrated precision landing technology.
Peregrine Mission One	Iris	CMU	2024	TBD			Precluded
	Colmena x5	UNAM	2024	TBD			Precluded
	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.^[5]
Chang'e 6	Jinchan	CNSA	1 June 2024	41°38′18″S 153°59′08″W / 41.63839°S 153.98545°W / -41.63839; -153.98545	4 days		Success
Chang'e 6	Conduct infrared spectroscopy of lunar surface and imaged Chang'e 6 lander on lunar surface.^[6]
IM-2	MAPP	Lunar Outpost	January 2025	TBD			Planned
	AstroAnt	MIT^[7]					Planned
	Micro-Nova	Intuitive Machines					Planned
	Yaoki	Dymon					Planned
	MAPP and Micro-Nova will demonstrate a new lunar communication system.
Hakuto-R Mission 2	Micro rover	ispace Europe	January 2025	TBD			Planned
Hakuto-R Mission 2	Hakuto-R Mission 2 will feature a rover for surface exploration and data collection.
IM-3	Lunar Vertex	NASA/Lunar Outpost	Q4 2025	TBD			Planned
	CADRE x4	NASA	Q4 2025	TBD			Planned
	Mission to study Reiner Gamma.
Chang’e 7	Chang’e 7 rover	CNSA	2026	TBD			Planned
	Chang’e 7 hopper	CNSA	2026	TBD			Planned
	Will search for water ice in and around craters in the south pole of the Moon.
Starship lunar cargo mission	FLEX	Astrolab	2026	TBD			Planned
Starship lunar cargo mission	Astrolab contracted with SpaceX to send their rover to the Moon aboard Starship^[8]^[9]
TBD (CLPS Lander)^[10]	Moon to Mars Initiative: Trailblazer (Roo-ver)^[11]	ASA	2026	TBD			Planned
TBD (CLPS Lander)^[10]	Australia's first lunar rover.
Astrobotics mission 3	⚀ LunaGrid-Lite CubeRover	Astrobotics	2026	TBD			Planned
Astrobotics mission 3	Third lunar mission by Astrobotic, will land at lunar south pole. LunaGrid-Lite mission.
LUPEX	LUPEX Rover	JAXA ISRO	2028	TBD			Planned
LUPEX	Joint mission between ISRO and JAXA.
Chang’e 8	Chang’e 8 rover	CNSA	2028	TBD			Planned
	Chang’e 8 Robot	CNSA	2028	TBD			Planned
	Chinese ISRU mission in preparation for ILRS.

Mars

Mission	Rover	Country/Agency	Date of landing	Coordinates	Operational time	Distance travelled
Mars 2	PrOP-M	USSR	27 November 1971	45°S 47°E / 45°S 47°E / -45; 47 (Mars 2 lander)	-	-
Mars 2	First rover to reach Mars. Lost when Mars 2 landing system crash landed on Mars.
Mars 3	PrOP-M	USSR	2 December 1971	45°S 202°E / 45°S 202°E / -45; 202 (Mars 3 lander)	-	-
Mars 3	First rover to successfully land on Mars. The lander stopped communicating about 110 seconds after landing, before the rover was deployed.
Mars Pathfinder	Sojourner	NASA	4 July 1997	38°14′16″N 35°00′06″W / 38.2378°N 35.0017°W / 38.2378; -35.0017 (Sojourner)	85 days	100 m (330 ft)
Mars Pathfinder	First rover to successfully run on Mars.
Mars Exploration Rover	Spirit	NASA	4 January 2004	14°34′06″S 175°28′21″E / 14.5684°S 175.472636°E / -14.5684; 175.472636 (Spirit)	6 years 79 days	7.73 km (4.80 mi)
	Mission ended after rover got stuck in Martian sand.
	Opportunity	NASA	25 January 2004	1°56′46″S 354°28′24″E / 1.9462°S 354.4734°E / -1.9462; 354.4734 (Opportunity)	14 years 140 days	45.16 km (28.06 mi)
	Longest distance travelled by any rover and most days operated.
Mars Science Laboratory	Curiosity	NASA	6 August 2012	4°35′22″S 137°26′30″E / 4.5895°S 137.4417°E / -4.5895; 137.4417 (Curiosity)	12 years 136 days	32.40 km (20.13 mi) as of 24 September 2024^[update]^[12]
Mars Science Laboratory	Rover for investigating past and present habitability, climate and geology.
Mars 2020	Perseverance	NASA	18 February 2021	18°26′41″N 77°27′03″E / 18.4447°N 77.4508°E / 18.4447; 77.4508 (Mars 2020)	3 years 306 days	29.06 km (18.06 mi) as of 24 September 2024^[update]^[13]
	Ingenuity	NASA	3 April 2021 (deployment)		2 years 340 days	17.242 km (10.714 mi) in 72 flights^[14]
	The Ingenuity helicopter is the first aircraft to fly on an extraterrestrial body.
Tianwen-1	Zhurong	CNSA	14 May 2021	25°06′N 109°54′E / 25.1°N 109.9°E / 25.1; 109.9 (Zhurong)	356 days	1.921 km (1.194 mi) as of 1 May 2022^[update]^[15]
Tianwen-1	Inactive after dust storm and Martian winter.
MMX	IDEFIX	CNES/DLR	2027	TBD
MMX	Rover for studying the surface of Phobos.
Mars Sample Return	Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters	NASA	2030	TBD
Mars Sample Return	Two Ingenuity class helicopters designed to retrieve Martian surface samples.

Asteroids

Body	Mission	Rover	Country/Agency	Date of landing	Location	Operational time	Distance travelled
162173 Ryugu	Hayabusa2	MINERVA-II Rover-1A	JAXA	21 September 2019	Tritonis	36 days^[16]
		MINERVA-II Rover-1B	JAXA	21 September 2019	Tritonis	3 days^[16]
		Successfully landed, returned images, and hopped along surface. First rovers on an asteroid.
		MASCOT	DLR/CNES	3 October 2018	Alice's Wonderland	17 h 14 min^[17]	~17.9 m (59 ft)^[17]
		Successfully landed, returned images from the surface, and performed multiple hops along surface.
		MINERVA-II Rover-2	JAXA	October 2019	Unknown	0 days	0 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

Mission	Rover	Country/Agency	Date of landing	Location	Operational time	Distance travelled
Dragonfly		NASA	2034	Shangri-La	10 years (planned)	8 km per flight
Dragonfly		Rotorcraft to be sent to Titan in 5-25 July 2028.

Crewed rovers

Mission	Rover	Country/Agency	Date of landing	Coordinates	Operational time	Distance travelled	Notes
Apollo 15	Lunar Roving Vehicle	NASA	7 August 1971	26.1322°N 3.6339°E	3 h 02 min	27.76 km (7.75 mi)	First crewed lunar rover
Apollo 16	Lunar Roving Vehicle	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	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
Artemis V	Lunar Terrain Vehicle	NASA	2030	TBD			Unpressurised crewed rover for the Artemis program
Chinese Crewed Lunar Mission	Chinese Crewed Rover	CNSA	2030	TBD			Rover shown at the National Museum of China on 24 February 2023
Artemis VII	Lunar Cruiser	JAXA	2032	TBD			Developed jointly between JAXA and Toyota

Proposed rovers

Rover	Country/Agency	Proposed Date of launched	Location	Notes
MPR-1	STELLS	2025	In range of a crater	Rover under study for power supply for future mining rovers
Canadensys Rover	Canadensys	2026	Lunar South Pole	Rover funded by CSA to scout for water ice on the Moon
Lunar Trailblazer	Delft University of Technology	2026	Lunar South Pole	Small rover studying swarm technologies
Luna-Grunt	Roscosmos	2028		Rover for proposed Luna 29 sample return mission, details of rover are unknown
LIBER	Qosmosys	2027	TBD	Lunar Integrated Bulk Extraction Rover (LIBER) will mine on the lunar surface.^{[citation needed]}
ExoMars Rosalind Franklin	ESA	NET 2028	18°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	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	KARI	2031		KARI has requested a budget of $459 million for a lander and rover mission.^[18]
Asagumo	Spacebit	TBD		Spider-like rover was planned to launch with Peregrine Mission One but its status is currently unknown
CELV	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.^[19]
MoonRanger	Astrobotic/Carnegie Mellon University	TBD	Lunar South Pole	Was intended to launch in November 2023 but lunar lander provider Masten Space Systems declared bankruptcy and the rover is on hold
Rashid 2	MBRSC	TBD	TBD	Rover development announced after failure of first rover.

References

^ Siddiqi, Asif A. (2002). "1969" (PDF). Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958–2000. Monographs in Aerospace History, No. 24. NASA History Office. pp. 73–80. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
^ Andrew Jones (2021-10-05). "1,000 days on the moon! China's Chang'e 4 lunar far side mission hits big milestone". Space.com. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
^ Chandrayaan 3 - After The Landing What Happens Next?, 27 August 2023, retrieved 2023-08-28
^ "Chandrayaan-3 Mission: All planned Rover movements have been verified. The Rover has successfully traversed a distance of about 100 meters. Rover payloads LIBS and APXS are turned ON. All payloads on the propulsion module, lander module, and rover are performing nominally. #Chandrayaan_3 #Ch3". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
^ Fisher, Jackie Wattles, Kristin (2024-01-08). "Peregrine mission abandons Moon landing attempt after suffering 'critical' fuel loss". CNN. Retrieved 2024-01-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Jones, Andrew (6 May 2024). "China's Chang'e-6 is carrying a surprise rover to the moon". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 8 May 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
^ "AstroAnt". MIT Media Lab. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
^ Dinner, Josh (April 1, 2023). "SpaceX Starship will launch this new private moon rover in 2026 (video)". Space.com. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
^ Foust, Jeff (November 21, 2023). "Astrolab announces first customers for commercial lunar rover mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
^ "Moon to Mars Initiative: Trailblazer Stage 1". business.gov.au. 2024-09-18. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
^ Samantha Mathewson (2023-12-06). "Australia votes to name its 1st moon rover 'Roo-ver'". Space.com. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
^ "Where Is Curiosity?". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 24 September 2024. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "Where is Perseverance?". Mars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover. NASA. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
^ "Mars Helicopter Flight Log". Mars Helicopter Tech Demo. NASA. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
^ "中欧火星探测器成功开展在轨中继通信试验". 新华网. 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
^ ^a ^b Yoshimitsu, Tetsuo; Kubota, Takashi; Tomiki, Atsushi; Yoshikaw, Kent (2019-10-24). Operation results of MINERVA-II twin rovers onboard Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer (PDF). 70th International Astronautical Congress. International Astronautical Federation. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
^ ^a ^b Davis, Jason (28 August 2019). "Hayabusa2 Lander Mania: Results from MASCOT, Plans for MINERVA-II2". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
^ "South Korea seeks $459 million for lunar lander project". 30 August 2022.
^ "MSN". MSN.

[DSC6992-1] Siddiqi, Asif A. (2002). "1969" (PDF). Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958–2000. Monographs in Aerospace History, No. 24. NASA History Office. pp. 73–80. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2017.

[:0-2] Andrew Jones (2021-10-05). "1,000 days on the moon! China's Chang'e 4 lunar far side mission hits big milestone". Space.com. Retrieved 2021-10-07.

[:1-3] Chandrayaan 3 - After The Landing What Happens Next?, 27 August 2023, retrieved 2023-08-28

[:2-4] "Chandrayaan-3 Mission: All planned Rover movements have been verified. The Rover has successfully traversed a distance of about 100 meters. Rover payloads LIBS and APXS are turned ON. All payloads on the propulsion module, lander module, and rover are performing nominally. #Chandrayaan_3 #Ch3". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-08-25.

[5] Fisher, Jackie Wattles, Kristin (2024-01-08). "Peregrine mission abandons Moon landing attempt after suffering 'critical' fuel loss". CNN. Retrieved 2024-01-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[6] Jones, Andrew (6 May 2024). "China's Chang'e-6 is carrying a surprise rover to the moon". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 8 May 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.

[7] "AstroAnt". MIT Media Lab. Retrieved 2023-12-29.

[8] Dinner, Josh (April 1, 2023). "SpaceX Starship will launch this new private moon rover in 2026 (video)". Space.com. Retrieved 2023-12-30.

[9] Foust, Jeff (November 21, 2023). "Astrolab announces first customers for commercial lunar rover mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2023-12-30.

[10] "Moon to Mars Initiative: Trailblazer Stage 1". business.gov.au. 2024-09-18. Retrieved 2024-12-06.

[11] Samantha Mathewson (2023-12-06). "Australia votes to name its 1st moon rover 'Roo-ver'". Space.com. Retrieved 2024-12-06.

[where-is-curiosity?-12] "Where Is Curiosity?". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 24 September 2024. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[13] "Where is Perseverance?". Mars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover. NASA. Retrieved 24 September 2024.

[14] "Mars Helicopter Flight Log". Mars Helicopter Tech Demo. NASA. Retrieved 5 December 2023.

[15] "中欧火星探测器成功开展在轨中继通信试验". 新华网. 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2021-12-01.

[MINVERA-II_results-16] Yoshimitsu, Tetsuo; Kubota, Takashi; Tomiki, Atsushi; Yoshikaw, Kent (2019-10-24). Operation results of MINERVA-II twin rovers onboard Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer (PDF). 70th International Astronautical Congress. International Astronautical Federation. Retrieved 2020-01-25.

[MASCOT_results-17] Davis, Jason (28 August 2019). "Hayabusa2 Lander Mania: Results from MASCOT, Plans for MINERVA-II2". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 2020-01-25.

[18] "South Korea seeks $459 million for lunar lander project". 30 August 2022.

[19] "MSN". MSN.

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