Astronomy & space · Curated list
International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope and 27 more, ranked by how much of the world has written about each one.
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Most written-about first. Each description summarises the spacecraft's Wikipedia article, which its name links to.
1
Modular space station in low Earth orbit
Usually shortened to ISS, a space station orbiting in low Earth orbit (LEO), built by the International Space Station programme. Five partner space agencies run it: CSA (Canada), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), Roscosmos (Russia) and NASA.
2
NASA/ESA space telescope launched in 1990
A space telescope put into low Earth orbit in 1990 and still working. Not the first space telescope, it is among the largest and most versatile, famous both as an essential research instrument and as a public relations gift to astronomy.
3
NASA/ESA/CSA space infrared telescope launched in 2021
Usually shortened to JWST, a space telescope built for infrared astronomy. The largest telescope in space, it carries instruments of high sensitivity and resolution that let it see objects too faint, distant or old for the Hubble Space Telescope.
4
NASA space probe launched in 1977
A space probe of NASA's Voyager program, launched on September 5, 1977, 16 days after Voyager 2, its twin. Its task is to study the Solar System's outer reaches and the interstellar space that lies past the heliosphere of the Sun.
5
NASA spacecraft (2006–present)
An interplanetary space probe launched in 2006 under NASA's New Frontiers program. During its encounter with Pluto and its moons, it became the first spacecraft to study them in a flyby and to photograph them in high resolution.
Wikidata · Photo: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute, Public domain
6
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8
Soviet/Russian space station (1986–2001)
A space station in low Earth orbit, run by the Soviet Union and then by the Russian Federation between 1986 and 2001. It was the first modular space station, put together in orbit between 1986 and 1996.
Wikidata · Photo: Original image: NASA/Crew of STS-91 Retouched image: Thegreenj, Public domain
9
NASA space telescope for exoplanetology (2009–2018)
A space telescope NASA launched in 2009 to find planets the size of Earth circling other stars. Named after the astronomer Johannes Kepler, it was sent into a heliocentric orbit trailing the Earth.
10
European mission to study Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (2004–2016)
A space probe of the European Space Agency, launched on 2 March 2004. With its lander module, Philae, it made a detailed study of the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P).
Wikidata · Photo: ESA/ATG medialab, CC BY-SA 2.0
11
First spacecraft to visit Jupiter and the outer Solar System (1972–2003)
A space probe of NASA's, launched in 1972, whose mission was the first to reach Jupiter. No spacecraft had crossed the asteroid belt before it, and it was the first of five human-made objects fast enough to escape the Solar System altogether.
Wikidata · Photo: Don Davis for NASA, Public domain
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12
First space station launched and operated by NASA (1973–1979)
The first space station of the United States, launched by NASA. Crews lived aboard for about 24 weeks in all, from May 1973 to February 1974: three crews of three astronauts, Skylab 2, Skylab 3 and Skylab 4.
Wikidata · Photo: NASA (Crew of Skylab 4 ), Public domain
13
First spacecraft to visit Saturn (1973–1995)
A robotic NASA probe that lifted off on April 5, 1973, to investigate cosmic rays, the solar wind, the asteroid belt and the space around Jupiter and Saturn. It was the first probe to reach Saturn; in crossing the asteroid belt and flying past Jupiter it came second.
Wikidata · Photo: Don Davis for NASA, Public domain
14
15
Space Shuttle orbiter (1983–1986)
A Space Shuttle orbiter (OV-099) that Rockwell International built and NASA flew. It was named after the lead ship of a scientific expedition around the world in the nineteenth century, and was the second orbiter to reach space, after Columbia, making its first flight in April 1983.
16
First human spaceflight in history
The Vostok programme's first flight, and the first time a human went into orbit. The Vostok 3KA capsule lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 12 April 1961 carrying the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who became the first person to reach orbital velocity and to go all the way round the Earth.
17
Second NASA orbiter mission to Jupiter (2011–Present)
A NASA space probe in orbit around Jupiter. Lockheed Martin built it and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory operates it; under the New Frontiers program it lifted off on August 5, 2011, at 16:25:00 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
18
NASA Mars rover deployed in 2021
A car-sized NASA rover of the Mars 2020 mission, exploring the planet since February 18, 2021. Built and run by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, it left Cape Canaveral on an Atlas V rocket on July 30, 2020, and landed in Jezero Crater, chosen for an ancient river delta that may hold evidence of past microbial life.
Wikidata · Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech, See Commons
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20
NASA infrared space telescope (2003–2020)
An infrared space telescope active from 2003 to 2020, once called the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF). It was the third space telescope devoted to infrared astronomy, after ISO (1995–1998) and IRAS (1983).
Wikidata · Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech, Public domain
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21
Second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit (1957)
Also called Prosteyshiy Sputnik 2, the second spacecraft sent into Earth orbit, launched on 3 November 1957. It was the first to take an animal into orbit: Laika, a Soviet space dog.
Wikidata · Photo: Laika ac from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0
22
Soviet spacecraft
Also called Mechta, E-1 No.4 or First Lunar Rover, a spacecraft launched in 1959 under the Soviet Luna programme. It was the first spacecraft to get near Earth's Moon, the first to leave Earth's orbit and the first put into orbit around the Sun.
Wikidata · Photo: NASA/NSSDCA (public domain), Public domain
23
NASA orbiter mission to asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres (2007–2018)
A retired NASA space probe, launched in September 2007 to study two of the asteroid belt's three known protoplanets, Ceres and Vesta. On that mission, the ninth of NASA's Discovery Program, it went into orbit around Vesta on July 16, 2011, surveyed it for 14 months, and left for Ceres late in 2012.
24
First spacecraft to visit Mercury (1973–1975)
An American robotic space probe that NASA launched on 3 November 1973 to fly past Venus and Mercury. No spacecraft had visited Mercury before it, and none had flown by more than one planet.
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25
Space Shuttle orbiter (1984–2011)
An American orbiter of NASA's Space Shuttle program, now retired. Of the five orbiters built that became fully operational, this spaceplane was the third.
26
NASA Mars rover deployed in 2004
A robotic rover, also called MER-B or MER-1 and nicknamed Oppy, active on Mars from 2004 to 2018. It worked on the planet for 5111 sols.
Wikidata · Photo: NASA/JPL/Cornell University, Maas Digital LLC, Public domain
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27
NASA rover exploring Mars since 2012
A car-sized rover of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, now exploring Mount Sharp and Gale crater. It was launched in 2011, landed on Mars a year later, and is still working more than a decade after its planned two-year mission.
Wikidata · Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS, Public domain
28
NASA Mars lander (2018–2022)
A robotic lander built to study the deep interior of Mars; its name stands for "Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport". Lockheed Martin Space made it, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) managed it, and European agencies built two of its three science instruments.
29
1959 Soviet uncrewed space mission to impact the surface of the Moon
The sixth spacecraft the Soviet Union's Luna programme sent to the Moon, E-1 No.7, at first called the Second Soviet Cosmic Rocket and known in the press of the time as Lunik 2. It was the first spacecraft to reach the Moon's surface, and the first object made by humans to touch another celestial body.
Wikidata · Photo: NASA/NSSDCA (public domain), Public domain
30
NASA mission to Mercury
A robotic NASA probe that orbited Mercury from 2011 to 2015, studying the planet's magnetic field, geology and chemical make-up. Its name spells out "Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging", and nods to Mercury, the messenger god of Roman myth.
Wikidata · Photo: NASA / JHU/APL, Public domain
Every Wikidata item that is a spacecraft, or a kind of one — space telescopes, probes, landers, rovers and stations among them, and that has its own English Wikipedia article, ranked by the number of Wikimedia sites with a page about it — Wikipedia's language editions, mostly, and sister projects such as Wikiquote. That counts how many communities independently thought it worth describing, and nobody can buy a place on it. The top 30 are shown.
Fetched from Wikidata on 2026-09-25. Each description is this site's summary of the entry's Wikipedia article, which its name links to: the wording is ours, the facts are Wikipedia's, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. To correct an entry, correct it there; the next refresh carries the change.
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