Program: Explorer |
USA |
Over the years, NASA has launched a series of "Explorer" spacecraft carrying a wide variety of scientific investigations. The list below identifies the 74 successful and 4 unsuccessful missions as on March 2000. The list identifies the international ID for each spacecraft, its common name (different than "Explorer N" for most), its launch date. On March 2000, Explorers 50 (IMP 8), 67-74 and 77-78 (EUVE, SAMPEX, RXTE, FAST, ACE, SNOE, TRACE, SWAS, FUSE, and IMAGE) are still operating.
NASA's Explorer spacecraft series is not simply the longest running series of spacecraft, it has produced highly-durable (i.e., well-engineered) spacecraft as well. Of the 73 successful Explorer missions depicted, fully five of them had had missions which lasted 10 or more years, the longest of which (IMP 8) has been operational for over 26 years now and still produces valuable information about the solar wind. NASA's IUE spacecraft operated for 19 years and produced copious amounts of data for the astronomical community. The ISEE 3/ICE spacecraft operated for 14 years. As of March of 2000, of the ten operational Explorer missions, SNOE and TRACE have operated for about two year, ACE two and a half years, FAST for about three and a half, RXTE for over four, EUVE and SAMPEX for nearly eight, and IMP 8 for more than 26. SWAS has been operational for slightly more than one year, having been launched in early December 1998. The latest two additions are FUSE (June 1999) and IMAGE (March 2000).
Satellite Name NSSDC ID Identification Launch date (M/D/Y) Explorer 1 58-001A Explorer 1 02/01/58 US Explorer 2 - Explorer 2, Failed 03/05/58 US Explorer 3 58-003A Explorer 3 03/26/58 US Explorer 4 58-005A Explorer 4,1958 Epsilon, 07/26/58 US Explorer 5 - Explorer 5, Failed 08/24/58 ARPA Explorer 6 59-004A Explorer 6 08/07/59 USAF-NASA Explorer 7 59-009A Explorer 7 10/13/59 NASA Explorer 8 60-014A Explorer 8 11/03/60 NASA-GSFC Explorer 9 61-004A Explorer 9,Balloon 02/16/61 NASA-LARC Explorer 10 61-010A P 14 03/25/61 NASA-GSFC Explorer 11 61-013A S 15 04/27/61 NASA-GSFC Explorer 12 61-020A EPE-A 08/16/61 NASA-GSFC Explorer 13 61-022A S 55A 08/25/61 NASA-LARC Explorer 14 62-051A EPE-B 10/02/62 NASA-GSFC Explorer 15 62-059A EPE-C 10/27/62 NASA-GSFC Explorer 16 62-070A S 55B 12/16/62 NASA-LARC Explorer 17 63-009A AE-A 04/03/63 NASA-GSFC Explorer 18 63-046A IMP-A 11/27/63 NASA-GSFC Explorer 19 63-053A AD-A 12/19/63 NASA-LARC Explorer 20 64-051A IE-A 08/25/64 NASA-NBS Explorer 21 64-060A IMP-B 10/04/64 NASA-GSFC Explorer 22 64-064A BE-B 10/10/64 NASA-APL Explorer 23 64-074A S 55C 11/06/64 NASA-LARC Explorer 24 64-076A AD-B 11/21/64 NASA-LARC Explorer 25 64-076B Injun 4 11/21/64 SUI-GSFC Explorer 26 64-086A EPE-D 12/21/64 NASA-GSFC Explorer 27 65-032A BE-C 04/29/65 NASA-APL Explorer 28 65-042A IMP-C 05/29/65 NASA-GSFC Explorer 29 65-089A GEOS 1 11/06/65 NASA-OSSA Explorer 30 65-093A SOLRAD 8 11/19/65 NASA-NRL Explorer 31 65-098B DME-A 11/29/65 NASA-APL Explorer 32 66-044A AE-B 05/25/66 NASA-GSFC Explorer 33 66-058A IMP-D 07/01/66 NASA-GSFC Explorer 34 67-051A IMP-F 05/24/67 NASA-GSFC Explorer 35 67-070A IMP-E 07/19/67 NASA-GSFC Explorer 36 68-002A GEOS 2 01/11/68 NASA-APL Explorer 37 68-017A SOLRAD 9 03/05/68 USN Explorer 38 68-055A RAE-A 07/04/68 NASA-GSFC Explorer 39 68-066A AD-C 08/08/68 NASA-LARC Explorer 40 68-066B Injun 5 08/08/68 SUI Explorer 41 69-053A IMP-G 06/21/69 NASA-GSFC Explorer 42 70-107A Uhuru 12/12/70 NASA-GSFC Explorer 43 71-019A IMP-I 03/13/71 NASA-GSFC Explorer 44 71-058A SOLRAD 10 07/08/71 USN-NASA Explorer 45 71-096A S-Cubed A 11/15/71 NASA-GSFC Explorer 46 72-061A Meteoroid Technology Sat 08/13/72 NASA-LARC Explorer 47 72-073A IMP-H 09/23/72 NASA-GSFC Explorer 48 72-091A SAS-B 11/15/72 NASA-GSFC Explorer 49 73-039A RAE-B 06/10/73 NASA-GSFC Explorer 50 73-078A IMP-J 10/26/73 NASA-GSFC Explorer 51 73-101A AE-C 12/16/73 NASA-GSFC Explorer 52 74-040A Hawkeye 1 06/03/74 NASA-LARC Explorer 53 75-037A SAS-C 05/07/75 NASA-GSFC Explorer 54 75-096A AE-D 10/06/75 NASA-GSFC Explorer 55 75-107A AE-E 11/20/75 NASA-GSFC Explorer 56 77-102A ISEE 1 10/22/77 NASA-GSFC Explorer 57 78-012A IUE 01/26/78 NASA-ESA Explorer 58 78-041A HCMM 04/26/78 NASA-OA Explorer 59 78-079A ISEE 3 08/12/78 NASA-GSFC Explorer 60 79-013A SAGE 02/18/79 NASA-OA Explorer 61 79-094A Magsat 10/30/79 NASA-GSFC Explorer 62 81-070A Dynamics Explorer 1 08/03/81 NASA-GSFC Explorer 63 81-070B Dynamics Explorer 2 08/03/81 NASA-GSFC Explorer 64 81-100A SME 10/06/81 NASA-OSS Explorer 65 84-088A AMPTCCE 08/16/84 NASA-GSFC Explorer 66 89-089A Cosmic Background Explor 11/18/89 NASA-GSFC Explorer 67 92-031A EUVE 06/07/92 NASA Explorer 68 92-038A SAMPEX 07/03/92 NASA-GSFC Explorer 69 95-074A X-Ray Timing Explorer 12/30/95 NASA-GSFC Explorer 70 96-049A FAST 08/21/96 NASA-GSFC Explorer 71 97-045A Advanced Composition Exp. 08/25/97 NASA-OSS Explorer 72 98-012A SNOE 02/26/98 US Explorer 73 98-020A TRACE 04/02/98 NASA-GSFC Explorer 74 98-071A SWAS 12/06/98 NASA-GSFC Explorer 75 99-011A WIRE, Failed 03/05/99 NASA-GSFC Explorer 76 99-026A TERRIERS, Failed 05/18/99 BOSTON U Explorer 77 99-035A FUSE 06/23/99 JHU-ANU Explorer 78 00-017A IMAGE 03/25/00 NASA-GSFC
| Explorer | Name | Date | S | LS | Launch Vehicle | Mass (kg) | Remarks |
| 1 | Explorer 1 | 01.02.1958 | CC | Juno-1 | 14 | ||
| 2 | Explorer 2 | 05.03.1958 | F | CC | Juno-1 | 14 | |
| 3 | Explorer 3 | 26.03.1958 | CC | Juno-1 | 14 | ||
| 4 | Explorer 4 | 26.07.1958 | CC | Juno-1 | 17 | ||
| 5 | Explorer 5 | 24.08.1958 | F | CC | Juno-1 | 17 | |
| (6) | S 1 | 16.07.1959 | F | CC | Juno-2 | 41 | |
| 6 | S 2 | 07.08.1959 | CC | Thor-DM18 Able-3 | 64 | ||
| 7 | S 1a | 13.10.1959 | CC | Juno-2 | 41 | ||
| - | S 46 | 23.03.1960 | F | CC | Juno-2 | 41 | |
| 8 | S 30 | 03.11.1960 | CC | Juno-2 | 41 | ||
| (9) | S 56 | 04.12.1960 | F | WI | Scout-X1 | 36 | |
| 9 | S 56a / AD 1 | 16.02.1961 | WI | Scout-X1 | 36 | ||
| - | S 45 | 24.02.1961 | F | CC | Juno-2 | 34 | |
| 10 | P 14 | 25.03.1961 | CC | Delta-DM19 | 35 | ||
| 11 | S 15 | 24.04.1961 | CC | Juno-2 | 43 | ||
| (12) | S 45a | 24.05.1961 | F | CC | Juno-2 | 41 | |
| (12) | S 55 | 30.06.1961 | F | WI | Scout-X1 | 85 | |
| 12 | EPE A / S 3 | 16.08.1961 | CC | Delta-DM19 | 38 | ||
| 13 | S 55a | 25.08.1961 | P | WI | Scout-X1 | 85 | |
| 14 | EPE B / S 3a | 02.10.1961 | CC | Delta-A | 40 | ||
| 15 | EPE C / S 3b | 27.10.1962 | CC | Delta-A | 45 | ||
| 16 | S 55b | 16.12.1962 | WI | Scout-X3 | 101 | ||
| 17 | AE A / S 6 | 03.04.1963 | CC | Delta-B | 184 | ||
| 18 | IMP A / S 74 (IMP 1) | 27.11.1963 | CC | Delta-C | 62 | ||
| 19 | AD A / S 56b | 19.12.1963 | Va | Scout-X4 | 7 | ||
| (20) | BE A / S 66 | 19.03.1964 | F | CC | Delta-B | 120 | |
| 20 | IE A / S 48 | 25.08.1964 | Va | Scout-X4 | 44 | ||
| 21 | IMP B (IMP 2) | 04.10.1964 | CC | Delta-C | 62 | ||
| 22 | BE B / S 66a | 10.10.1964 | Va | Scout-X4 | 53 | ||
| 23 | S 55c | 06.11.1964 | WI | Scout-X4 | 134 | ||
| 24 | AD B / S 56c | 21.11.1964 | Va | Scout-X4 | 9 | with IE B | |
| 25 | IE B / Injun 4 | 40 | with AD B | ||||
| 26 | EPE D | 21.12.1964 | CC | Delta-C | 46 | ||
| 27 | BE C | 29.04.1965 | WI | Scout-X4 | 60 | ||
| 28 | IMP C (IMP 3) | 29.05.1965 | CC | Delta-C | 59 | ||
| 29 | GEOS A | 06.11.1965 | CC | Delta-E | 175 | ||
| 30 | SE A / Solrad 8 / IQSY | 19.11.1965 | WI | Scout-X4 | 57 | ||
| 31 | DME A | 29.11.1965 | Va | Thor-DM21 Agena-B | 98 | with Alouette 2 | |
| 32 | AE B | 25.05.1966 | CC | Delta-C1 | 225 | ||
| 33 | IMP D (AIMP 1) | 01.07.1966 | CC | Delta-E1 | |||
| 34 | IMP F (IMP 4) | 24.05.1967 | Va | Delta-E1 | 75 | ||
| 35 | IMP E (AIMP 2) | 19.07.1967 | CC | Delta-E1 | |||
| 36 | GEOS B | 11.01.1968 | Va | Delta-E1 | 209 | ||
| 37 | SE B / Solrad 9 | 05.03.1968 | WI | Scout-B | 90 | ||
| 38 | RAE A | 04.07.1968 | Va | Delta-J | 188 | ||
| 39 | AD C | 08.08.1968 | Va | Scout-X4 | 9 | with IE C | |
| 40 | IE C / Injun 5 | 71 | with AD C | ||||
| 41 | IMP G (IMP 5) | 21.06.1969 | Va | Delta-E1 | 79 | ||
| 42 | SAS A / Uhuru | 12.12.1970 | SM | Scout-B | 163 | ||
| 43 | IMP H (IMP 6) | 13.03.1971 | CC | Delta-M6 | |||
| 44 | SE C / Solrad 10 | 08.07.1971 | WI | Scout-B | 118 | ||
| 45 | SSS A, S-Cubed A | 15.11.1971 | SM | Scout-B | 52 | ||
| 46 | MTS A | 13.08.1972 | WI | Scout-D1 | 90 | ||
| 47 | IMP I (IMP 7) | 23.09.1972 | CC | Delta-1604 | 390 | ||
| 48 | SAS B | 15.11.1972 | SM | Scout-D1 | 186 | ||
| 49 | RAE B | 10.06.1973 | CC | Delta-1913 | |||
| 50 | IMP J (IMP 8) | 26.10.1973 | CC | Delta-1604 | 81 | ||
| 51 | AE C | 16.12.1973 | Va | Delta-1900 | 658 | ||
| 52 | IE D / Injun 6 / Hawkeye | 03.06.1974 | Va | Scout-E1 | 27 | ||
| 53 | SAS C | 04.05.1975 | SM | Scout-F1 | 195 | ||
| 54 | AE D | 06.10.1975 | Va | Delta-2910 | 676 | ||
| 55 | AE E | 20.11.1975 | CC | Delta-2910 | 721 | ||
| (56) | DAD A | 05.12.1975 | F | Va | Scout-F1 | 40 | with DAD B |
| (57) | DAD B | 9 | with DAD A | ||||
| 56 | ISEE 1 | 22.10.1977 | CC | Delta-2914 | with ISEE 2 | ||
| 57 | IUE | 26.01.1978 | CC | Delta-2914 | 1479 / 669 | ||
| 58 | HCMM (AEM 1) | 26.04.1978 | Va | Scout-D1 | 134 | ||
| 59 | ISEE 3 -> ICE | 12.08.1978 | CC | Delta-2914 | 469 | ||
| 60 | SAGE (AEM 2) | 18.02.1979 | WI | Scout-D1 | 147 | ||
| 61 | Magsat (AEM 3) | 30.10.1979 | Va | Scout-G1 | 181 | ||
| 62 | DE 1 | 03.08.1981 | P | Va | Delta-3913 | 400 | with DE 2 |
| 63 | DE 2 | 400 | with DE 1 | ||||
| 64 | SME | 06.10.1981 | Va | Delta-2310 | 437 | with Oscar 9 | |
| 65 | CCE (AMPTE 1) | 16.08.1984 | CC | Delta-3924 | 240 | with IRM, UKS | |
| 66 | COBE | 18.11.1989 | Va | Delta-5920 | 2250 | ||
| 67 | EUVE | 07.06.1992 | CC | Delta-6920-10 | 3256 | ||
| 68 | SAMPEX (SMEX 1) | 04.02.1992 | Va | Scout-G1 | 158 | ||
| 69 | XTE (RXTE) | 30.12.1995 | CC | Delta-7920-10 | 3045 | ||
| 70 | FAST (SMEX 2) | 21.08.1996 | Va | Pegasus-XL | 180 | ||
| 71 | ACE | 05.08.1997 | CC | Delta-7920-8 | 765 | ||
| 72 | SNOE (STEDI 1) | 25.02.1998 | Va | Pegasus-XL | 132 | with Batsat | |
| 73 | TRACE (SMEX 4) | 01.04.1998 | Va | Pegasus-XL | 225 | ||
| 74 | SWAS (SMEX 3) | 05.12.1998 | WI | Pegasus-XL | 283 | ||
| 75 | WIRE (SMEX 5) | 04.03.1999 | Va | Pegasus-XL | 275 | ||
| 76 | TERRIERS (STEDI 2) | 18.05.1999 | Va | Pegasus-XL HAPS | 121 | with MUBLCOM | |
| 77 | FUSE (MIDEX 0) | 24.06.1999 | CC | Delta-7320-10C | 1360 | ||
| 78 | IMAGE (MIDEX 1) | 25.03.2000 | Va | Delta-7326 | 494 | ||
| 79 | MAP (WMAP, MIDEX 2) | 30.06.2001 | CC | Delta-7425-10C | 800 | ||
| 80 | HESSI (RHESSI, SMEX 6) | 05.02.2002 | CC | Pegasus-XL | 293 | ||
| 81 | CHIPSat (UNEX 1) | 13.01.2003 | Va | Delta-7320-10C | 60 | with ICESAT | |
| 82 | GALEX (SMEX 7) | 28.04.2003 | CC | Pegasus-XL | 312 | ||
| 83 | Swift (MIDEX 3) | 20.11.2004 | CC | Delta-7320-10C | 1331 | ||
| 85 | THEMIS 1 (MIDEX 5A) | 17.02.2007 | CC | Delta-7425-10C | 100 | with THEMIS 2, 3, 4, 5 | |
| 86 | THEMIS 2 (MIDEX 5B) | 100 | with THEMIS 1, 3, 4, 5 | ||||
| 87 | THEMIS 3 (MIDEX 5C) | 100 | with THEMIS 1, 2, 4, 5 | ||||
| 88 | THEMIS 4 (MIDEX 5D) | 100 | with THEMIS 1, 2, 3, 5 | ||||
| 89 | THEMIS 5 (MIDEX 5E) | 100 | with THEMIS 1, 2, 3, 4 | ||||
| 90 | AIM (SMEX 9) | 25.04.2007 | Va | Pegasus-XL | |||
| 91 | IBEX (SMEX 10) | 19.10.2008 | Kw | Pegasus-XL | |||
| 92 | WISE (MIDEX 6) | 14.12.2009 | S | Va, SLC-2W | Delta-7320-10C | 661 | |
| 95 | TESS (MIDEX 7) | 18.04.2018 | S | CC, SLC-40 | Falcon-9 v1.2 | ||
| 96 | ICON (Midex 8) | 11.10.2019 | S | L-1011, RW13/31 | Pegasus-XL | ||
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| |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explorer | Name | Date | Suc | LS | Launch Vehicle | Mass (kg) | Remarks |
| DUO (SMEX 10/11) | 1 or 2 to be selected in Nov. 2004 | CC | Taurus-2110 * | ||||
| JMEX (SMEX 10/11) | CC | Pegasus-XL * | |||||
| NEXUS (SMEX 10/11) | Pegasus-XL * | ||||||
| NuSTAR (SMEX 10/11) | Kw | Pegasus-XL * | |||||
|
| |||||||
| Explorer | Name | Date | Suc | LS | Launch Vehicle | Mass (kg) | Remarks |
| Owl 1 | cancelled 1966 ? | Va | Scout-A | 70 | |||
| Owl 2 | cancelled 1966 ? | Va | Scout-A | 70 | |||
| CATSAT (STEDI 3) | cancelled | Va | Delta-7320-10C | 109 | with ICESAT | ||
| IMEX (UNEX 2) | cancelled | CC | Titan-402B IUS | with DSP 22 | |||
| FAME (MIDEX 4) | cancelled | CC | Delta-7425-10C | ||||
| SPIDR (SMEX 8) | cancelled | Va | Pegasus-XL [Star-26C] | ||||
* = Launch vehicle baselined
History of NASA's Delta-class Explorers
---------------------------------------
Launch End of ops Current orbit
Int'l Sun-Earth Explorer 1 ISEE-1 1977 Oct 22 1987 Sep 26 Reentered 1987
Int'l Ultraviolet Explorer IUE 1978 Jan 26 1996 Sep 30 29474 x 42211 x 38
Int'l Sun-Earth Explorer 3 ISEE-3 1978 Aug 12 1997 May 5 Solar orbit
Dynamics Explorer 1 DE-1 1981 Aug 3 1991 Feb 28 581 x 23192 x 88
Dynamics Explorer 2 DE-2 1981 Aug 3 1983 Feb 19 Reentered 1983
Solar Mesosphere Explorer SME 1981 Oct 6 1986 Dec Reentered 1991
Charge Composition Explorer AMPTE-CCE 1984 Aug 16 1989 Jan 1102 x 49679 x 3
Cosmic Background Explorer COBE 1989 Nov 18 1997 May 1 873 x 887 x 99
Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer EUVE 1992 Jun 7 2001 Feb 2 424 x 433 x 28
X-ray Timing Explorer RXTE 1995 Dec 30 Operational 540 x 555 x 23
Advanced Composition Explorer ACE 1997 Aug 25 Operational Earth-Sun L1
Far UV Spectroscopic Explorer FUSE 1999 Jun 24 Operational 751 x 766 x 25
| Ref.: #7(SR446), #14, #15, #27, #89 - update: 22.01.20 | Home |