Missions to the Moon have been numerous and represent some of the earliest endeavours in space missions, with continuous exploration of the Moon beginning in 1959.

The first partially successful lunar mission was Luna 1 in January 1959, which became the first probe to escape Earth's gravity and perform a flyby of another astronomical body, passing near the Moon. Soon after, the first Moon landing—and the first landing on any extraterrestrial body—was carried out by Luna 2, which intentionally impacted the Moon on 14 September 1959. The far side of the Moon, permanently hidden from Earth due to tidal locking, was imaged for the first time by Luna 3 on 7 October 1959, revealing terrain never before seen.

Significant advances continued throughout the 1960s. In 1966, Luna 9 achieved the first controlled soft landing on the lunar surface, followed later that year by Luna 10, the first spacecraft to enter orbit around the Moon. In 1968, the Zond 5 mission became the first to carry terrestrial lifeforms—specifically tortoises—on a circumlunar approach that brought them close to the Moon and returned them safely to Earth, demonstrating biological viability in deep space.

The first crewed missions to the Moon were undertaken by the United States, forming the pinnacle of the Space Race. While the Soviet programme pivoted toward robotic sample return missions, the American Apollo program advanced through a sequence of increasingly complex missions. In December 1968, Apollo 8 became the first crewed spacecraft to orbit the Moon. On 20 July 1969, Apollo 11 accomplished the first crewed landing on the lunar surface, during which Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the Moon. Concurrently, the Soviet Luna 15 robotic mission was also orbiting the Moon, marking the first known instance of simultaneous extraterrestrial operations by different nations.

Between 1969 and 1972, the United States carried out six successful Apollo landings, while the Soviet Union continued deploying uncrewed probes, including the Lunokhod programme—the first extraterrestrial rovers—and sample return missions through 1976. Following this period, there was a gap in dedicated lunar missions lasting until 1990. Since then, renewed interest in lunar exploration has seen additional missions conducted by a broader range of spacefaring entities. In roughly chronological order following the Soviet Union and the United States, the Moon has also been visited by the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), China National Space Administration (CNSA), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Italian Space Agency (ASI), Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA), the United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA), and Pakistan's Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO).

In 2018, the far side of the Moon was targeted for the first time by a landing mission. On 3 January 2019, China's Chang'e 4 mission successfully landed in the Aitken basin, deploying the Yutu-2 rover, which commenced scientific operations on the unexplored lunar hemisphere. Five years later, China launched the Chang'e 6 sample return mission to the far side. Its lander touched down in Apollo crater on 1 June 2024 and collected the first lunar samples retrieved from the Moon's far hemisphere.

The first commercial mission to the Moon was the Manfred Memorial Moon Mission (4M), developed by LuxSpace, a subsidiary of the German aerospace company OHB AG, Launched on 23 October 2014 with the mission flying as a secondary payload aboard CNSA's Chang'e 5-T1 spacecraft.

The Moon has also been visited by a small number of spacecraft not dedicated to lunar study. Of these, four executed flybys using the Moon for gravity assist manoeuvres to alter their interplanetary trajectories. In addition, Explorer 49, a radio astronomy satellite launched by the United States in 1973, was placed into selenocentric orbit where the Moon itself served as a shield from terrestrial radio interference, enabling observations of deep-space radio signals.

20th century

Legend ⚀ Cubesat or similar MissionLaunch dateOperatorCarrier rocketSpacecraftMission typeOutcome 1Pioneer 0 (Able I) USAFThor DM-18 Able IPioneer 0Orbiter First attempted launch beyond Earth orbit; failed to orbit due to turbopump gearbox malfunction resulting in first-stage explosion. Reached apogee of . 2Luna E-1 No.1 OKB-1LunaLuna E-1 No.1Impactor Failed to orbit; rocket disintegrated due to excessive vibration. 3Pioneer 1 (Able II) NASAThor DM-18 Able IPioneer 1Orbiter Failed to orbit; premature second-stage cutoff due to accelerometer failure. Later known as Pioneer 1. Reached apogee of . 4Luna E-1 No.2 OKB-1LunaLuna E-1 No.2Impactor Failed to orbit; carrier rocket exploded due to excessive vibration. 5Pioneer 2 (Able III) NASAThor DM-18 Able IPioneer 2Orbiter Failed to orbit; premature second-stage cutoff due to erroneous command by ground controllers; third stage failed to ignite due to broken electrical connection. Reached apogee of . 6Luna E-1 No.3 OKB-1LunaLuna E-1 No.3Impactor Failed to orbit; seal failure in hydrogen peroxide pump cooling system resulted in core-stage underperformance. 7Pioneer 3 NASAJuno IIPioneer 3Flyby Failed to orbit; premature first-stage cutoff. Reached apogee of . 8Luna 1 (E-1 No.4) OKB-1LunaLuna 1Impactor Carrier rocket guidance problem resulted in failure to impact Moon, flew past in a heliocentric orbit. Closest approach on 4 January. First spacecraft to fly by the Moon. 9Pioneer 4 NASAJuno IIPioneer 4Flyby Second-stage overperformance resulted in flyby at greater altitude than expected, out of instrument range, with of distance. Closest approach at 22:25 UTC on 4 March. First U.S. spacecraft to leave Earth orbit. 10E-1A No.1 OKB-1LunaE-1A No.1Impactor Failed to orbit; guidance system malfunction. 11Luna 2 (E-1A No.2) OKB-1LunaLuna 2Impactor Successful impact at 21:02 on 14 September 1959. First spacecraft to impact the lunar surface. This made the Soviet Union the first country to impact the surface of the Moon. 12Luna 3 (E-2A No.1) OKB-1LunaLuna 3Flyby Returned the first images of the far side of the Moon. 13Pioneer P-3 Able IVB NASAAtlas-D AblePioneer P-3Orbiter Failed to orbit; payload fairing disintegrated due to design fault. 14Luna E-3 No.1 OKB-1LunaLuna E-3 No.1Flyby Failed to orbit; premature third-stage cutoff. 15Luna E-3 No.2 OKB-1LunaLuna E-3 No.2Flyby Failed to orbit; rocket disintegrated ten seconds after launch. 16Pioneer P-30 (Able VA) NASAAtlas-D AblePioneer P-30Orbiter Failed to orbit; second-stage oxidizer system malfunction resulting in premature cutoff. 17Pioneer P-31 (Able VB) NASAAtlas-D AblePioneer P-31Orbiter Failed to orbit, exploded 68 seconds after launch, at an altitude of . Second stage ignited while first stage was still attached and burning. 18Ranger 3 (P-34) NASAAtlas LV-3 Agena-BRanger 3Impactor Ranger 3 landerLander Partial launch failure due to guidance problem; attempt to correct using spacecraft's engine resulted in it missing the Moon by . 19Ranger 4 (P-35) NASAAtlas LV-3 Agena-BRanger 4Impactor Ranger 4 landerLander Failed to deploy solar panels, ran out of power ten hours after launch; incidental impact on the far side of the Moon on 26 April. First spacecraft to impact the far side of the Moon.

The impact made the United States the 2nd country to impact the surface of the Moon. 20Ranger 5 (P-36) NASAAtlas LV-3 Agena-BRanger 5Impactor Ranger 5 landerLander Solar panels erroneously disengaged from power system, failed hours after launch when batteries were depleted. Missed the Moon as course correction was not completed. 21Luna E-6 No.2 OKB-1Molniya-LLuna E-6 No.2Lander Failed to depart Low Earth orbit; guidance system power failure prevented upper-stage ignition. 22Luna E-6 No.3 OKB-1Molniya-LLuna E-6 No.3Lander Failed to orbit; guidance failure. 23Luna 4 (E-6 No.4) OKB-1Molniya-LLuna 4Lander Failed to perform mid-course correction, remained in high Earth orbit until given escape velocity by orbital perturbation. 24Ranger 6 (P-54) NASAAtlas LV-3 Agena-BRanger 6Impactor Impacted on 2 February 1964, failed to return images due to power system failure. 25Luna E-6 No.6 OKB-1Molniya-MLuna E-6 No.6Lander Failed to orbit; third stage underperformed due to oxidiser valve failure. 26Luna E-6 No.5 OKB-1Molniya-MLuna E-6 No.5Lander Failed to orbit; power failure caused by broken connection resulted in premature third-stage cutoff. 27Ranger 7 NASAAtlas LV-3 Agena-BRanger 7Impactor Impacted on 30 July 1964 at 13:25:48 UTC. 28Ranger 8 NASAAtlas LV-3 Agena-BRanger 8Impactor Impacted on 20 February 1965 at 09:57:37 UTC. 29Kosmos 60 (E-6 No.9) LavochkinMolniya-LKosmos 60Lander Upper stage failed to restart due to guidance system short circuit, Failed to depart low Earth orbit. 30Ranger 9 NASAAtlas LV-3 Agena-BRanger 9Impactor Impacted on 24 March 1965 at 14:08:20 UTC. 31Luna E-6 No.8 LavochkinMolniya-LLuna E-6 No.8Lander Third stage failed to ignite due to loss of oxidiser pressure, failed to orbit. 32Luna 5 (E-6 No.10) LavochkinMolniya-MLuna 5Lander Loss of control after gyroscope malfunction, failed to decelerate for landing and impacted the Moon at 19:10 UTC on 12 May 1965. 33Luna 6 (E-6 No.7) LavochkinMolniya-MLuna 6Lander Engine failed to shut down after performing mid-course correction manoeuvre, flew past the Moon in a heliocentric orbit. 34Zond 3 (3MV-4 No.3) LavochkinMolniyaZond 3Flyby Flew past the Moon on 20 July 1965 at a distance of . Conducted technology demonstration for future planetary missions. 35Luna 7 (E-6 No.11) LavochkinMolniyaLuna 7Lander Attitude control failure shortly before landing prevented controlled descent; impacted the lunar surface 22:08:24 UTC on 7 October 1965. 36Luna 8 (E-6 No.12) LavochkinMolniyaLuna 8Lander Landing airbag punctured, resulting in loss of attitude control shortly before planned touchdown, impacted Moon on 6 December 1965 at 21:51:30 UTC. 37Luna 9 (E-6 No.13) LavochkinMolniya-MLuna 9Lander First spacecraft to land successfully on the Moon. Touchdown on 3 February 1966 at 18:45:30 UTC. Returned data until 6 February at 22:55 UTC. With its soft landing, the Soviet Union became the first country to successfully land on the lunar surface. 38Kosmos 111 (E-6S No.204) LavochkinMolniya-MKosmos 111Orbiter Upper stage lost attitude control and failed to ignite; spacecraft never left low Earth orbit. 39Luna 10 (E-6S No.206) LavochkinMolniya-MLuna 10Orbiter Entered orbit at 18:44 UTC on 3 April 1966, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon. Continued to return data until 30 May. 40Surveyor 1 NASAAtlas LV-3C Centaur-DSurveyor 1Lander Landed in Oceanus Procellarum on 2 June 1966 at 06:17:36 UTC. Returned data until loss of power on 13 July. With its soft landing, the United States became the second country to successfully land on the lunar surface. 41Explorer 33 (AIMP-D) NASADelta E1Explorer 33Orbiter Magnetospheric probe; rocket imparted greater velocity than had been planned, leaving spacecraft unable to enter orbit. Repurposed for Earth orbit mission which was completed successfully. 42Lunar Orbiter 1 NASAAtlas SLV-3 Agena-DLunar Orbiter 1Orbiter Orbital insertion at around 15:36 UTC on 14 August. Deorbited early due to lack of fuel and to avoid communications interference with the next mission, impacted the Moon at 13:30 UTC on 29 October 1966. 43Luna 11 (E-6LF No.101) LavochkinMolniya-MLuna 11Orbiter Entered orbit on 28 August 1966. Failed to return images; other instruments operated correctly. Conducted gamma ray and X-ray observations to study the composition of the Moon, investigated the lunar gravitational field, the presence of meteorites in the lunar environment and the radiation environment at the Moon.