A rover is a planetary surface exploration vehicle designed to move over the surface of a planet or other celestial body to explore, collect information, and take samples. This is a list of the seven lunar rovers, seven Mars rovers, and three asteroid rovers that have explored extraterrestrial bodies. In addition, a small helicopter, Ingenuity, operated on Mars from 2021 to 2024.
Moon
Mission Rover Country/Agency Date of landing Coordinates Operational time Distance travelledOutcomeLuna E-8 No.201Lunokhod LavochkinN/A0 days0 km First launch of the Lunokhod rover. Launch vehicle disintegrated 51 seconds after launch and exploded.Luna 17Lunokhod 1 USSR17 November 1970322 days First rover on an extraterrestrial body.Luna 21Lunokhod 2 USSR15 January 1973117 days Farthest distance traveled on the Moon.Chang'e 3Yutu CNSA14 December 201342 days 973 days First Chinese extraterrestrial rover and first lunar rover in over 40 years.Chang'e 4Yutu-2 CNSA3 January 2019First rover on the far side of the Moon. Longest fully functioning rover on the Moon.Chandrayaan-2Pragyan ISRO6 September 20190 days0 km Lost when Vikram lander crash landed on the Moon.Hakuto-R Mission 1Rashid MBRSCApril 20230 days0 km Sora-Q Tomy/JAXA/Doshisha UniversityApril 2023 Contact lost during final descent of the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander. Presumed crash landing and failure.Chandrayaan-3Pragyan ISRO23 August 202312 days First rover to successfully operate near lunar south pole.SLIMLEV-1 JAXA19 January 2024LEV-2 (Sora-Q)A hopper and a rover included in the SLIM mission which demonstrated precision landing technology.Peregrine Mission OneIris CMU2024N/A0 days0 kmColmena x5 UNAMColmena would have been deployed using a small catapult mechanism. Mission cancelled along with the cancelled landing of Peregrine lander due to excessive propellant leak.Chang'e 6Jinchan CNSA1 June 2024 4 daysConduct infrared spectroscopy of lunar surface and imaged Chang'e 6 lander on lunar surface.IM-2MAPP LV1 Lunar Outpost6 March 20250 days0 kmAstroAnt MITMicro-Nova Intuitive MachinesYaoki DymonMAPP and Micro-Nova would have demonstrated a new lunar communication system. IM-2 landed on 6 March 2025. The spacecraft was intact after touchdown but resting on its side, thereby complicating its planned science and technology demonstration mission; this outcome is similar to what occurred with the company's IM-1 Odysseus spacecraft in 2024.Hakuto-R Mission 2Tenacious ispace EuropeJune 2025 0 days 0 kmHakuto-R Mission 2 featured a rover for surface exploration and data collection. Contact lost during final descent of the Hakuto-R Mission 2 lander. Presumed crash landing and failure.Chang’e 7Chang’e 7 rover CNSA2027 (TBD)TBDChang’e 7 hopperWill search for water ice in and around Shackleton crater in the south pole of the Moon.Griffin-1CubeRover-1 Astrobotic2026TBDFLIP AstrolabIM-3Lunar VertexNASA2026TBDCADRE x4NASAMission to study Reiner Gamma.Starship lunar cargo missionFLEX AstrolabTBDTBDAstrolab contracted with SpaceX to send their rover to the Moon aboard StarshipGriffin-2⚀ LunaGrid-Lite CubeRover Astrobotic2027TBDThird lunar mission by Astrobotic, will land at lunar south pole. LunaGrid-Lite mission.LUPEXLUPEX Rover JAXA ISRO2028TBDJoint mission between ISRO and JAXA.Chang’e 8Chang’e 8 rover CNSA2028TBDChang’e 8 RobotChinese ISRU mission in preparation for ILRS.Jinnah-1South Pole Rover SUPARCO2028TBDPakistan's first Lunar rover that will be launched aboard the Chang'e 8 mission. The mission is part of the wider ILRS program.IM-5Roo-ver ASA2030Mons Malapert~14 DaysTBDAustralia's first Lunar Rover, KLEPKLLR Rover KARI2032TBDSecond mission of the Korean Lunar Exploration Program.PROMISE PROMISE NASA late 2028TBDTwin engineering model of the Mars rover Perseverance.
Mars
Mission Rover Country/Agency Date of landing Coordinates Operational time Distance travelledMars 2 PrOP-M USSR 27 November 1971 - - First rover to reach Mars. Lost when Mars 2 landing system crash landed on Mars.Mars 3 PrOP-M USSR 2 December 1971 - - The lander stopped communicating about 110 seconds after landing, before the rover was deployed.Mars Pathfinder Sojourner NASA 4 July 1997 85 days First rover to successfully run on Mars. Mars Exploration Rover Spirit NASA 4 January 2004 6 years 79 days Mission ended after rover got stuck in Martian sand. Opportunity NASA 25 January 2004 14 years 140 days Longest distance travelled by any rover and most days operated. Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity NASA 6 August 2012 Rover for investigating past and present habitability, climate and geology.Mars 2020 Perseverance NASA 18 February 2021 Ingenuity3 April 2021 (deployment) in 72 flightsThe Ingenuity helicopter is the first aircraft to fly on an extraterrestrial body.Tianwen-1 Zhurong CNSA 14 May 2021 356 days Inactive after dust storm and Martian winter.MMX IdefixCNES/DLR2027TBDRover for studying the surface of Phobos.
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 MINERVA-II Rover-1B 3 days 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 ~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 travelledDragonfly NASA 2034 Shangri-La 10 years (planned) 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 NotesApollo 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 roverApollo 16Lunar Roving Vehicle NASA21 April 19728.97301°S 15.50019°E3 h 26 min26.55 km (16.50 mi)Apollo 17Lunar Roving Vehicle NASA11 December 197220.1908°N 30.7717°E4 h 26 min35.89 km (22.30 mi)Furthest distance travelled by crewed lunar roverArtemis VLunar Terrain Vehicle NASA2030TBDUnpressurised crewed rover for the Artemis programChinese Crewed Lunar MissionChinese Crewed Rover CNSA2030TBDRover shown at the National Museum of China on 24 February 2023Artemis VIILunar Cruiser JAXA2032TBDDeveloped jointly between JAXA and Toyota
Proposed rovers Rover Country/Agency Proposed Date of launched Location NotesMPR-1 STELLS2025In range of a craterRover under study for power supply for future mining roversCanadensys Rover Canadensys 2026 Lunar South Pole Rover funded by CSA to scout for water ice on the MoonLunar Trailblazer Delft University of Technology2026Lunar South PoleSmall rover studying swarm technologiesLuna-Grunt Roscosmos2028Rover for proposed Luna 29 sample return mission, details of rover are unknownLIBER Qosmosys2027TBDLunar Integrated Bulk Extraction Rover (LIBER) will mine on the lunar surface.ExoMars Rosalind Franklin ESANET 2028 Rover will search for previous signs of life on Mars.HERACLES CSA2030Schrödinger basinPart of European Large Logistic Lander program, will be used to transport samples and scout for resources on the Moon.Asagumo SpacebitTBDSpider-like rover was planned to launch with Peregrine Mission One but its status is currently unknownCELV Jilin University/CASTTBDNear a Lunar baseThe Cubic Emergency Lunar Vehicle is an emergency crewed rover that will be stored on a larger crewed rover.MoonRanger Astrobotic/Carnegie Mellon UniversityTBDLunar South PoleWas intended to launch in November 2023 but lunar lander provider Masten Space Systems declared bankruptcy and the rover is on holdRashid 2 MBRSCTBDTBDRover development announced after failure of first rover.
See also List of landings on extraterrestrial bodies List of extraterrestrial orbiters List of Solar System probes
References