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Missions to Asteroids, Comets and Dwarf Planets: A Timeline

Forty years of spacecraft visits, from comet flybys to sample returns and an asteroid impact test. Every entry has a date and a mission type.

ExplorationBy the duorolt.com editorial teamPublished Facts checked 7 min read

On July 5, 2026, Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft swept past the asteroid Torifune at about 744 meters (2,440 feet) from its center and roughly 400 meters (1,300 feet) from its surface. JAXA, the Japanese space agency, says no flyby mission has passed closer to a Solar System body. It is the most recent completed encounter in a list of spacecraft visits to small bodies that goes back to 1985.

JPL's Mission Targets table, as of November 11, 2026, lists 42 encounters, past and planned. It marks 32 of them complete and 10 active. This timeline walks through the main ones by era. A few terms help first. A flyby passes a target and keeps going. An orbiter stays and circles. A lander touches down. A sample-return mission brings material back to Earth. An impactor strikes a target on purpose.

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1985 to 2001: Comets first, then asteroids

The first wave of visits went to comets, and the first asteroid encounters followed within a few years. Most were flybys, the simplest kind of visit.

  • 1985: ISEE-3/ICE flies by comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner on September 11.
  • 1986: Five spacecraft meet Halley's Comet in March: Vega 1 on March 6, Suisei on March 8, Vega 2 on March 9, Sakigake on March 11 and ESA's Giotto on March 14.
  • 1991: NASA's Galileo flies by asteroid 951 Gaspra on October 29.
  • 1992: Giotto, still active, flies by comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup on July 10.
  • 1993: Galileo flies by asteroid 243 Ida on August 28.
  • 1997: NEAR flies by asteroid 253 Mathilde on June 27.
  • 1999: Deep Space 1 flies by asteroid 9969 Braille on July 29.
  • 2000: NEAR enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros on February 14. JPL lists the mission type as orbiter and landing.
  • 2001: Deep Space 1 flies by comet 19P/Borrelly on September 22.

2002 to 2012: Impacts, samples and the first long stays

Missions in this period got more ambitious. Some hit their target, some collected material, and some stayed for months.

  • 2002: Stardust flies by asteroid 5535 Annefrank on November 2.
  • 2004: Stardust reaches comet 81P/Wild 2 on January 2. JPL lists it as a sample-return mission.
  • 2005: Deep Impact sends an impactor into comet 9P/Tempel 1 on July 4.
  • 2005: Hayabusa arrives at asteroid 25143 Itokawa on September 12. JPL lists it, like Stardust, as a sample-return mission.
  • 2008: Rosetta flies by asteroid 2867 Steins on September 5, and by asteroid 21 Lutetia on July 10, 2010.
  • 2010: EPOXI, the extended mission of Deep Impact, flies by comet 103P/Hartley 2 on November 4.
  • 2011: Stardust-NExT flies by Tempel 1 on February 15, the same comet Deep Impact had hit more than five years earlier. On July 16, Dawn enters orbit around asteroid 4 Vesta.
  • 2012: China's Chang'e 2 flies by asteroid 4179 Toutatis on December 13.

2014 to 2019: A comet landing, dwarf planets and returning samples

This stretch includes some of the best-known results. Rosetta launched on March 2, 2004 and arrived at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on August 6, 2014. Its lander, Philae, touched down on November 12, 2014, which ESA calls a first in the history of space exploration. Rosetta ended its mission on September 30, 2016 with a controlled descent to the comet's surface.

  • 2015: Dawn enters orbit around Ceres on March 6, so the same spacecraft has now orbited both Vesta and the dwarf planet.
  • 2015: New Horizons passes Pluto on July 14, about 7,800 km (4,800 miles) above its surface. The New Horizons flyby of Pluto has its own story.
  • 2018: Hayabusa2 arrives at asteroid Ryugu on June 27. OSIRIS-REx arrives at asteroid Bennu on December 3.
  • 2019: New Horizons flies by Arrokoth on January 1, at about 3,500 km (2,200 miles). Hayabusa2 touches down on Ryugu on February 22 and July 11, and leaves on November 13.

2020 to 2026: Samples home, an impact test and new targets

Sample returns reached Earth in this period, and the first test of redirecting an asteroid took place.

  • 2020: OSIRIS-REx touches down on Bennu on October 20 to collect dust and pebbles. Hayabusa2's sample capsule lands on December 6, Japan time.
  • 2021: Lucy launches on October 16. DART launches on the evening of November 23, Pacific time.
  • 2022: DART hits Dimorphos, the small moon of asteroid Didymos, on September 26.
  • 2023: Lucy flies by asteroid Dinkinesh on November 1. OSIRIS-REx's capsule lands in Utah on September 24. Psyche launches on October 13.
  • 2024: NASA announces on February 15 that the Bennu sample weighs 121.6 grams (4.29 ounces). Hera launches on October 7.
  • 2025: Lucy flies by asteroid Donaldjohanson on April 20. Tianwen 2 launches on May 28, headed for asteroid Kamoʻoalewa.
  • 2026: Hayabusa2 flies by Torifune on July 5.

The results of those samples are covered in the guide to how we know what asteroids are made of. Torifune's name came from a public campaign described in the guide to how asteroids and comets get their names.

What comes next

Several encounters are still scheduled. Dates below are from JPL's Mission Targets table and the mission teams as of November 11, 2026, and can slip.

Hera, a mission to the Didymos pair, is listed with an arrival in November 2026. Check ESA's Hera page for the current status. DART's impact is why this system gets a second visit. For the policy background, see the guide to planetary defense and DART.

Lucy is the busiest mission on the table, with seven targets between 2023 and 2033. The remaining ones are Eurybates on August 11, 2027, Polymele in September 2027, Leucus on April 18, 2028, Orus on November 11, 2028, and Patroclus on March 3, 2033. Observers on Earth can time the moment a target passes in front of a star, a method covered in the guide to stellar occultations.

Psyche is scheduled to begin exploring asteroid 16 Psyche in August 2029. OSIRIS-APEX, the follow-on to OSIRIS-REx, is to study Apophis after its close Earth approach in 2029. Hayabusa2 has two Earth swing-bys planned, in 2027 and 2028, before it reaches the tiny asteroid 1998 KY26 in 2031. That target is about 11 meters (36 feet) across and turns once about every 5 minutes. Tianwen 2, a sample-return mission, is listed by JPL with an arrival date of July 4, 2026. Its own team is the place to confirm what has happened since.

JPL's table, which can be sorted by mission or target, is also available as part of the guide to the JPL Small-Body Database.

Common mistakes and myths

"Philae landed on an asteroid." It landed on a comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Asteroids and comets are different kinds of bodies, even if both are small.

"Flyby means landing." New Horizons passed about 7,800 km (4,800 miles) above Pluto and never touched down. A flyby gets one close look, an orbiter stays and a lander touches the surface.

"A sample return brings back a big rock." The Bennu sample weighs 121.6 grams (4.29 ounces). NASA calls it the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space.

"Missions only visit the biggest bodies." Torifune averages about 540 meters (1,800 feet) across, according to JAXA. The Hayabusa2 team's final target, 1998 KY26, is only about 11 meters (36 feet) wide.

"DART was built to destroy an asteroid." It was a test of the impactor technique, in which a spacecraft hits a small body to see how much its motion changes. The target was a small moon, Dimorphos.

"A mission ends when its main target is done." New Horizons flew by Arrokoth more than three years after Pluto. Hayabusa2 left Ryugu in 2019 and flew by Torifune in 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Which mission has visited the most small bodies?

In JPL's table, Lucy has the longest list, with seven asteroid targets scheduled between 2023 and 2033. Rosetta visited asteroids Steins and Lutetia before reaching comet 67P.

Has a spacecraft landed on a comet?

Yes. ESA's Philae lander touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November 12, 2014, after being released by Rosetta.

Where can the latest mission status be checked?

Each agency keeps its own mission page, such as NASA Science, ESA and JAXA, and the JPL Mission Targets table marks every entry as upcoming, current or past.

Was there a mission to visit more than one asteroid in a single launch?

Several. Galileo, NEAR, Rosetta, Hayabusa2 and Lucy all visited more than one target after a single launch. Dawn went into orbit around both Vesta and Ceres.

Sources