SpaceTRC / Space Age / Mars and deep space
From Mars to interstellar space: robotic explorers.
Humans have not yet gone beyond the Moon, but our robots are everywhere in the Solar System. Two rovers work on Mars, two spacecraft are heading to Jupiter, and Voyager 1 reaches one light-day from Earth in November 2026.
Distance from Earth
≈ 25.9 billion km
Light covers it in ≈ 24 hours.
The one light-day threshold is crossed on 18 November 2026.
Simple estimate based on one light-day (25.9 billion km) at 10:16 UTC on 18 November 2026 and a recession speed of about 17 km/s. Earth’s orbit makes the true distance swing by a few hundred million km over the year.
- Rovers working on Mars
- 2Perseverance and Curiosity
- Voyager 1 one light-day
- 18 Nov 2026NASA Voyager team
- Heading to Jupiter
- 2 craftEuropa Clipper (2030), JUICE (2031)
- Mercury orbit
- 21 Nov 2026BepiColombo
01 / Mars
Mars: samples collected, the return mission cancelled
Perseverance
In Jezero crater since 2021, it had driven about 43 km by June 2026 and collected rock samples for return to Earth. Its helicopter Ingenuity’s last flight ended with rotor damage in January 2024.
Curiosity
Climbing Mount Sharp in Gale crater since 2012 and nearing 5,000 Martian days. In 2026 a drill bit got stuck in a rock; the rover carries spares.
Mars Sample Return (NASA)
The January 2026 appropriations act formally cancelled NASA’s sample return. Perseverance’s samples remain on Mars for now. China plans to launch Tianwen-3 around 2028 and bring samples back around 2031.
| Mission | Agency | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Tianwen-1 | China | Orbiter operating; the Zhurong rover has not woken from hibernation since May 2022. |
| ESCAPADE | NASA | Launched on New Glenn in November 2025; Earth gravity assist November 2026, Mars orbit September 2027. |
| Rosalind Franklin | ESA | Europe’s Mars rover, planned to launch in October 2028 and land at Oxia Planum in November 2030. |
02 / En route
Spacecraft on the move across the Solar System
| Spacecraft | Target | Launch | Arrival / next event |
|---|---|---|---|
| BepiColombo (ESA/JAXA) | Mercury | 2018 | Mercury orbit insertion 21 November 2026; Japan’s Mio separates on 10 December. |
| Hera (ESA) | Didymos binary asteroid | 2024 | Arrival November 2026, to study the asteroid NASA’s DART hit in 2022. |
| Tianwen-2 (China) | Asteroid Kamoʻoalewa | 2025 | Reached the asteroid in mid-2026; samples return in November 2027. |
| Europa Clipper (NASA) | Jupiter’s moon Europa | 2024 | Earth flyby 3 December 2026, Jupiter April 2030 |
| JUICE (ESA) | Jupiter’s icy moons | 2023 | Completed an Earth flyby on 28 September 2026; arrives July 2031. |
| Psyche (NASA) | Metal-rich asteroid Psyche | 2023 | Mars flyby May 2026; arrival August 2029. |
| Lucy (NASA) | Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids | 2021 | First Trojan, Eurybates, on 12 August 2027 |
| New Horizons (NASA) | Kuiper belt | 2006 | About 64.5 AU from the Sun, operating |
03 / Voyager
Voyager: a 49-year journey
Launched in 1977, the two Voyagers are the only working human-made spacecraft in interstellar space. Instruments are being switched off one by one to save power.
Voyager 1
About 25.8 billion km from the Sun in March 2026. Its low-energy particle instrument was switched off in April 2026, leaving only the plasma wave instrument and magnetometer. On 18 November 2026 it reaches one light-day from Earth: a command sent there takes exactly 24 hours.
Voyager 2
About 21.4 billion km away in February 2026 with three instruments on. An August 2026 power adjustment delayed the cosmic-ray instrument’s shutdown by at least a year. No instrument is expected to have power left around 2030.
04 / Telescopes
Space telescopes
James Webb (JWST)
Launched in 2021, the infrared telescope has propellant for about 20 years.
Nancy Grace Roman
NASA’s wide-field telescope launched on Falcon Heavy. It reaches the Sun–Earth L2 point in early December 2026; first images are expected in early 2027.