Voyager 1 — launch
Date in UTC
Voyager 1 is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program, to study the outer Solar System and the interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. It was launched 16 days after its twin, Voyager 2. It communicates through the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) to receive routine commands and to transmit data to Earth. Real-time distance and velocity data are provided by NASA and JPL. At a distance of 172.52 AU (25.8 billion km; 16.0 billion mi) as of October 2026, it is the most distant human-made object from Earth. Voyager 1 is projected to reach a distance of one light day from Earth on November 18, 2026.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1. Related NASA reference: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager-1/. Description adapted from Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
- Category
- Launches and Flight Tests
- Type
- Orbital launch
- Subjects
- Space transportation
- Mission
- Voyager 1
- Organization
- NASA Lewis Research Center
- Participants
- USAF Space and Missile Systems Organization
- Vehicle
- Titan IIIE
- Location
- Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida
- Country
- US
- Outcome
- Successful
Sources and attribution
- Jonathan McDowell — General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (opens in a new tab) — Data from GCAT (J. McDowell, planet4589.org/space/gcat), CC BY 4.0. Adapted into anniversary records. (CC BY 4.0)
- Wikipedia — Voyager 1 (opens in a new tab) — Adapted from Wikipedia contributors; selected sentences retained and edited for length, reference markers and pronunciation glosses. CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Article and edit history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Timeline of Space Exploration Missions 1957 to 2031 (opens in a new tab)
- NASA — Voyager 1 (opens in a new tab)
- NASA NSSDCA — Voyager 1 (opens in a new tab)