Only nine nations (or political unions) have been to the moon, its orbit or its vicinity as part of a successful or semi-successful missions – and the runner-up doesn’t even exist anymore. This is the tally of moon missions long after the first race for space that saw the U.S. and the USSR square off in the 1950s, 60s and 70s and at the recent beginning of the new era of moon missions that included the participation of new national and private sector actors.
The U.S. tops the current list, with 42 completed successful or semi-successful missions to the moon between 1959 and 2022, according to OMG Space and Statista research. The USSR flew 22 such missions between 1959 and 1976. China stepped up its space program in the 2000s and flew its first mission of the Chang’e program in 2007. All seven attempted missions related to the program have been successful or semi-successful (Rover Yutu that landed on the moon in the Chang’e 3 mission in December 2018 stopped moving after around six weeks but maintained radio contact). China counts eight missions to the moon after a Hong Kong satellite, AsiaSat 3, in 1997 missed its Earth orbit, which was subsequently adjusted with the help of two lunar flybys, marking the first (accidental) commercial mission to the moon.
India successfully completed a lunar orbit and impactor mission (Chandrayaan-1) in 2008 and entered the moon orbit again in September 2019, with a lander and rover mission that was only semi-successful. Contact was lost with the lander which touched down hard, but the mission’s orbiter has actually sent valuable data back to Earth for the past four years. Finally, India became the fourth nation to make a soft landing on the moon on Aug. 23, 2023 as part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Japan has currently completed five missions, three of which were flybys. The EU sent probe Smart-1 into lunar orbit in 2003, testing solar-powered ion drive technology. Luxembourg company LuxSpace piggybacked a small independent probe on the Chinese Chang’e 5-T1 mission, which flew by the moon and returned to Earth in 2014. In 2022, the Italian and Korean space agencies completed similar missions with the help of Space X and NASA rockets (despite South Korea developing its own rocket capabilities at the moment).
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