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Spacecraft escaping the Solar System

This page shows the current positions and other interesting data of the five spacecraft which are leaving the Solar System on escape trajectories - our first emissaries to the stars. The graphics and data table are generated dynamically and so always represent the latest positions. The New Horizons spacecraft on its way to Pluto has been added to the table, and now the charts too.

View of orbit from above ecliptic plane
View from 10 degrees above ecliptic plane

  Pioneer 10 Pioneer 11 Voyager 2 Voyager 1 New Horizons
Distance from Sun (AU) 100.138 80.276 91.358 112.554 15.879
Speed relative to Sun (km/s) 12.082 11.445 15.487 17.078 16.500
Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) 2.549 2.414 3.267 3.603 3.481
Ecliptic Latitude 3.0° 14.4° -33.0° 34.9° 1.7°
Declination (J2000) 25.84° -8.78° -54.37° 12.01° -21.59°
Right Ascension (J2000) 5.067 hrs 18.728 hrs 19.840 hrs 17.168 hrs 18.562 hrs
Constellation Tau Sct Tel Oph Sgr
Distance from Earth (AU) 99.703 81.002 92.054 112.875 16.578
One-way light time (hours) 13.82 11.23 12.76 15.65 2.30
Magnitude of Sun from spacecraft -16.7 -17.2 -16.9 -16.4 -20.7
Spacecraft still functioning ? No No Yes Yes Yes
Launch date Mar 3, 1972 Apr 6, 1973 Aug 20, 1977 Sep 5, 1977 Jan 19, 2006


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