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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) 99.478 79.658 90.539 111.622 15.003
Speed relative to Sun (km/s) 12.086 11.452 15.493 17.082 16.697
Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) 2.550 2.416 3.268 3.603 3.522
Ecliptic Latitude 3.0° 14.4° -32.9° 34.9° 1.7°
Declination (J2000) 25.93° -8.82° -54.56° 11.94° -21.84°
Right Ascension (J2000) 5.125 hrs 18.652 hrs 19.736 hrs 17.116 hrs 18.123 hrs
Constellation Tau Sct Tel Oph Sgr
Distance from Earth (AU) 98.647 80.206 90.919 112.332 15.666
One-way light time (hours) 13.67 11.12 12.60 15.57 2.17
Magnitude of Sun from spacecraft -16.7 -17.2 -16.9 -16.5 -20.8
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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