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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) 98.593 78.829 89.441 110.373 13.817
Speed relative to Sun (km/s) 12.093 11.462 15.501 17.087 16.998
Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) 2.551 2.418 3.270 3.604 3.586
Ecliptic Latitude 3.0° 14.4° -32.7° 34.9° 1.6°
Declination (J2000) 25.87° -8.48° -54.75° 12.46° -21.67°
Right Ascension (J2000) 5.116 hrs 18.682 hrs 19.810 hrs 17.116 hrs 18.171 hrs
Constellation Tau Sct Tel Oph Sgr
Distance from Earth (AU) 99.525 77.845 88.593 109.632 12.813
One-way light time (hours) 13.80 10.79 12.28 15.20 1.78
Magnitude of Sun from spacecraft -16.7 -17.2 -16.9 -16.5 -21.0
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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