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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) 99.572 79.746 90.656 111.756 15.129
Speed relative to Sun (km/s) 12.086 11.451 15.492 17.081 16.667
Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) 2.549 2.416 3.268 3.603 3.516
Ecliptic Latitude 3.0° 14.4° -32.9° 34.9° 1.7°
Declination (J2000) 25.92° -8.84° -54.50° 11.91° -21.84°
Right Ascension (J2000) 5.116 hrs 18.661 hrs 19.745 hrs 17.124 hrs 18.181 hrs
Constellation Tau Sct Tel Oph Sgr
Distance from Earth (AU) 98.641 80.463 91.199 112.537 15.940
One-way light time (hours) 13.67 11.15 12.64 15.60 2.21
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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