Compare Lunar Orbiters

Pick up to 4 missions to compare side-by-side. State lives in the URL — share the link and the comparison loads exactly as you left it.

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📊 Industry context

Six nations have placed lunar orbiters since 2007 — a 4× increase in 15 years.

Attribute	🇨🇳 Chang'e 2 (嫦娥二号) Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×	🇨🇳 Chang'e 1 (嫦娥一号) Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×	🇺🇸 Clementine (DSPSE) Deep Space Program Science Experiment Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×
Agency	CNSA	CNSA	USAF/NASA (BMDO)
Status	Mission Complete	Deorbited	Mission Complete
Mission type	Orbiter	Orbiter	Orbiter
Launch date	2010-10-01	2007-10-24	1994-01-25
End date	2012-12-13	2009-03-01	1994-07-20
Orbit	100 km circular polar orbit, later 15 km periapsis for Sinus Iridum imaging	200 km circular polar orbit	Polar elliptical orbit 425 × 2,942 km
Mass	2,480 kgas of 2010-10-01^[1] ↑ Heaviest	2,350 kgas of 2007-10-24^[1]	424 kgas of 1994-01-25^[1]
Instruments	7 instrumentsas of 2010-10-01^[1]	8 instrumentsas of 2007-10-24^[1] ↑ Most instruments	6 cameras + laser ranger + charged particle telescopeas of 1994-01-25^[1]
Key findings	• 7 m/pixel global lunar map — highest-resolution complete lunar map at the time • 1.5 m/pixel images of Sinus Iridum (future Chang'e 3 candidate landing site) • First Chinese spacecraft to reach Earth-Sun L2 point (April 2011) • Flyby of asteroid 4179 Toutatis at 3.2 km distance (December 2012)	• First complete lunar 3D map at 120 m/pixel from CCD stereo camera • Microwave radiometer measured sub-surface temperature and regolith depth • Interference imaging spectrometer mapped 14 surface elements • China's first lunar spacecraft — validated CNSA deep-space operations	• First complete multispectral map of the Moon at 200–400 m/pixel • Bistatic radar experiment: first indirect evidence for water-ice at south pole • Mapped crustal thickness variations revealing the South Pole–Aitken Basin depth • Demonstrated miniaturized USAF sensor technology in deep space
Outcome	Chang'e 2 far exceeded its primary mission. After completing its lunar mapping goals, it traveled to the Earth-Sun L2 point (first Chinese L2 mission), then flew past asteroid 4179 Toutatis at 3.2 km — the closest-ever asteroid encounter. Now in a heliocentric orbit, drifting beyond Mars.	China's first lunar mission and the first spacecraft of the Chang'e programme. Operated for 16 months in lunar orbit, producing a complete 3D map of the Moon. Controlled impact on the lunar near-side on 1 March 2009. Demonstrated China's deep-space navigation and communications capability.	A USAF/NASA joint mission using miniaturized military sensor technology. Clementine produced the first global multispectral map of the Moon and provided the first indirect evidence for polar water-ice via bistatic radar. A computer malfunction during the planned asteroid flyby phase left it in an unusable orbit.

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🇮🇳 Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter+

ISRO

Active

🇺🇸 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)+

🇪🇺 SMART-1 (Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology)+

About this tool

All 11 lunar orbital missions with primary-source citations from NASA, ESA, JAXA, ISRO, CNSA, and NASA NSSDCA. Coverage spans Clementine (1994) through LRO (active 2026). Pure URL state — bookmark or share the link and the comparison reproduces exactly.

📋 What changed recently

Jun 2026Updated KPLO/Danuri status and imagery data released by KARI in early 2026.
Jun 2026Updated LRO total years in operation to 17; revised total images to 1.5 million+.
Apr 2026Added Chandrayaan-2 orbiter mapping coverage update from ISRO's 2025–26 operations report.

Attribute

🇨🇳 Chang'e 2 (嫦娥二号)

Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ

Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×

🇨🇳 Chang'e 1 (嫦娥一号)

Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ

Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×

🇺🇸 Clementine (DSPSE)

Deep Space Program Science Experiment

Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ

Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×

Agency

CNSA

USAF/NASA (BMDO)

Status

Mission Complete

Deorbited

Mission Complete

Mission type

Orbiter

Launch date

2010-10-01

2007-10-24

1994-01-25

End date

2012-12-13

2009-03-01

1994-07-20

Orbit

100 km circular polar orbit, later 15 km periapsis for Sinus Iridum imaging

200 km circular polar orbit

Polar elliptical orbit 425 × 2,942 km

Mass

2,480 kgas of 2010-10-01^[1]

↑ Heaviest

2,350 kgas of 2007-10-24^[1]

424 kgas of 1994-01-25^[1]

Instruments

7 instrumentsas of 2010-10-01^[1]

8 instrumentsas of 2007-10-24^[1]

↑ Most instruments

6 cameras + laser ranger + charged particle telescopeas of 1994-01-25^[1]

Key findings

• 7 m/pixel global lunar map — highest-resolution complete lunar map at the time
• 1.5 m/pixel images of Sinus Iridum (future Chang'e 3 candidate landing site)
• First Chinese spacecraft to reach Earth-Sun L2 point (April 2011)
• Flyby of asteroid 4179 Toutatis at 3.2 km distance (December 2012)

• First complete lunar 3D map at 120 m/pixel from CCD stereo camera
• Microwave radiometer measured sub-surface temperature and regolith depth
• Interference imaging spectrometer mapped 14 surface elements
• China's first lunar spacecraft — validated CNSA deep-space operations

• First complete multispectral map of the Moon at 200–400 m/pixel
• Bistatic radar experiment: first indirect evidence for water-ice at south pole
• Mapped crustal thickness variations revealing the South Pole–Aitken Basin depth
• Demonstrated miniaturized USAF sensor technology in deep space

Outcome

Chang'e 2 far exceeded its primary mission. After completing its lunar mapping goals, it traveled to the Earth-Sun L2 point (first Chinese L2 mission), then flew past asteroid 4179 Toutatis at 3.2 km — the closest-ever asteroid encounter. Now in a heliocentric orbit, drifting beyond Mars.

China's first lunar mission and the first spacecraft of the Chang'e programme. Operated for 16 months in lunar orbit, producing a complete 3D map of the Moon. Controlled impact on the lunar near-side on 1 March 2009. Demonstrated China's deep-space navigation and communications capability.

A USAF/NASA joint mission using miniaturized military sensor technology. Clementine produced the first global multispectral map of the Moon and provided the first indirect evidence for polar water-ice via bistatic radar. A computer malfunction during the planned asteroid flyby phase left it in an unusable orbit.