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.
Six nations have placed lunar orbiters since 2007 — a 4× increase in 15 years.
| Attribute | 🇺🇸 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)Active · Last updated 2026-06-01 Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Agency | CNSA | NASA | NASA |
| Status | Mission Complete | Mission Complete | Active |
| Mission type | Orbiter | Impactor | Orbiter |
| Launch date | 2010-10-01 | 2009-06-18 | 2009-06-18 |
| End date | 2012-12-13 | 2009-10-09 | Active |
| Orbit | 100 km circular polar orbit, later 15 km periapsis for Sinus Iridum imaging | Elliptical shepherding orbit; impacted Cabeus crater | Polar low lunar orbit ~50 km (average) |
| Mass | 2,480 kgas of [1] ↑ Heaviest | 891 kgas of [1]LCROSS + Centaur upper stage (2,366 kg total impact); Centaur impacted first | 1,916 kgas of [1]Includes Diviner, LOLA, LROC, MiniRF, LAMP, LEND, CRaTER instruments |
| Instruments | 7 instrumentsas of [1] | 9 instrumentsas of [1] ↑ Most instruments | 7 instrumentsas of [1] |
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| 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. | NASA's low-cost ($79M) impactor mission co-launched with LRO. The Centaur upper stage struck Cabeus crater on October 9, 2009, ejecting a plume of material that LCROSS analyzed as it flew through it before also impacting. This definitively confirmed water-ice in permanently shadowed craters — one of the most important planetary science results of the 2000s. | NASA's comprehensive lunar scout, now 16+ years in orbit. LRO has produced the most detailed maps of the lunar surface ever made, identified water-ice at the poles, and characterized the radiation environment for future crewed missions. Its LROC camera system imaged the Apollo landing sites, Chinese Chang'e landers, and recent commercial missions including IM-1 Odysseus. |
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.