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 | NASA | NASA | NASA |
| Status | Mission Complete | Mission Complete | Active |
| Mission type | Impactor | Orbiter | Orbiter |
| Launch date | 2009-06-18 | 2013-09-06 | 2009-06-18 |
| End date | 2009-10-09 | 2014-04-17 | Active |
| Orbit | Elliptical shepherding orbit; impacted Cabeus crater | Low equatorial orbit ~50 km (primary); final phase 2-5 km altitude | Polar low lunar orbit ~50 km (average) |
| Mass | 891 kgas of [1]LCROSS + Centaur upper stage (2,366 kg total impact); Centaur impacted first | 383 kgas of [1] | 1,916 kgas of [1]Includes Diviner, LOLA, LROC, MiniRF, LAMP, LEND, CRaTER instruments ↑ Heaviest |
| Instruments | 9 instrumentsas of [1] | 3 science instruments + 1 tech demoas of [1] ↑ Most instruments | 7 instrumentsas of [1] |
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| Outcome | 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 Discovery-class orbiter that characterized the tenuous lunar atmosphere (exosphere) and dust environment. LADEE's Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration achieved 622 Mbps download from lunar orbit — a record at the time. Controlled impact on the lunar far side on 17 April 2014. | 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.