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	🇯🇵 SELENE (Kaguya) SELenological and ENgineering Explorer Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×	🇨🇳 Chang'e 2 (嫦娥二号) Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×	🇺🇸 LADEE Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×
Agency	JAXA	CNSA	NASA
Status	Mission Complete	Mission Complete	Mission Complete
Mission type	Orbiter	Orbiter	Orbiter
Launch date	2007-09-14	2010-10-01	2013-09-06
End date	2009-06-10	2012-12-13	2014-04-17
Orbit	100 km circular polar orbit (primary phase)	100 km circular polar orbit, later 15 km periapsis for Sinus Iridum imaging	Low equatorial orbit ~50 km (primary); final phase 2-5 km altitude
Mass	2,855 kgas of 2007-09-14^[1]Main orbiter (2,230 kg) + Rstar relay sub-satellite (53 kg) + VRAD sub-satellite (52 kg) ↑ Heaviest	2,480 kgas of 2010-10-01^[1]	383 kgas of 2013-09-06^[1]
Instruments	15 instrumentsas of 2007-09-14^[1]	7 instrumentsas of 2010-10-01^[1]	3 science instruments + 1 tech demoas of 2013-09-06^[1] ↑ Most instruments
Key findings	• High-definition terrain camera (TC): global 10 m/pixel DEM covering 99% of the Moon • First direct detection of pure anorthosite on the near-side (LISM/MI data) • Gravity field mapped using 4-way Doppler ranging via Rstar/VRAD sub-satellites • Earth-rise movie in HD — first HD video from lunar orbit • Detected lava tubes and large sub-surface voids near Grail crater	• 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)	• Confirmed neon in the lunar exosphere for the first time • Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX) detected dust lofted above the surface • LLCD laser communication demo: 622 Mbps downlink from lunar orbit — record at time • Characterised the composition and density of the lunar exosphere
Outcome	JAXA's flagship lunar orbiter, second only to LRO in scientific output. SELENE performed a controlled impact on the lunar near-side in June 2009, with the impact flash confirmed by ground telescopes. Its terrain camera produced the most complete global DEM of the Moon prior to LOLA/LRO.	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 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.

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🇮🇳 Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter+

ISRO

Active

🇺🇸 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)+

🇺🇸 Clementine (DSPSE)+

🇪🇺 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

🇯🇵 SELENE (Kaguya)

SELenological and ENgineering Explorer

Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ

Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×

🇨🇳 Chang'e 2 (嫦娥二号)

Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ

Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×

🇺🇸 LADEE

Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer

Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ

Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×

Agency

JAXA

CNSA

NASA

Status

Mission Complete

Mission type

Orbiter

Launch date

2007-09-14

2010-10-01

2013-09-06

End date

2009-06-10

2012-12-13

2014-04-17

Orbit

100 km circular polar orbit (primary phase)

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

Low equatorial orbit ~50 km (primary); final phase 2-5 km altitude

Mass

2,855 kgas of 2007-09-14^[1]Main orbiter (2,230 kg) + Rstar relay sub-satellite (53 kg) + VRAD sub-satellite (52 kg)

↑ Heaviest

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

383 kgas of 2013-09-06^[1]

Instruments

15 instrumentsas of 2007-09-14^[1]

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

3 science instruments + 1 tech demoas of 2013-09-06^[1]

↑ Most instruments

Key findings

• High-definition terrain camera (TC): global 10 m/pixel DEM covering 99% of the Moon
• First direct detection of pure anorthosite on the near-side (LISM/MI data)
• Gravity field mapped using 4-way Doppler ranging via Rstar/VRAD sub-satellites
• Earth-rise movie in HD — first HD video from lunar orbit
• Detected lava tubes and large sub-surface voids near Grail crater

• 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)

• Confirmed neon in the lunar exosphere for the first time
• Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX) detected dust lofted above the surface
• LLCD laser communication demo: 622 Mbps downlink from lunar orbit — record at time
• Characterised the composition and density of the lunar exosphere

Outcome

JAXA's flagship lunar orbiter, second only to LRO in scientific output. SELENE performed a controlled impact on the lunar near-side in June 2009, with the impact flash confirmed by ground telescopes. Its terrain camera produced the most complete global DEM of the Moon prior to LOLA/LRO.

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 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.