Missions

The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (Space Act) established NASA as an aerospace research and development agency that sponsors and conducts flight missions to obtain data in furtherance of its objectives. In NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD), flight missions range from suborbital projects—including balloons, sounding rockets, and airplanes—to interplanetary probes and flagship observatories. All investigations and missions selected and flown must respond to Agency goals and strategic objectives.

Mission opportunities are open to all proposers, within fixed rules, via public announcement, and selections are based primarily on scientific and technical merit as evaluated by independent peer review. Foreign partners are frequent and valued participants in joint missions. The partnerships are generally conducted on a cooperative, no-exchange-of-funds basis. NASA also works closely with a number of other Federal agencies to implement and support our flight missions. To learn more about mission planning and development, see section 3.3 of the Science Plan for NASA's Science Mission Directorate 2007 - 2016 (PDF 5.1 MB).

This page provides access to all SMD missions, with several options for viewing. Click on the column headers below to change your view. The "All" tab will provide you with a complete listing that can be sorted to suit your interests.

*Sort missions by clicking Launch Date, A-Z, or PHASE column headers.

Launch Date A-Z Phase
19970826 August 25, 1997 Operating
19991221 December 20, 1999 Operating
19960817 August 17, 1996 Past
20070426 April 25, 2007 Operating
20020504 09:55:00 GMT-4 May 04, 2002 Operating
20100522 20:00:00 USEastern May 22, 2010 Development
19930220 February 20, 1993 Past
19901202 December 02, 1990 Past
19920324 March 24, 1992 Past
19661207 December 07, 1966 Past
20040716 July 15, 2004 Operating
20121201 2012 Development
19901202 December 02, 1990 Past
20060429 April 28, 2006 Operating
19971016 October 15, 1997 Operating
19910405 April 05, 1991 Past
20000715 July 15, 2000 Past
19990724 July 23, 1999 Operating
20081022 20:00:00 USEastern October 22, 2008 Operating
20030112 January 12, 2003 Past
20080416 20:00:00 USEastern April 16, 2008 Operating
None TBD Under Study
19940125 January 25, 1994 Past
20060429 April 28, 2006 Operating
20000717 July 16, 2000 Operating
19891118 November 18, 1989 Past
Under Study
20020703 July 03, 2002 Past
19900725 July 25, 1990 Past