Timeline of Solar System Exploration - 1990s

1990s

1990

• Hiten (Muses-A) – 24 January 1990 – Lunar flyby and orbiter
• Hubble Space Telescope – Orbital space telescope
• Ulysses – 6 October 1990 – Solar polar orbiter

1991

• Yohkoh (Solar-A) – 30 August 1991 – Solar observations

1992

• Mars Observer – 25 September 1992 – Attempted Mars orbiter (contact lost)

1994

• Clementine – 25 January 1994 – Lunar orbiter/attempted asteroid flyby
• WIND – 1 November 1994 – Solar wind observations

1995

• SOHO – 2 December 1995 – Solar observatory

1996

• NEAR Shoemaker – 17 February 1996 – Eros orbiter, first near-Earth asteroid flyby, first asteroid orbit and first asteroid landing
• Mars Global Surveyor – 7 November 1996 – Mars orbiter
• Mars 96 – 16 November 1996 – Attempted Mars orbiter/landers (failed to escape Earth orbit)
• Mars Pathfinder – 4 December 1996 – Mars lander and first planetary rover

1997

• ACE – 25 August 1997 – Solar wind and "space weather" observations
• Cassini–Huygens – 15 October 1997 – First Saturn orbiter and first outer planet lander
• AsiaSat 3/HGS-1 – 24 December 1997 – Lunar flyby

1998

• Lunar Prospector – 7 January 1998 – Lunar orbiter
• Nozomi (probe) (also known as Planet-B) – 3 July 1998 – Attempted Mars orbiter (failed to enter Mars orbit)
• Deep Space 1 (DS1) – 24 October 1998 – Asteroid and comet flyby
• – 20 November 1998 – International Space Station (planned completion 2013)
• Mars Climate Orbiter – 11 December 1998 – Attempted Mars orbiter (orbit insertion failed)

1999

• Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2 (DS2) – 3 January 1999 – Attempted Mars lander/penetrators (contact lost)
• Stardust – 7 February 1999 – First comet coma sample return – returned 15 January 2006