1980s
- 1980 - USA - Sun - Failure - Solar Maximum Mission solar probe succeeded after being repaired in Earth orbit
- 1981 - India - Earth - Success - Bhaskara-2 India, launched by ISRO
- 1981 - Soviet Union - Venus - Success - Venera 13 launched, it returned the first colour pictures of the surface of Venus
- 1981 - Soviet Union - Venus - Success - Venera 14 flyby and lander
- 1981 - Bulgaria - Earth - Success - Bulgaria 1300, polar research mission, launched by the Soviet Union
- 1983 - Soviet Union - Venus - Success - Venera 15 orbiter
- 1983 - Soviet Union - Venus - Success - Venera 16 orbiter
- 1983 - Europe - Earth - Success - Launch of the EXOSAT X-ray satellite
- 1983 - Japan - Earth - Success - Launch of the Tenma X-ray satellite (ASTRO-B)
- 1983 - USA/ Netherlands/ UK - Earth - Success - Launch of the IRAS satellite
- 1984 - Soviet Union - Venus/Halley's Comet - Success - Vega 1 flyby, atmospheric probe and lander
- 1984 - Soviet Union - Venus/Halley's Comet - Success - Vega 2 flyby, atmospheric probe and lander
- 1986 - Europe - Halley's Comet - Success - Giotto flyby
- 1987 - Japan - Earth - Success - Launch of the Ginga X-ray satellite (ASTRO-C)
- 1988 - Soviet Union - Mars - Failure - Phobos 1 orbiter and lander
- 1988 - Soviet Union - Mars - Partial Failure - Phobos 2 flyby and lander
- 1989 - USA - Venus - Success - Magellan orbiter launched which mapped 99 percent of the surface of Venus (300 m resolution)
- 1989 - USA - Venus/Earth/Moon/Gaspra/Ida/Jupiter - Success - Galileo flyby, orbiter and atmospheric probe
- 1989 - USA - Neptune - Success - Voyager 2 sends back images of Neptune and its system
- 1989 - Europe - Earth - Success - Launch of the Hipparcos satellite
- 1989 - USA - Earth - Success - Launch of the COBE satellite
- 1989 - Soviet Union - Earth - Success - Launch of the Granat gamma-ray and X-ray satellite
Read more about this topic: Timeline Of Artificial Satellites And Space Probes