Voyager 1 launch
Launched on 5 September 1977, Voyager 1 left after its twin but overtook it on a faster path. Today it is the most distant human-made object, and in 2012 it became the first to enter interstellar space.
Available views: Orbit ✓ · Sky — (not visible in the sky)
The story
On 5 September 1977 Voyager 1 left Cape Canaveral, sixteen days after its twin, Voyager 2. Because it took a faster route, it overtook Voyager 2 that December. It therefore reached Jupiter first and was given the name Voyager 1. Its targets were Jupiter and Saturn.
Passing Jupiter in March 1979, Voyager 1 made a major discovery. The navigation engineer Linda Morabito noticed a plume rising from the edge of the moon Io in one of the pictures. It was a volcanic eruption. It was the first time an active volcano had been found anywhere beyond Earth.
At Saturn in November 1980 Voyager 1 faced a choice: take a close look at Saturn's large moon Titan, or continue on toward Uranus and Neptune. Scientists chose Titan, which has a thick atmosphere. As a result Voyager 1 was bent up and out of the flat plane in which the planets orbit and headed out of the solar system, leaving Uranus and Neptune to Voyager 2.
On 25 August 2012 Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to leave the Sun's bubble of influence and enter interstellar space. In September 2026 it is about 172 AU from the Sun, still moving away at about 17 km per second and still sending signals. The orbit view reproduces its path past Jupiter and Saturn and then steeply upward and away.
Mission goals
Voyager 1 is the most distant object ever made by people. Together with Voyager 2, it is also one of only two spacecraft measuring the space beyond the Sun's influence directly. The Sun blows out a stream of particles called the solar wind, which forms a huge bubble around it. The data Voyager 1 sent as it crossed the edge of that bubble gave scientists their first direct look at what the boundary is like.
The discovery of Io's volcanoes changed the idea that small worlds must be cold and quiet inside. Just before the flyby, scientists had published a prediction that Jupiter's strong gravity constantly squeezes Io and heats its interior, and Voyager 1 confirmed it almost at once. This kind of heating by a planet's gravity is now the starting point for understanding the oceans beneath the ice of Europa and Enceladus.
Voyager 1 carries a golden record holding sounds, pictures and music from Earth. The chance that anyone will ever find it is very small. Even so, making it led people to think together about who we are and what we would want to show. The famous Pale Blue Dot photograph of 1990 was also taken by Voyager 1.
Mission chronology and background
On 14 February 1990 Voyager 1 turned its camera back to photograph Earth and several other planets, producing the Pale Blue Dot and the “Family Portrait” of the solar system. Afterwards the camera was switched off for good to save power. Today only a few instruments that measure magnetic fields and charged particles are still running.
In November 2023 a memory chip in Voyager 1's computer failed, and for five months the spacecraft sent only unreadable data. The team found a way to move the affected code into other parts of the memory of a computer about 24 billion km away, and in April 2024 useful data began arriving again. It was a long-distance repair of a computer that had been flying for more than 46 years.
Voyager 1 makes its electricity from the heat of plutonium. Its power was about 470 watts at launch and drops by about 4 watts each year, so the team saves power by switching off heaters and instruments one at a time. The goal is to keep in touch into the early 2030s. After that the probe will fly on, passing 1.6 light-years from the star AC+79 3888 in Camelopardalis in about 40,000 years.
Other milestones of this mission
- Voyager 2 launch — the Grand Tour
- Voyager 2 at Neptune
- Voyager 1 enters interstellar space
- Voyager 1 passes one light-day from Earth(planned)
Where to see it — sky and simulator
Voyager 1 lies in the direction of Ophiuchus, about 172 AU from the Sun, far beyond the reach of any telescope. Even at the speed of light a signal takes about twenty-three and a half hours to reach it. So after sending a command, the team must wait nearly two days for the answer. Signals this weak can only be exchanged using the giant dishes of NASA's Deep Space Network.
The orbit view reproduces the path from the 1977 launch past Jupiter and Saturn and up out of the plane of the planets. Follow the probe and speed up time, and its track can be seen turning upward as it passes Saturn. In the 3-D interstellar view Voyager 1 is marked at its current position, and the journey “Voyager 1 round-trip signal” shows that light takes about 47 hours to travel to the probe and back.
See this for yourself — replay the moment in the orbit view
FAQ
Where is it now?
About 172 AU from the Sun in September 2026, toward Ophiuchus. Light takes about twenty-three and a half hours to cross that distance.
Why is it number 1 if it launched second?
It took a faster route, overtook Voyager 2 in December 1977 and reached Jupiter first.
Is it still sending signals?
Yes. With its power running low only some instruments are on, but it still sends data on magnetic fields and charged particles.
Is Korean on the golden record?
Yes. Among the greetings in 55 languages is the Korean “annyeonghaseyo”, meaning hello.
Related
- Voyager 2 launch — the Grand Tour
- Voyager 1 enters interstellar space
- The Pale Blue Dot
- Voyager 1 — object index
- Saturn — object index
Times and figures are approximate — verify with official sources when planning travel. Simulation uses J2000 mean elements.