Voyager 2
What is Voyager 2?
Probes & telescopes· Launched 1977-08-20 – 49th year in flight (interstellar). The only spacecraft to have visited all four giant planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, using a planetary line-up that comes round once every 176 years.
Mission timeline
Spacecraft specs
| Launch | 1977-08-20 |
|---|---|
| Legacy | only visitor to Uranus & Neptune |
| Distance | ~144 AU (as of Oct 2026) |
| Speed | 15.3 km/s |
| Status | interstellar cruise — instruments switched off one by one, contact targeted into the 2030s |
Figures are representative approximations. Distances that change over time are extrapolated from 2026-05-01. Source: compiled from NASA and IAU public data.
Uranus's tilted magnet, seen by Voyager 2
Until Voyager 2 flew past Uranus in 1986, nobody knew whether the planet even had a magnetic field. It did, but a strange one. Earth's field is tilted about 11 degrees from its rotation axis; Uranus's was tilted 59 degrees. On top of that, the centre of the magnet sat about a third of the planet's radius away from the planet's centre.
Three years later Neptune's field turned out to be tilted 47 degrees and off-centre as well. Scientists therefore see this as a shared trait of the two ice giants and think the fields arise not at the planets' centres but in an electrically conducting layer rich in water and ammonia. A 2024 reanalysis of the old data found that a strong burst of solar wind had squeezed Uranus's magnetic bubble smaller than usual just as Voyager 2 passed.
Because Voyager 2 lies in the southern sky, the only antenna that can send it commands is the 70 m dish at Canberra, Australia. In July 2023 a faulty command turned the probe's antenna two degrees away from Earth and contact was lost. In early August the team sent a command at full power that turned the antenna back toward Earth.
The mission in depth
Voyager 2 was launched on 20 August 1977. It left sixteen days before Voyager 1, yet carries the number 2, because Voyager 1 was put on a faster path so that it would reach Jupiter and Saturn first. Voyager 2 then passed Jupiter (1979), Saturn (1981), Uranus (1986) and Neptune (1989) in turn.
The trip was possible because the four planets happened to be lined up on one side of the Sun, an arrangement that comes only once every 176 years. At each planet the probe used gravity to change its speed and direction and aim for the next one. This long journey is known as the Grand Tour.
Voyager 2 is still the only spacecraft to have seen Uranus and Neptune up close. Every close-up image of the two planets was taken during a few days in 1986 and 1989. At Neptune it found the Great Dark Spot, a huge dark storm, along with six new moons and rings that circle the whole planet.
In 2018 Voyager 2 also left the heliosphere and entered interstellar space. It now heads south of the plane in which the planets orbit, at 15.3 km/s. To save power, its plasma science instrument was switched off in September 2024 and its low-energy charged particle instrument in March 2025. By turning instruments off one at a time, NASA aims to keep in contact into the 2030s.
Frequently asked
- When did Voyager 2 launch?
- Voyager 2 was launched on 1977-08-20.
- How far is Voyager 2 from Earth?
- The distance of Voyager 2 is ~144 AU (as of Oct 2026).
- How fast is Voyager 2 travelling?
- The speed of Voyager 2 is 15.3 km/s.
- What is the status of Voyager 2 now?
- As of now, Voyager 2: interstellar cruise — instruments switched off one by one, contact targeted into the 2030s.
Related
Figures are representative approximations. Simulated positions use J2000 mean elements.