Only six nations (or political unions) have been to the moon, its orbit or its vicinity as part of a successful or semi-successful missions – and the runner-up doesn’t even exist anymore. This is the tally of moon missions long after the first race for space that saw the U.S. and the USSR square off in the 1950s, 60s and 70s and at the recent beginning of the new era of moon missions that includes the participation of new national and private sector actors.
Additionally, national institutions and private firms from seven more countries have sent orbiters and experiments to the moon, piggybacking on the rockets of other countries.
The U.S. tops the current list, with 44 completed successful or semi-successful missions to the moon between 1959 and 2025, according to OMG Space and Statista research. A 45th launched yesterday – Artemis II is aiming to carry out a manned orbit of the moon.
The USSR flew 22 such missions between 1959 and 1976. China stepped up its space program in the 2000s and flew its first mission of the Chang’e program in 2007. All seven attempted missions related to the program have been successful or semi-successful (Rover Yutu that landed on the moon in the Chang’e 3 mission in December 2018 stopped moving after around six weeks but maintained radio contact). China counts ten missions in total including two recent ones relating to moon satellites as well as the serendipitous journey of a Hong Kong satellite in 1997, which missed its Earth orbit and was subsequently adjusted with the help of two lunar flybys, marking the first (accidental) commercial mission to the moon.
India successfully completed a lunar orbit and impactor mission (Chandrayaan-1) in 2008 and entered the moon orbit again in September 2019, with a lander and rover mission that was only semi-successful. Contact was lost with the lander which touched down hard, but the mission’s orbiter has actually sent valuable data back to Earth for the past four years. Finally, India became the fourth nation to make a soft landing on the moon on Aug. 23, 2023 as part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Japan has currently completed six missions, three of which were flybys, and carried out a first successful soft landing in December of 2023. The EU sent probe Smart-1 into lunar orbit in 2003, testing solar-powered ion drive technology, and carried out another lunar fly-by in 2023.
