Uncrewed spacecraft

Uncrewed spacecraft or robotic spacecraft are <a href="/facts/Spacecraft/YQqQaUw0">spacecraft</a> without <a href="/facts/People/AsSDLHfU">people</a> on board. Uncrewed spacecraft may have varying levels of autonomy from human input, such as <a href="/facts/Remotely_operated_vehicle/6BTTBNbk">remote control</a>, or remote guidance. They may also be <a href="/facts/Autonomous_vehicle/KXeFywXS">autonomous</a>, in which they have a pre-programmed list of operations that will be executed unless otherwise instructed. A robotic spacecraft for scientific measurements is often called a space probe or <a href="/facts/Space_observatory/BtI46sDX">space observatory</a>.
Many space missions are more suited to <a href="/facts/Telerobotic/neQ6bswt">telerobotic</a> rather than <a href="/facts/Human_spaceflight/VgVxsGmq">crewed</a> operation, due to lower cost and risk factors. In addition, some planetary destinations such as <a href="/facts/Venus/pADnueP6">Venus</a> or the vicinity of <a href="/facts/Jupiter/95m7XjMT">Jupiter</a> are too hostile for human survival, given current technology. Outer planets such as <a href="/facts/Saturn/D54LcGJ9">Saturn</a>, <a href="/facts/Uranus/x7YwT1ar">Uranus</a>, and <a href="/facts/Neptune/1eucwHIC">Neptune</a> are too distant to reach with current crewed spaceflight technology, so telerobotic probes are the only way to explore them. Telerobotics also allows exploration of regions that are vulnerable to contamination by Earth micro-organisms since spacecraft can be sterilized. Humans can not be sterilized in the same way as a spaceship, as they coexist with numerous micro-organisms, and these micro-organisms are also hard to contain within a spaceship or spacesuit.
The first uncrewed space mission was <a href="/facts/Sputnik/GQ5KLlNC">Sputnik</a>, launched October 4, 1957 to orbit the Earth. Nearly all <a href="/facts/Satellite/PTX8c68t">satellites</a>, <a href="/facts/Lander_(spacecraft)/dVYjPJlx">landers</a> and <a href="/facts/Rover_(space_exploration)/Qo7y32Cz">rovers</a> are robotic spacecraft. Not every uncrewed spacecraft is a robotic spacecraft; for example, a reflector ball is a non-robotic uncrewed spacecraft. Space missions where other <a href="/facts/Animals_in_space/JCHcht6C">animals</a> but no humans are on-board are called uncrewed missions.
Many habitable spacecraft also have varying levels of robotic features. For example, the space stations <a href="/facts/Salyut_7/oV391tMR">Salyut 7</a> and <a href="/facts/Mir/pILadPoB">Mir</a>, and the <a href="/facts/International_Space_Station/VNPUBz9m">International Space Station</a> module <a href="/facts/Zarya_(ISS_module)/54ph8f5A">Zarya</a>, were capable of remote guided station-keeping and docking maneuvers with both resupply craft and new modules. <a href="/facts/Uncrewed_resupply_spacecraft/L8jVmKxl">Uncrewed resupply spacecraft</a> are increasingly used for crewed <a href="/facts/Space_station/2HtaLbDH">space stations</a>.

Uncrewed spacecraft open-in-new

Uncrewed spacecraft