Voyager 1

The spacecraft outlasted everything that sent it.

On 5 September 1977, a Titan III(23)E — on its final mission — lifted from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral carrying an 815 kg probe designated Voyager 1.

The rocket set the spacecraft on a trajectory past Jupiter in March 1979 and Saturn in November 1980. Voyager 1 was the second of the twin probes to launch and the first to reach the outer planets, its flight path chosen for speed rather than fuel economy.

On 25 August 2012, Voyager 1 crossed the heliopause — the boundary where the Sun's particle wind gives way to interstellar plasma — becoming the first human-made object confirmed in interstellar space. As of early 2026, it was roughly 170 AU from the Sun and still transmitting. The Titan III(23)E that carried it was retired the same year it launched.