Famous Satellites and Space Probes

From a polished sphere that beeped its way around Earth in 1957 to probes that have flown past every planet, dipped into the Sun's outer atmosphere and crossed into interstellar space, these are the uncrewed spacecraft that changed what we know. Each one earned its place with a first, a record or a discovery. The photos show the real machines wherever possible: flight hardware in the cleanroom, flight spares and test units, plus a few photos taken in space. Where no good photo of the hardware exists, a museum replica or model stands in, and each caption says which one you are looking at. They run in launch order. Space telescopes, space stations, and Mars rovers and landers are left out to keep the focus on satellites and robotic explorers.