Voyager 2 was launched on 20 August 1977, sixteen days before its twin, on a slower path that let it visit all four giant planets: Jupiter in 1979, Saturn in 1981, Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989. It is still the only spacecraft to have seen Uranus and Neptune up close. In November 2018 it too crossed into interstellar space, heading south of the plane of the planets. Its radio signal takes many hours to reach the Earth, and only one antenna in Australia can talk to it, because of the direction it travels. The live distance above comes from NASA/JPL’s trajectory.
How far away is Voyager 2?
Computing…
About Voyager 2
- Agency
- NASA
- Launched
- 1977-08-20
- Status
- Active
Goals
Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited all four giant planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, studying their atmospheres, rings, magnetic fields and moons up close. It remains the only probe to have explored Uranus and Neptune. Now in interstellar space, outside the bubble created by the Sun, it measures the particles and magnetic fields found between the stars.
Today
LECP switched off in March 2025. The 'Big Bang' power reconfiguration (tests May-June, executed July 2026, announced 2026-08-04) keeps three science instruments on (magnetometer, plasma wave, cosmic ray) for at least one more year.
Questions and answers
Why is Voyager 2 closer than Voyager 1?
Its route through the four giant planets was longer and slower; Voyager 1 took a shortcut after Saturn and travels faster.
What is on the Voyager golden record?
Sounds and images of the Earth, music from many cultures and greetings in 55 languages, in case another civilisation ever finds it.
Where the numbers come from
Values refresh every second in your browser; the published data are checked every 10 minutes and updated several times a day.