List of Countries Landed on Moon and Planning to Reach by 2030

The list of countries Landed on Moon is a testament to humanity's remarkable achievements in space exploration. Notably, the United States led the way with its Apollo missions, culminating in the historic Apollo 11 landing in 1969, the Soviet Union, now Russia, achieved significant lunar landings with its Luna program

List of Countries Landed on Moon: Human exploration of the Moon has spurred a series of space missions aimed at unraveling the secrets of Earth’s natural satellite. Notably, Luna 2 from the Soviet Union marked the pioneering success by intentionally reaching the lunar surface on September 13, 1959.

Subsequent milestones followed, including Luna 9’s controlled soft landing in 1966, Luna 10’s entry into lunar orbit, and Zond 5’s trailblazing feat of transporting lifeforms near the Moon in 1968.

These missions have collectively enriched our understanding of the Moon’s intricacies and highlighted humanity’s ceaseless drive for lunar exploration.

List of Countries Landed on Moon

Country	Notes
Russia	The first country to successfully land on the moon (1959), soft-land on the moon (1966), and successfully retrieve samples from the moon on an unmanned mission (1970).
United States	First soft-landed a few months after Russia in 1966. As of 2022, has 11 soft landings (most in the world) and is the only country to land humans on the moon (six times/12 people in all, 1969-1972).
China	China’s Chang’e 3 lander touched down on 14 Dec. 2013, marking the first moon landing since the USSR’s Luna 24 in 1976. Chang’e 4 completed the first soft landing on the dark side of the moon on 3 Jan. 2019.
India	Designed to impact rather than soft-land, India’s probe Chandrayaan-1 reached the lunar surface on 22 Oct. 2008, making India the fourth country to successfully land on the moon.

Countries Landed on Moon

List of countries Planning to Reach the Moon by 2030

Canada — Possible autonomous impactor mission as well as joint mission with EU and Japan.
Europe/EU — Possible joint lander and sample-return mission alongside Japan and Canada, possible solo rover mission.
India — Following the high-speed touchdown of Chandrayaan-1 and the failed soft landing of Chandrayaan-2, India will again attempt a successful soft landing with Chandrayaan-3.
Israel — Israel-based SpaceIL’s Beresheet moon lander reached the moon in February 2019, but crashed during landing. Follow-up attempts are planned, if not yet funded.
Japan — Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) planning crewed landing, privately held company ispace is working with the US and UAE on lander-focused missions.
Mexico — Sending microrover as payload on a future US/Mexico joint mission.
South Africa — Planned lander and rover mission could launch in 2030.
South Korea — Planned lander and rover mission could launch in 2030.
Turkey — Planned hard- and soft-landing missions by the end of the decade.
Ukraine — Working alongside collaborators in UK and US to conduct a mission to explore lunar caves. War with Russia will likely delay mission.
United Arab Emirates — Companies based in UAE, Japan, and the US are working together on an upcoming mission in which a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry a Japanese-designed lander and the UAE’s lunar rover.
United Kingdom — Working alongside Ukrainian and USA-based companies to conduct a mission to explore lunar caves, also planning solo sample retrieval mission.

Which Country Landed on the Moon First

A Moon landing, whether crewed or robotic, signifies the successful landing of a spacecraft on the Moon’s surface. The historic moment of human-made contact with the Moon was marked by the Soviet Union’s Luna 2, which touched down on September 13, 1959.

Apollo 11, a significant milestone, marked the United States’ inaugural crewed landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969.[4] Following this, six more crewed U.S. landings occurred between 1969 and 1972, alongside multiple uncrewed missions. Notably, there was a gap in successful soft landings between August 22, 1976, and December 14, 2013.

Among all nations, the United States stands alone as the sole achiever of crewed lunar missions, with the final departure from the Moon’s surface occurring in December 1972. Until January 3, 2019, all successful soft landings were confined to the near side of the Moon. It was then that China’s Chang’e 4 spacecraft achieved a groundbreaking feat, becoming the first to land on the far side of the Moon.