The Voyager 1 satellite is one of the fastesthuman-made objects, travelling at 38,026.79 mph (17.0 km/s). Currently, it is about 15 billion miles away from Earth, making it also the most distant human-made object in space.
Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 is nearly 50 years old and has provided valuable information about the outer Solar System. It has successfully passed by Jupiter and Saturn, including Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. The satellite was originally designed to study these planets, and its mission has been highly successful.
NASA is uncertain how much longer Voyager 1 will remain operational. After 2036, the probe is expected to be out of reach of the Deep Space Network, which helps communicate with distant spacecraft. This means that, while the satellite will still be in space, scientists may no longer be able to send or receive messages from it.
NASA launched both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 in 1977 because of a unique alignment of the planets called Syzygy. This alignment allowed the probes to travel past key planets like Jupiter and Saturn in a single mission. Interestingly, although Voyager 2 was launched first, Voyager 1 has travelled much further. By February 2026, it is projected to be about 2.5 billion miles further away from Earth than Voyager 2.
