---
title: "Voyager 1: facts, distance and size – Krillion Space"
description: "Voyager 1 is a NASA probe launched in 1977 that flew past Jupiter and Saturn and is now the most distant human-made object. With sourced facts."
url: https://krilion.app/atlas/voyager-1
language: en-US
---

# Voyager 1

Probe, launched 1977. Depth 15 on the Krillion Space voyage, in the Outer Sol.

Voyager 1 is a NASA probe launched in 1977 that flew past Jupiter and Saturn and is now the most distant human-made object. In 2012 it became the first spacecraft to leave the heliosphere, the bubble of solar wind around the Sun, and it still sends back data from interstellar space.

![Voyager 1 at depth 15 in Krillion Space, painted by the game (an illustration, not a photograph).](https://krilion.app/assets/atlas/voyager-1.webp)

## Fact sheet

- **Type:** Space probe
- **Distance:** About 25.9 billion km (16.1 billion miles) from Earth in November 2026; NASA expects it to be one light-day away on 18 November 2026, the first human-made object to get that far
- **Size:** Launch mass about 722 kg (1,592 lb); a 3.66 m (12 ft) high-gain dish antenna sits atop a 1.78 m wide ten-sided body, with a 13 m magnetometer boom
- **Discovered:** Launched 5 September 1977 by NASA
- **On the voyage:** Depth 15, in the Outer Sol section of the route, between Arrokoth and the Oort Cloud

## Things to know

- Voyager 1 launched from Cape Canaveral on 5 September 1977 aboard a Titan IIIE-Centaur rocket. ([NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/voyager-1/))
- It passed Jupiter on 5 March 1979, finding a faint ring and two small moons, then flew by Saturn on 12 November 1980. ([NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/voyager-1/))
- On 17 February 1998, at about 69.4 AU, it overtook Pioneer 10 to become the most distant human-made object. ([NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/voyager-1/))
- It carries a gold-plated copper record with greetings in 55 languages, natural sounds, 90 minutes of music and 115 images. ([NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/voyager-1/))
- At one light-day out, a radio signal takes about 24 hours each way, so a command and its reply take about two days. ([NASA JPL](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-voyager-1-conserves-power-resolves-brief-communications-pause/))

## Sources

- [NASA – Voyager 1](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/voyager-1/)
- [NASA – Voyager 1: What Is a Light-Day](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/voyager-1/voyager-1-what-is-a-light-day/)
- [JPL – Voyager 1 conserves power, resolves brief communications pause (29 Oct 2026)](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-voyager-1-conserves-power-resolves-brief-communications-pause/)
- [NSSDC – Voyager 1 spacecraft details](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1977-084A)

## On the route

- Previous landmark: [Arrokoth](https://krilion.app/atlas/arrokoth)
- Next landmark: [Oort Cloud](https://krilion.app/atlas/oort-cloud)
- [The whole Star Atlas](https://krilion.app/atlas)
- [Fly the voyage yourself](https://krilion.app/d/): every right answer warps your ship one stop deeper.