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Mission record

Phobos 2

Also known as Fobos 2, 1F No.102, Phobos2

Institut Kosmicheskich Issledovaniy · Launched

Explore trajectory

Partial success · Partial success

One of two 1F spacecraft launched in July 1988, and the one that reached Mars. Phobos 2 operated nominally throughout its cruise and Mars orbital insertion phases, gathering data on the Sun, interplanetary medium, Mars, and Phobos. Shortly before the final phase of the mission, during which the spacecraft was to approach within 50 m of Phobos' surface and release two landers, one a mobile hopper, the other a stationary platform, contact with Phobos 2 was lost. The mission ended when the spacecraft signal failed to be successfully reacquired on 27 March 1989. The cause of the failure was determined to be a malfunction of the on-board computer.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Proton-K
Launch site
Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R
Countries
Soviet Union
Mission types
Orbiter, Lander

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched on a Proton-K

    NSSDCA's launch/orbital information page gives the launch date and time as 1988-07-12T17:01:43Z on a Proton-K from Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R. The Phobos Project page prints both launch dates together: 07 July 1988 (Phobos 1) and 12 July 1988 (Phobos 2). Phobos 2's master catalog page prints Mass: 2600 kg where Phobos 1's prints Mass: 6220 kg, and the project page prints 2600 Kg (6220 Kg with orbital insertion hardware attached).

    Earth

  2. Milestone

    Operated through cruise and Mars orbital insertion

    Phobos 2 operated nominally throughout its cruise and Mars orbital insertion phases, gathering data on the Sun, interplanetary medium, Mars, and Phobos. No page cited by this record prints a date for the orbital insertion itself, so this is recorded at the year and no finer; the launch/orbital information page says No detailed trajectory information available.

    Mars

  3. Mission end

    Signal not reacquired before the approach to Phobos

    Shortly before the final phase of the mission, during which the spacecraft was to approach within 50 m of Phobos' surface and release two landers, one a mobile hopper, the other a stationary platform, contact with Phobos 2 was lost. The mission ended when the spacecraft signal failed to be successfully reacquired on 27 March 1989. The cause of the failure was determined to be a malfunction of the on-board computer. Both NSSDCA pages cited here print 27 March 1989, where the same two pages disagree by a year about Phobos 1.

    Mars

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Phobos 2 · Spacecraft

    Destinations: Mars

    • DAS (Dolgozhivushchaya AS) · Lander

    • PROP-FP hopper · Lander

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

No verified trajectory dataset is committed for this mission, so Mission Atlas renders no path.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through September 2, 2026