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Mission record

Venera 3

Also known as Venus 3, Venera3

U.S.S.R · Launched

Explore trajectory

Lost · Partial success

A Venus lander launched from a Tyazheliy Sputnik, whose entry body contained a radio communication system, scientific instruments, electrical power sources and medallions bearing the coat of arms of the U.S.S.R. Contact was lost on 16 February 1966, thought to be due to overheating; the spacecraft continued on to Venus and released its lander probe autonomously, which entered the atmosphere and reached the surface on 1 March 1966. NSSDCA calls that impact the first time a spacecraft reached the surface of another planet, and records that no planetary data could be returned.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Modified SS-6 (Sapwood) with 2nd Generation Upper Stage + Escape Stage
Launch site
Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R
Countries
Soviet Union
Mission types
Lander

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched towards Venus from a Tyazheliy Sputnik

    NSSDCA's launch/orbital information page gives the launch date and time as 1965-11-16T04:19:00Z, recorded at minute precision because the page prints a whole minute with zero seconds. The two NSSDCA pages disagree on the launch time by six minutes and the disagreement is recorded rather than resolved: the master catalog records that Venera 3 launched on 16 November 1965 at 04:13 UT from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The record follows the launch/orbital information page, which is the page that publishes launch times for every other record in this segment.

    Earth

  2. Milestone

    Mid-course correction performed

    The master catalog records that a mid-course correction was performed on 26 December 1965.

  3. Loss of contact

    Contact lost, thought to be due to overheating

    The master catalog records that on 16 February 1966 contact with Venera 3 was lost, that the loss was thought to be due to overheating of the spacecraft, and that the communications systems had failed before planetary data could be returned.

  4. Impact

    The lander reached the surface of Venus

    The master catalog records that the spacecraft continued on to Venus and released its lander probe autonomously, which reached Venus, entered the atmosphere, and reached the surface on 1 March 1966, and that estimates of the impact site put it in an area between 20 N and 30 S latitude and 60 to 80 E longitude, with impact at approximately 06:56 UT. The launch/orbital information page prints 1966-03-01 under the heading Decay Date. Recorded at day precision because the page hedges the time itself with the word approximately.

    Venus

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Venera 3 · Spacecraft

    Destinations: Venus

    • Venera 3 entry body · Lander

      Destinations: Venus

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 3, 2026