What year were the Voyager spacecraft launched?

The Voyager spacecraft were launched in 1977.

Voyager 2 lifted off first, on August 20, 1977, from Cape Canaveral aboard a Titan IIIE-Centaur rocket. Voyager 1 followed on September 5, 1977. Although Voyager 1 launched later, its faster trajectory allowed it to reach Jupiter and Saturn before Voyager 2.

The probes were designed to take advantage of a rare alignment of the outer planets. Their routes used gravity assists, allowing each spacecraft to gain speed and alter its course during planetary flybys. Voyager 2 eventually became the only spacecraft to visit all four giant planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

The two launches are sometimes confused because Voyager 2 was launched first, while Voyager 1 has the lower mission number and reached Jupiter first. Both spacecraft remain active in NASA’s extended mission, studying the distant heliosphere and interstellar space with their declining power supplies.