Which spacecraft became the first to orbit Jupiter in 1995?

Galileo became the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter in December 1995.

NASA’s Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter on December 7, 1995, after a long journey that used gravity assists from Venus and Earth. Its orbiter performed a Jupiter orbit insertion maneuver, slowing enough for Jupiter’s gravity to capture it. Galileo was therefore the first spacecraft to become an artificial satellite of Jupiter, rather than merely flying past the planet.

The mission also carried a separate atmospheric probe. The probe entered Jupiter’s atmosphere on the arrival day and transmitted measurements of temperature, pressure, composition, and winds before being destroyed deeper in the clouds. The orbiter then spent more than seven years studying Jupiter, its magnetic environment, rings, and moons.

Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 were the first spacecraft to visit Jupiter, and Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 later made influential flybys, but none entered orbit. Juno became the next spacecraft to orbit Jupiter, arriving in 2016. Galileo’s high-gain antenna failed to deploy fully, limiting data transmission, yet the mission still transformed knowledge of the Jovian system.