Technology keeps evolving, and speed is one of the many parameters indicating this evolution. Clearly, space tech does not lag behind. If once upon a time, Voyager probes used to be the pinnacle of NASA’s creation, both in terms of speed and distance travelled, new spacecraft is now beating the old-timers’ records — at least, as far as speed is concerned.

Below, we will discuss the fastest man made object created until today — namely, the Parker solar probe launched by NASA in 2018 and beating all imaginable speed records so far.

Parker Solar Probe Mission Objectives

NASA launched the Parker solar probe in 2018 to study the Sun’s corona — an outermost layer of our star’s atmosphere. The goal of this seven-year mission is to understand just how the heat moves in the Sun’s atmosphere. Theoretically, Parker solar probe findings should help us get a better understanding of our luminary’s magnetic field and can potentially help scientists predict space weather — vital knowledge for upcoming space exploration missions.

Parker Solar Probe orbit involves a series of close approaches to the Sun, called perihelion. To archive this, the Parker solar probe should perform flybys around Venus — and the planet’s gravity should facilitate its approach to our star, giving it the necessary acceleration.  But is Parker Solar Probe the fastest? It definitely is — this probe has already beaten all previously set speed records!

Parker Solar Probe Speed & Distance

In late 2023, the Parker solar probe reached an astounding speed of 635,266 km/h during its close approach to the Sun. At this speed, it would only take the solar traveller four minutes to fly around our planet’s equator. But this wasn’t its first record— in late 2021, the Parker solar probe reached another record of 586,863 km/h, which was the fastest for that time. Its current speed is expected to increase further, potentially reaching up to 700,000 km/h during future flybys, particularly when the probe gets even closer to the Sun in late 2024.

Considering such impressive figures, what is the Parker Solar Probe’s distance from Earth? This figure differs greatly because the Parker probe travels at an elliptical orbit, meaning its distance from our home planet is changing depending on the solar probe’s current orbital location regarding the Sun. But one thing is certain — Parker Solar Probe’s distance from the Sun beats all proximity records ever established by humanity. While its average distance from Earth is somewhere 58.5 million kilometres, Parker’s distance to our star is already estimated at 7.26 million kilometres. And that is an absolute record to date!

So, is Parker Solar Probe faster than Voyager 1? Certainly — even though we have to remember that both famous Voyagers launched almost fifty years ago and certainly deserve their spot in space tech history. On this note, let’s check out some other notable examples in spacecraft history to see what is the fastest human spacecraft. Or rather, which ones used to be the fastest before the Parker solar probe outperformed them all?

Parker Speed Comparison with Other Spacecraft

A space news and analytics platform Orbital Today does an excellent job of summarizing space tech evolution, explaining some of the fastest and notable spacecraft built up till today. A few really speedy ‘specimens,’ ranked from low to high, deserve our attention:

• Space Shuttles, 28,000 km/h: the famous space shuttle program, eventually discontinued after two major disasters, was a great tech advance of its time. However, this NASA tech burned enormous amounts of fuel per launch, which also played its part in program discontinuation.
• Apollo 10, 40,223 km/h: The direct predecessor of the first lunar landing, Apollo 10 reached this speed figure while entering translunar trajectory — a major milestone that made future landings possible.
• Voyager 1, 56,000 km/h: most famous and currently the farthest object launched by humanity. Voyager 1 is still the farthest-travelling spacecraft ever made — at least, so far.
• Helios, 252,667km/h: a joint project from the US and Germany, Helios satellites were also launched to study the Sun. This mission was a success, too — two satellites have been sending valuable data for a whole decade, starting from the mid-1970s.
• Juno, 265,541 km/h: the first probe to enter Jupiter orbit and the fastest one right until the Parker solar probe.

As you can see, the Parker solar probe outperformed them all even with its 2021 speed record of 586,863 km/h; and last year, it surprised everyone with a new figure of 635,266 km/h. So, what is the world’s fastest man-made object? At this point, it should be clear that the Parker solar probe currently beats all records in space and on Earth.

Just how long it will remain so, only time can tell. After all, technology does not stand still as space agencies around the world, along with private companies, keep raising the bar ever higher. Soon enough, we might see another speedy spacecraft that will outperform Parker’s solar probe. But even when this happens, this solar ‘racer’ will have already earned its spot in space history annals — along with Voyagers, Shuttles, and Apollo spacecraft.