Where is Voyager 1 now? One light-day from Earth on 18 November 2026

On 21 October 2026, Voyager 1 was about 25.8 billion kilometres (16.0 billion miles) from Earth. On 18 November 2026 it becomes the first spacecraft ever to be one light-day away. At that distance, a radio signal moving at the speed of light needs about 24 hours to reach it. NASA launched Voyager 1 in 1977. It flew past Jupiter and Saturn, and in 2012 it became the first spacecraft in interstellar space, the thin gas and dust between the stars. Two of its science instruments still work. The key numbers:

Distances and speed are our calculations from NASA's JPL Horizons system; dates are from NASA. (1 AU, an astronomical unit, is the average distance from Earth to the Sun: about 150 million kilometres.)

Where is Voyager 1 now?

On 21 October 2026, Voyager 1 was 25,826,941,824 kilometres from Earth and 172.11 times as far from the Sun as Earth is (our calculation from JPL Horizons). It travels at about 16.92 kilometres per second relative to the Sun, covering roughly 1.46 million kilometres a day. NASA lists its speed as 17.0 km per second in August 2024; it slows down very slightly as the Sun's gravity keeps pulling back on it.

In the sky, Voyager 1 lies in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, about 2.3 degrees from the star Ras Algethi and about 5 degrees from Rasalhague (our calculation). You cannot see it: it is a small spacecraft billions of kilometres away. But you can look in its direction. From the United States and Europe, Ophiuchus is best placed on summer evenings, high in the south. In November it is low in the west after sunset, about 40 degrees from the Sun (our calculation).

Since 1980, Voyager 1 has been heading north, out of the flat plane in which the planets orbit. Today it is about 35.2 degrees above that plane (our calculation). NASA's mission page explains that after Saturn, "Voyager 1 headed north out of the ecliptic plane".

What is a light-day, and when does Voyager 1 reach it?

A light-day is a distance, not a time: how far light travels in 24 hours. Light moves at 299,792.458 kilometres per second, so one light-day is about 25.9 billion kilometres (16.09 billion miles).

NASA says that "On Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2026, at 2:16:07 a.m. PST", Voyager 1 will be one light-day from Earth. That is 10:16:07 UTC. We checked this with JPL Horizons, measuring the straight-line distance between Voyager 1 and Earth at the same moment, and got the same time to the second: 10:16:07 UTC. Some earlier news reports gave 13 or 15 November; NASA's mission team now gives 18 November.

Because the distance keeps growing while a signal is on its way, "a one-day trip" starts on slightly different days depending on the direction (our calculation):

For comparison, NASA says light from the Sun takes "about eight minutes and 20 seconds" to reach us, and Neptune is "four light-hours and 10 light-minutes away". Our Moon distance and Sun distance articles explain those numbers. Once Voyager 1 is a light-day away, a question sent from Earth and an immediate answer take about two days.

Why Voyager 1's distance from Earth goes up and down

Voyager 1 moves steadily away from the Sun, but its distance from Earth does not grow evenly. Earth orbits the Sun at about 30 kilometres per second (JPL Horizons), much faster than Voyager 1's 17. For about three months each year, from late January to late April, Earth moves towards Voyager 1 faster than Voyager 1 moves away, and the distance shrinks. In 2025 it fell by about 41 million kilometres between 20 January 2025 and 23 April 2025 (our calculation).

Will Voyager 1 drop back below one light-day after 18 November 2026? Not in our calculation, which runs to 2036. Its next closest point is on 24 April 2027, at 1.001 light-days, just beyond the line. Each later spring dip, through April 2036, stays further above it (1.19 light-days in 2036).

Voyager 2 is closer: 20.01 light-hours from Earth on 21 October 2026, or 0.83 light-days. NASA says it "is on pace to be one light-day away from Earth in nine more years, in November 2035"; our calculation gives 1 November 2035.

Voyager 1's journey, from 1977 to interstellar space

Voyager 1 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 5 September 1977, about two weeks after its twin, Voyager 2, which lifted off on 20 August 1977. The animation shows the real paths of both spacecraft from JPL Horizons, seen from above.

On 25 August 2012, NASA says, Voyager 1 "became the first to exit the heliosphere", the bubble of particles and magnetic field that the Sun blows around itself. Beyond it lies interstellar space. That does not mean Voyager 1 has left the solar system: NASA's FAQ says the Voyagers "have not exited the solar system, based on the scientific definition". Voyager 1 has not yet reached the distant Oort Cloud of icy bodies (see below).

Measured relative to the Sun, Voyager 1's winding path from launch to 18 November 2026 is about 184.9 AU long, or 27.7 billion kilometres (our estimate, adding up 5-day steps). That is a little more than one light-day, but NASA's milestone is about the straight-line distance from Earth, which only reaches one light-day on 18 November 2026.

What did Voyager 1 discover?

Voyager 1's planet visits lasted only a few years, but they changed what we knew about the giant planets. According to NASA:

• At Jupiter, in early 1979, it "discovered a faint ring system around Jupiter" and two new moons, Thebe and Metis. It also took the first close-up pictures of Jupiter's moon Io, which showed erupting volcanoes. NASA writes: "This was the first time an erupting volcano had been found anywhere besides Earth."
• At Saturn, in November 1980, it "found five new moons, a new ring, and complicated ring structures". Its images of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, "showed a thick atmosphere that completely hid the surface". You can read more about Titan in our Saturn moons article.
• To fly close to Titan, Voyager 1 gave up a route to Uranus and Neptune. NASA writes: "Because of the specific requirements for the Titan flyby, the spacecraft was not directed to Uranus and Neptune." Voyager 2 visited those planets instead.

On 14 February 1990, about 40 AU from the Sun, Voyager 1 turned its cameras back and took a "family portrait" of the solar system, including the Pale Blue Dot photo of Earth at the top of this page. NASA says the images were taken "just 34 minutes before Voyager 1 powered off its cameras forever". Earth "occupies less than a single pixel" in that picture. NASA credits Voyager science team member Carl Sagan with making the "Pale Blue Dot" famous.

Is Voyager 1 still working, and how long does it have left?

Yes, Voyager 1 still works and still sends data, but power is running out. It runs on three radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which turn heat from decaying plutonium-238 into electricity; NASA says they produced "about 158 We each, at launch" (158 watts of electricity). Together they supply less power every year: NASA says "each spacecraft is producing about 4 fewer watts of electrical power each year". To save power, engineers have switched off one instrument after another. On 17 April 2026, NASA turned off Voyager 1's low-energy charged particle instrument; JPL wrote that the spacecraft "is running low on power, and turning off the LECP is considered the best way to keep humanity's first interstellar explorer going."

NASA's status table (updated 17 April 2026) shows what is still running:

These two instruments still study interstellar space. NASA says the mission is "measuring interstellar magnetic fields, particles, and plasma waves in interstellar space". Interstellar space is not completely empty: it holds "the gas, dust, and other material that exists in the space between stars", and much of that gas is plasma, gas with an electric charge. The plasma wave instrument picks up its vibrations, which tell scientists how dense the gas is. NASA says Voyager 1 is "moving into an increasingly dense region of plasma".

How long does it have left? NASA does not give an end date. Its FAQ says that the two Voyagers "could remain in the range of the Deep Space Network through about 2036". The Deep Space Network is NASA's system of giant radio dishes at three sites around the globe. It sends commands to Voyager 1 and picks up its very faint signal, which comes from a dish on the spacecraft just 3.7 metres across.

Where will Voyager 1 go next?

Voyager 1 will keep coasting outward long after it falls silent. NASA's FAQ gives a few milestones:

• In about 300 years, it reaches "the inner edge of the Oort Cloud", a huge, distant shell of icy bodies around the Sun.
• "In the year 40,272 AD (more than 38,200 years from now), Voyager 1 will come within 1.7 light years" of a star called AC+79 3888.

At its current speed, Voyager 1 needs about 17,700 years to travel one light-year (our calculation). Voyager 1 is still inside our galaxy, the Milky Way.

Both Voyagers carry a message for anyone who might find them: the Golden Record, a gold-plated disc with sounds and pictures from Earth. According to NASA, Carl Sagan and his colleagues selected and put together what is on it. Whether anyone could ever find it is another question; see our article on whether there is life on other planets.

Voyager 1 FAQ

Where is Voyager 1 right now? About 25.8 billion kilometres (16.0 billion miles) from Earth on 21 October 2026, in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus, and travelling at about 16.92 km per second relative to the Sun. NASA's "Eyes on the Solar System" tool shows its position live.

When will Voyager 1 be one light-day away? On 18 November 2026 at 10:16:07 UTC (2:16:07 a.m. PST, 5:16:07 a.m. EST), according to NASA. Our JPL Horizons calculation gives the same second.

Did Voyager 1 travel one light-day? The milestone is about the straight-line distance from Earth, not the length of its path. Measured relative to the Sun, its winding path up to 18 November 2026 is slightly longer than a light-day (our estimate).

Is Voyager 1 still operating? Yes. Two science instruments still work: the magnetometer and the plasma wave instrument (NASA, April 2026).

How long until Voyager 1 shuts down? NASA gives no exact date. Its power drops by about 4 watts a year, and NASA says communication could remain possible through about 2036, depending on the power left to run the spacecraft. That is not a fixed shutdown date.

What was Voyager 1's last message? There is no last message yet: it still sends science data. Its last photos were the "family portrait" of 14 February 1990, after which its cameras were switched off.

How fast is Voyager 1? About 16.92 km per second (37,844 mph) relative to the Sun in October 2026 (our calculation). NASA says it escapes the solar system at "about 3.5 AU per year".

Has Voyager 1 left the solar system or the Milky Way? It entered interstellar space in 2012, but NASA says it has not left the solar system "based on the scientific definition". It is nowhere near leaving the Milky Way.

Where will Voyager be in 300 years? Reaching the inner edge of the Oort Cloud, according to NASA.

Will Voyager 1 ever hit anything? NASA describes one future star encounter: a pass about 1.7 light-years from the star AC+79 3888, in the year 40,272. That prediction is about passing a star; it does not cover every possible collision, for example with small bits of dust.

How far is Voyager 2 in light-days? About 0.83 light-days (20.01 light-hours) on 21 October 2026. It reaches one light-day in November 2035.

How we checked

Distances, speeds, light times, the one-light-day dates, the yearly dips, the sky direction and the path length are our calculations from NASA's JPL Horizons system (geometric positions of Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Earth and the planets, retrieved on 21 October 2026). Mission dates, instrument status, power and future milestones are from NASA and JPL pages; the full list is under Sources. We checked all sources on 21 October 2026.

Our time for the light-day crossing matches NASA's to the second. The path length is an estimate from 5-day steps. The animations use the same Horizons data; the planet orbits are drawn as circles. The sky view was simulated in Stellarium and checked against Astronomy Engine. None of the images or videos is AI-generated.