Voyager 1. Computer illustration of NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft entering interstellar space. Voyager 1 was launched on 5th September 1977. This timing took advantage of a rare alignment of the giant outer planets Jupiter and Saturn, which made it possible for the spacecraft to visit them in a single mission. The probes successfully beamed images and scientific data back to Earth using their dish antennae (white). In August 2012 Voyager 1 left the solar system and became the first man-made object to enter interstellar space.