In the aerospace context, interplanetary refers to the study, exploration, and travel of spacecraft between planets or other celestial bodies within a solar system.
This includes the study of the properties and characteristics of these celestial bodies, as well as the planning and execution of missions to study them up close.
Examples of interplanetary missions include:
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Mariner 2, the first spacecraft to successfully fly by another planet, Venus, in 1962.
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Viking 1 and 2, the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars and conduct experiments on its surface in 1976.
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Voyager 1 and 2, the first spacecraft to fly by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, and continue to explore interstellar space.
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Cassini–Huygens, a spacecraft that studied Saturn and its moons, including a successful landing on Titan in 2005.
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New Horizons, a spacecraft that flew by Pluto in 2015 and is now on its way to study other objects in the Kuiper Belt.
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Rosetta, a spacecraft that orbited and landed on a comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014.
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Mars Science Laboratory "Curiosity", a rover that landed on Mars in 2012 and is still active and conducting experiments on the planet.
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Parker Solar Probe, a spacecraft that launched in 2018 and is studying the Sun's outer atmosphere, known as the corona.
These are just a few examples of the many interplanetary missions that have been conducted or are currently being conducted by space agencies such as NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos), and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) among others.