Which Planet Has the Most Moons? Saturn Leads with 285

Saturn holds the record for the most moons of any planet in the solar system. Jupiter has been catching up fast, cracking 100 confirmed moons for the first time in April 2026, but it still trails Saturn by a significant margin.

Saturn moons: 285 (April 2026) ·
Jupiter moons: 115 (April 2026) ·
Uranus moons: 28 ·
Zero moons: Mercury, Venus

Here is how all planets in the solar system stack up for confirmed moon counts.

Which planet has the most moons?

Saturn holds the record for the most moons of any planet in the solar system. As of April 9, 2026, the planet has 285 confirmed moons following an announcement from the Minor Planet Center that added 11 new moons on March 16, 2026 (EarthSky). This latest batch was declared in Minor Planet Electronic Circular MPEC 2026-F14 (Space.com).

The lead is substantial: Saturn’s 285 moons dwarf Jupiter’s 115, a gap of 170 moons. NASA has confirmed that Saturn has more moons than any other planet in the solar system (NASA Science).

The solar system-wide count as of March 25, 2025, stood at more than 891 confirmed moons (NASA Science). Saturn alone accounts for roughly 32% of that total.

How many moons does Saturn have?

Saturn had 274 confirmed moons as of March 2026, when NASA verified 128 newly discovered small moons in a single announcement (NASA Science). By March 16, 2026, that count had grown to 285 following the Minor Planet Center’s MPEC 2026-F14 announcement (EarthSky), which added 11 more moons.

Saturn’s moon system includes planet-sized Titan—the only moon in the solar system with a dense atmosphere—and smaller oddly-shaped moons that resemble potatoes or ravioli (NASA Science). The Minor Planet Center, which serves as the clearing house for astronomical discoveries of asteroids, comets, centaurs and moons, handled the official designation of these new discoveries (Space.com).

In May 2023, the International Astronomical Union announced 64 new moons for Saturn and Jupiter combined, illustrating how discovery rates have accelerated in recent years (IAU Minor Planet Center).

Which planet has the most moons Jupiter or Saturn?

Saturn is the clear winner in this comparison. As of April 9, 2026, Saturn has 285 confirmed moons while Jupiter has 115—giving Saturn a 170-moon advantage (EarthSky). Jupiter’s count increased from 95 in April 2026 to 115 in April 2026, a gain of 20 moons in roughly 13 months (Wikipedia).

Jupiter cracked 100 confirmed moons for the first time on March 16, 2026, when the Minor Planet Center announced four additional moons in Minor Planet Electronic Circulars MPEC 2026-F09, F10, F11 and F12 (EarthSky). This was a milestone for Jupiter, but Saturn was already well ahead. The new moons for Jupiter announced in April 2026 were declared across those four consecutive circulars (Space.com).

For now, Saturn holds a substantial lead on Jupiter for most moons in our solar system (EarthSky). Jupiter has 101 moons that have been officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union as of April 2026, though that figure has since grown to 115 (NASA Science).

Jupiter details

Jupiter’s four largest moons are the Galilean satellites, discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610 (NASA Science). Beyond those four iconic moons, Jupiter hosts thousands of small objects in its orbit beyond the 115 officially recognized moons, though the exact count of possible additional bodies remains uncertain (NASA Science). These do not include meter-sized moonlets thought to be shed from inner moons, nor hundreds of possible kilometer-sized outer irregular moons (Wikipedia).

Saturn details

Saturn’s moon system is more diverse than Jupiter’s in sheer numbers. The planet’s moons include planet-sized Titan and small oddly-shaped moons resembling potatoes or ravioli (NASA Science). Saturn has 274 confirmed moons, far more than any other planet in our solar system (NASA Science).

Head-to-head

Saturn grew from 274 moons in March 2026 to 285 by March 2026, an addition of 11 moons (EarthSky). Jupiter, meanwhile, added 20 moons over the same period, growing faster numerically but from a smaller base.

Which planet has no moons?

Two planets in our solar system have no moons: Mercury and Venus (Space.com). Mercury orbits too close to the Sun to have captured a permanent satellite, and any ancient moon would likely have been stripped away by solar gravity. Venus, despite being larger than Mercury, also lacks any confirmed moons—though some theories suggest it may have had one in the distant past.

Earth has one moon, Mars has two, Venus and Mercury have none (Space.com). Dwarf planets add complexity to the picture: Pluto has five moons, Eris has one, Makemake has one, Haumea has two, and Ceres has none (Space.com).

Inner planets

The inner terrestrial planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars—collectively host just three moons: Earth’s one and Mars’s two. The outer gas and ice giants dominate the moon counts by an enormous margin.

List

The planets with zero confirmed moons are Mercury and Venus. This makes them outliers in the solar system, where most planets have accumulated at least some satellites over their histories.

Which planet has the most moons besides Saturn?

Jupiter is the runner-up with 115 confirmed moons as of April 9, 2026 (Wikipedia). The Minor Planet Center announced 14 additional Jupiter moons on April 9, 2026, bringing the total to that figure (Wikipedia).

Before April 2026, Jupiter’s count stood at 101 following four new additions announced on March 16, 2026 (EarthSky). Jupiter’s moon count reached 95 following an announcement of three moons from a 2022 survey in February 2023 (Wikipedia). On April 30, 2025, the Minor Planet Center had announced two additional Jupiter moons, bringing the count to 97 (Wikipedia).

In February 2023, astronomer Sheppard announced three more moons discovered in a 2022 survey, bringing Jupiter’s total to 95 (Wikipedia). The rapid series of announcements in 2025-2026 shows that Jupiter’s moon discovery rate has accelerated significantly.

Jupiter runner-up

Jupiter now holds second place comfortably, ahead of Uranus at 28 moons and Neptune at 16 moons. Jupiter has 101 moons that have been officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union as of April 2026, though the April 2026 count of 115 is the current figure (NASA Science).

Uranus and others

Uranus has 28 known moons while Neptune has 16, making Uranus the third-most moon-rich planet (NASA Space Place). The gap between Jupiter and Uranus is substantial: Jupiter has roughly four times as many confirmed moons.

This ranking shows how the outer gas giants dominate moon counts in the solar system.

The moon counts for both Saturn and Jupiter are updated frequently as new discoveries are confirmed through the Minor Planet Center, the official clearing house for astronomical discoveries. For stargazers and space enthusiasts, the takeaway is straightforward: Saturn remains firmly in the lead, Jupiter is closing fast, and the outer solar system’s moons are still yielding secrets to patient observers.