Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) was launched into a 547 km (295 nmi) low-Earth orbit on June 7, 1992. EUVE was the first spacecraft to observe the universe at extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths, a region of the spectrum at wavelengths between 70 and 700 angstroms that lies between ultraviolet and more energetic x-rays. The 3275 kg (7218 lbm) spacecraft was NASA’s 67^th Explorer class mission. EUVE will remain in orbit, for about one more year as its orbit gradually decays. EUVE's lack of an on-board propulsion system capable of boosting its orbit or targeting its eventual re-entry means the craft will simply fall back to Earth in an un-controlled manner in late 2001 or early 2002. The satellite was planned to have conducted observations in space for only three years, but with repeated successes, NASA extended the EUVE mission two times.

The spacecraft design, developed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), was based on the earlier Multi-Mission Modular Spacecraft design, first used by GSFC in the Solar Maximum Mission spacecraft. The Explorer Platform  arrays were designed for easy removal and replacement in space during servicing missions of the Space Shuttle. The Modular Power System (MPS), consists of storage batteries, power regulators, and power controllers and was also designed to be replaced in orbit by a visiting astronaut. At the beginning of the EUVE mission, the solar arrays provided 1,000 watts of power. Communications to and from EUVE used the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) System. The Explorer Platform provides reaction wheels, gyros, and magnetic torquers to stabilize and point the EUVE spacecraft. 

During its eight years in orbit, EUVE provided insight into a wide range of astronomical phenomena. EUVE detected more than 1,000 sources of EUV radiation, including more than three dozen outside the Milky Way galaxy. EUVE observations of several comets detected soft x-ray emissions caused by the interaction of charged particles from the solar wind with neutral atoms and molecules from the comets. Observations of distant stars allowed astronomers to study their coronae (extremely hot outer atmospheres) and compare them with the Sun's corona in an effort to understand how they are heated. EUVE was also used in joint observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory to help calibrate some of Chandra's instruments.

NASA shut down the EUVE spacecraft by placing it into a safe hold on January 31, 2001 at one second before midnight UTC. With about US$1 million of additional funding long-term science projects using the spacecraft could have continued until its demise, but NASA argued that even though the amount of funding requested was small, it was money that could be better spent elsewhere, and Congressional support could not be generated. NASA has no plans for the foreseeable future for a follow-on mission to EUVE.

The spacecraft was designed so that when the EUVE mission was completed, the spacecraft could be brought onboard a Shuttle where the EUVE Payload Module could be removed from the platform on which it is mounted, and a replacement Payload Module installed in its place. If necessary, platform subsystems could be replaced at that time.