The Webb Telescope has amazed space amateurs and scientists alike with its views of the universe, but we may be getting new uses for orbiting observatories.
The most important mission is probably Xuntian, a Chinese mission that will be launched later this year and which will be a more advanced version of the Hubble Space Telescope. The spacecraft will observe the universe in optical and ultraviolet wavelengths in Earth orbit near the country’s Tiangong space station.
The Japanese-led XRISM mission, called Almiron, could also launch early this year. The mission will use X-ray spectroscopy to study plasma clouds, which could help explain the formation of the universe. A European space telescope, Euclid, may be launched on a SpaceX rocket after the Russian invasion of Ukraine saw the spacecraft lose its seat on a Russian Soyuz rocket. It will study the universe’s dark energy and dark matter.
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A new spacecraft will head to Jupiter this year, aiming to be the first to orbit another planet’s moon. The European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer, or JUICE, will depart its Ariane 5 rocket on April 5 to launch into the Jovian system, arriving in 2031. Once it reaches the gas giant, it will proceed to make 35 flybys. Of the world’s three giant moons: Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede, all are believed to have subterranean oceans. In 2034, JUICE will begin orbiting Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system.
