2023 was a year of ‘space mission bumper harvest’ that set a huge milestone. In particular, India became the first country to make a soft landing near the South Pole of the Moon, and SpaceX finally launched the huge Starship launch system for the first time to travel to Mars. And what kind of ambitious space plans are major space organizations and industries around the world preparing for the new year of 2024? This year, space scientists are sending many spacecraft not only into Earth orbit, but also to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The most exciting, notable and historic missions to be launched this year by NASA, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), European Space Agency (ESA), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), SpaceX and other space companies. We found out what kind of spaceships there are. If you take a quick look, NASA will send the manned spacecraft ‘Artemis 2’ to the moon for the first time in over 50 years, and SpaceX’s Mars rocket Starship will fly again. Japan is attracting attention as the Lunar Exploration and Exploration Module (SLIM) is scheduled to land on the moon this month, and it is also planning to launch a Mars lunar probe at the end of the year. India is preparing to launch an ambitious manned Earth-orbiting spacecraft, building on last year’s historic soft landing at the South Pole on the Moon. With reference to Space.com and Interesting Engineering, we have selected the top 10 space missions to watch out for in 2024.
1. Search for extraterrestrial life on Jupiter’s moon Europa
Illustration of the Europa Clipper spacecraft, Jupiter’s satellite probe. (Photo = NAS/JPL/Cal Tech)
NASA will strengthen its search for extraterrestrial life in the new year of 2024.
NASA aims to launch the Europa Clipper spacecraft mounted on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on October 6 this year. This spacecraft mission will closely examine Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, one of the biggest candidates for microbial extraterrestrial life in the solar system.
When Europa Clipper arrives at its destination in 2030, the SUV-sized spacecraft will use radar equipment to map Europa’s ice and magnetometers to determine the vast depths of the vast ocean that likely lies beneath the moon’s icy outer shell. Salinity will be investigated. It’s because of its large ocean that scientists believe Europa may harbor alien life.
2.Artemis 2: Sending humans back to the moon
Illustration of NASA’s Orion spacecraft. (Photo = NASA)
NASA launched the Artemis 1 program in 2022, an unmanned trip to the moon that essentially served as a dress rehearsal for taking humans to the moon again. The 2022 Artemis 1 mission was high risk, but the Artemis 2 program, which is expected to take place in November of this year, is even higher risk. This year, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) will once again lift the Orion capsule into space.
The Artemis 2 mission spacecraft is scheduled to orbit the moon and return with four astronauts onboard, including NASA’s Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, and Jeremy Hanson of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). They don’t land on the moon. That honor is for the crew of Artemis 3, which will perform the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972.
3.SpaceX’s ‘Starship’ launched into Earth orbit
A fully integrated Starship before its first launch in 2023. (Photo = SpaceX/X)
Space It spun out of control before separating on the first attempt, forcing SpaceX to manually shut down the massive rocket. The second attempt successfully achieved hot separation and reached a higher altitude, but the upper part eventually disappeared before reaching orbit.
Space It is expected to be launched in the first quarter of this year.
SpaceX has signed a contract with NASA to develop a modified Starship lunar lander through 2025, so it’s likely we’ll see Starship take flight several times this year.
If all goes according to SpaceX’s plan, the company may soon have a rocket capable of sending people to Mars.
4. ESA’s ‘Hera’ and NASA DART study the impact of asteroids
An illustration of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera mission spacecraft approaching the Didymos-Dymophos asteroid system. (Photo = ESA)
The European Space Agency (ESA) will launch the Hera mission spacecraft on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in October. This mission will return to the Didymos-Dymophos asteroid system, the target of the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, a spacecraft that crashed into an asteroid and changed its orbit conducted by NASA.
In 2022, NASA’s Dart spacecraft intentionally crashed into an asteroid system to test Earth’s planetary defense methods. Several observations immediately after the impact showed that the spacecraft successfully altered Didymos’ orbit, meaning the method could be used to change the orbit of a hypothetical dangerous asteroid headed toward Earth.
If all goes as planned, ESA’s Hera mission will reach the asteroid system around 2026. Once the spacecraft gets there, scientists will be able to closely study the results of NASA’s Dart mission and better understand the implications of crashing a spacecraft into a space rock as a method of planetary defense.
5. Japan’s JAXA explores the moons of Mars
An illustration of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)’s MMX (Martian Moon eXploration) spacecraft for the Mars lunar exploration mission. It is scheduled to be launched at the end of this year. (Photo = JAXA)
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) aims to launch the Mars and Moon Exploration (MMX) spacecraft, a robotic mission, at the end of this year.
This mission will study Mars’ often overlooked moons, Phobos and Deimos, to determine whether they were formed from debris that orbited Mars billions of years ago, or whether they were originally asteroids captured in Mars’ orbit.
The MMX spacecraft will orbit Mars for three years and land on Phobos to collect samples before returning to Earth. JAXA has experience collecting asteroid samples through the Hayabusa-1 and Hayabusa-2 missions.
6. India sends astronauts into Earth orbit for the first time
In 2023, India became the first country to soft-land a lander near the lunar south pole. The photo shows an illustration of the Chandrayaan 3 lunar South Pole lander Vikram (left) and the Pragian rover (rover). (Photo = ISRO Twitter)
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has made 2023 an incredibly successful year. India became the first country in the world to make a soft landing near the south pole of the moon through the Chandrayaan 3 mission. The space agency’s next ambitious plan is the ‘Gaganyaan’ program, which will launch the first spacecraft from Indian soil and send astronauts into Earth’s orbit.
This year, ISRO is targeting unmanned flight tests to verify Gaganyan technology in low-Earth orbit. It will also test the ‘Mark-3’ rocket, the launch vehicle that launched Chandrayaan 3, to ensure that it is ready for human spaceflight (Indian astronauts). If all goes as planned, ISRO could launch its first Gaganyan spacecraft by the end of this year.
7. Japanese and American private lunar landers aim to land at the lunar South Pole
Imagining Japan’s JAXA’s SLIM lander attempting to land inside the Moon’s Scioli Crater on the 19th. (Photo = ISAS/JAXA) Imagining the US lunar lander built by Intuitive Machines landing at the South Pole of the Moon. (Photo = Intuitive Machines/Flickr)
With India’s ISRO successfully carrying out the first soft landing near the lunar south pole, the world’s space powers are now set to open the floodgates for lunar landing missions as they take note of the water ice scattered in the lunar region.
Several space missions are expected to head to the moon this year.
Immediate attention is being paid to the unmanned lunar lander mission of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). JAXA launched the ‘Smart Lander for Lunar Exploration (SLIM)’ mission on September 6 last year and is currently heading to the lunar surface, scheduled to land inside the Moon’s Shioli Crater on January 19. SLIM missions seek to land with precision less than 100 meters from the target. If successful, this spacecraft landing will be the first soft landing in Japanese spacecraft history. It also makes Japan the fifth country to make a soft landing on the moon, following the Soviet Union, the United States, China, and India.
This year, the United States, the first human to land on the moon, will send a lunar lander loaded with scientific payloads to the lunar surface for testing ahead of the manned Artemis 3 lunar landing next year. Among these is the Nova-C lander of Intuitive Machines of the United States. U.S. Astrobotic plans to perform a similar function with its Peregrine lunar lander. Peregrine will launch on January 8 and land on the lunar surface on February 23.
Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic signed the first contract among NASA’s ‘Commercial Lunar Onboard Services’ contracts in May 2019. They will be the first of several companies to conduct scientific experiments on the lunar surface for NASA.
8. Polaris Don: SpaceX launches first private spacewalk mission
An illustration of the Polaris Dawn spacewalk to be demonstrated outside of Crew Dragon. (Photo = Polaris program)
The ‘Polaris Dawn’ mission spacecraft was scheduled to launch last year, but was delayed in part due to problems developing the hardware needed for the complex space mission. This spacecraft is scheduled to be launched as early as April.
This mission is a series of launchers chartered by Jared Isaacman (founder of payment service provider ‘Shift4’), the billionaire behind ‘Inspiration 4’, SpaceX’s first all-civilian space mission. It is part of the ‘Polaris Program’.
The first of these missions, Polaris Dawn, will launch crews into Earth’s orbit aboard SpaceX’s ‘Crew Dragon’ capsule. Once the capsule takes to the sky, Polaris Dawn will set several new records, including the first commercial spacewalk in history and the highest altitude spacewalk ever.
9. First launch of Ariane 6, New Glenn, and Vulcan Centaur
Ariane 6 of the European Space Agency (ESA). (Photo = ESA)
Europe faced a rocket crisis last year when Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket took to the skies for the last time, meaning ESA was forced to fly several space missions to the US Elon Musk’s space mission due to delays in the development of Ariane 6. I had to rely on X. Although Europe is still working to end its overreliance on a single launch vehicle provider, ArianeSpace’s Ariane6 rocket will not fly until June or July of this year.
Other companies, such as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA), are also aiming to fly new rockets for the first time this year. Blue Origin’s New Glenn, founded two years before SpaceX, appears poised to finally get the company into orbit.
ULA’s Vulcan Centaur is expected to make its first launch as early as the 8th of this month.
10. Dream Chaser, first flight
Imagine Dream Chaser flying in Earth’s orbit. (Photo = Sierra Space)
America’s Sierra Space’s ‘Dream Chaser’ space plane, which resembles a space shuttle, will be able to fly into Earth’s orbit for the first time this year. The plane is expected to become a key part of NASA’s commercial space resupply services program.
Dream Chaser is designed to carry space passengers to the International Space Station (ISS), Blue Origin, and Sierra Space’s yet-to-be-launched Orbital Reef space station. This space station features a huge space habitat that can expand to the size of a three-story building.
According to a recent press release from Sierra Space, Dream Chaser is in final preparations and will launch aboard a Vulcan Centaur rocket sometime this year. The Vulcan Centaur is expected to take flight for the first time early this year, but the company has not yet announced a target date for Dream Chaser’s first launch.
