Font size:
Print
Missions and Developments in Space Exploration for 2025
Context:
The year 2024 was a period of riveting advancements in space exploration, capturing the world’s imagination with unprecedented achievements.
More on News:
- 2025 is expected to be a monumental year for space exploration with global efforts advancing humanity’s understanding of the universe.
- These missions will not only expand scientific knowledge but also inspire future generations in the field of space exploration.
2024: A Dazzling Year in Space Exploration
- NASA’s Europa Clipper embarked on its journey to study Jupiter’s moon Europa, a mission aimed at discovering the secrets of one of the solar system’s most intriguing moons.
- SpaceX’s Starship achieved its first successful landing, marking a significant milestone for future deep space missions.
- China’s Chang’e 6 mission made history by successfully returning samples from the far side of the Moon.
- The International Space Station continued to host international crews, including private missions like Axiom Mission 3.
Looking Forward to 2025:
- CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services): NASA’s CLPS will continue in 2025, with multiple missions involving commercial landers such as Astrobotics, Intuitive Machines, and Firefly Aerospace.
- These missions will deliver scientific instruments to various lunar locations to study geology, test new technologies, and gather data on the Moon’s environment to support future human missions.
- SPHEREx Observatory: NASA’s SPHEREx mission will launch in February 2025 to survey the universe in near-infrared light.
- It will create a detailed map of over 450 million galaxies and 100 million stars, helping to answer key questions about the origins of galaxies and the distribution of water and organic molecules in stellar nurseries.
- Space Rider: The European Space Agency (ESA) will launch its Space Rider uncrewed spaceplane in the third quarter of 2025 for orbital tests.
- The spacecraft will carry out scientific experiments in microgravity, such as studying plant growth, material behaviour, and biological processes in space.
- It will also test advanced telecommunication systems and new robotic tools for future missions.
- Japan’s M2/Resilience Mission: Scheduled for January 2025, will send a lander and micro-rover to the Moon to study lunar soil, demonstrate water-splitting technologies for oxygen and hydrogen production, and test advanced navigation systems for precise landings.
- China’s Tianwen-2 Mission: Launching in May 2025, will target asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, a quasi-satellite of Earth, to collect samples and study the early solar system. The spacecraft will also probe the comet 311P/PANSTARRS, providing insights into the origins of water and organic molecules.
Space Flybys: Gravity Assists and Scientific Discoveries:
- BepiColombo, a joint ESA and JAXA mission, will make its sixth flyby of Mercury in January 2025, aiming to enter Mercury’s orbit by November 2026.
- NASA’s Europa Clipper will perform a flyby manoeuvre at Mars in March 2025, gaining the necessary speed and trajectory for its journey to Jupiter’s moon Europa.
- ESA’s Hera mission will execute a Mars flyby in March 2025 as part of the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment mission, contributing to planetary defence strategies.
- NASA’s Lucy mission will fly by inner main-belt asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson in April 2025, providing data on its composition and surface features.
- ESA’s JUICE mission will perform a Venus flyby in August 2025, helping the mission gain the velocity needed to study Jupiter’s icy moons.
