As we approach the end of 2024, the space industry is buzzing with activity. Recent highlights include Blue Origin’s successful 28th mission where the New Shepard spacecraft carried six civilians on a ten-minute orbital flight. Among the passengers was aerospace engineer Emily Calandrelli, who made history as the 100th woman to travel to space. Blue Origin is not slowing down, with plans for the maiden launch of its New Glenn rocket in December.
Other notable space missions in recent months include Rocket Lab’s missions from New Zealand and Virginia, as well as SpaceX’s sixth Starship test. On the government front, JAXA launched a defense satellite from the Tanegashima Space Center, while Roscosmos launched satellites to monitor the Earth’s ionosphere.
Here are five exciting space missions to watch out for in December 2024:
Five space missions to watch in December 2024:
- Dec. 2: SpaceX launches a radio satellite for SiriusXM: Watch as a Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center to deploy a radio satellite for SiriusXM. The SXM-9 satellite, built by Maxar Technologies, will join the SiriusXM constellation in orbit.
- Dec. 3: Arianespace helps an environmental data mission soar. A Vega C rocket will launch the Sentinel-1C satellite as part of a mission for the European Commission, providing crucial radar imagery for disaster response and climate research.
- Dec. 20: The ISRO’s space docking experiment. ISRO will conduct a Space Docking Experiment with the hope of enabling future missions involving human transfer between spacecraft or vehicle refueling.
- TBD: Japan’s ispace shoots for the moon. ispace’s lunar exploration mission will see the Resilience lunar lander carrying a rover, radiation probe, and an art project to the moon.
- TBD: Watch out for Blue Origin’s maiden New Glenn launch. The highly anticipated launch of the Blue Glenn rocket will test the company’s Blue Ring hardware and mark a significant milestone in Blue Origin’s space ambitions.
