2024 is winding down, but the excitement in the world of space exploration is ramping up for 2025. Recently, Jared Isaacman, the billionaire private astronaut and CEO of Shift4 Payments, was chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to lead NASA as the next administrator. With two spaceflights under his belt with SpaceX, Isaacman is poised to advocate strongly for the commercial space industry.
Speaking of SpaceX, the company launched a new radio satellite for SiriusXM from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center in December. Meanwhile, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe made waves by flying closer to the sun than any other probe had before on Christmas Eve. The probe, launched in 2018, has been gradually moving closer to the sun through 22 orbits and is set to fly 3.8 million miles from the sun, passing through its corona to conduct crucial research on the star’s atmosphere.
Not all December space missions went as planned. Japanese startup Space One experienced a setback when its Kairos rocket self-destructed shortly after takeoff from Kushimoto in Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture on December 18. This marked Space One’s second failed attempt this year to become Japan’s first private company to launch a satellite into orbit.
As we look ahead to the new year, a slew of exciting space missions are on the horizon from various government agencies and private aerospace companies.
Here are five space missions to keep an eye on in January 2025:
1. SpaceX’s seventh Starship test: Scheduled for January 11, SpaceX is gearing up for its seventh Starship test. Standing at nearly 400 feet tall, the Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket in the world, playing a pivotal role in Elon Musk’s vision to colonize Mars. The upcoming test will involve attempting a controlled landing of the rocket’s upper-stage capsule in the Indian Ocean and retrieving its Super Heavy booster at the launch site in Boca Chica, Texas.
2. NASA’s exploration of water on the moon: NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer mission is set to begin orbiting the moon next month, aiming to enhance our understanding of lunar water resources. The satellite will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center and will map out the abundance, form, and location of water on the moon from a distance of 60 miles.
3. China’s Long March 8A rocket maiden flight: January will witness the inaugural launch of China’s Long March 8A rocket, developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology for medium- and low-Earth orbit missions. After 28 months of development and 44 ground tests, the rocket will take off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in China’s Hainan province.
4. Firefly Aerospace’s lunar mission: Firefly Aerospace from Cedar Park, Texas, is preparing for a lunar mission dubbed “Ghost Riders in the Sky.” The mission will see its Blue Ghost lander launched by a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in mid-January. The lander will spend around 45 days in lunar orbit before conducting research in a volcanic feature within the moon’s Mare Crisium basin, delivering ten NASA payloads to the lunar surface.
5. ispace’s second moon landing attempt: Japanese company ispace will be joining Firefly’s lunar mission with its Resilience lunar lander on the Falcon 9 launch. Partly funded by the Japanese space agency JAXA, the mission will aim to touch down near Mare Frigoris, a basaltic plain in the moon’s northern hemisphere, four to five months after launch. The lander will carry out various tasks, including collecting soil samples and studying radiation, in collaboration with NASA.
As we look forward to these upcoming space missions, the new year is sure to kick off with a bang in the realm of space exploration. Stay tuned for more exciting developments in the world beyond our atmosphere! Rewrite the sentence.
