House companies from all over the world launched a complete of 244 profitable missions into orbit or house in 2024, which is the most in historical past. The US led the best way with over half of these launches. Dozens of house launches are already deliberate for 2025.
Really feel like watching a liftoff? Lots of them will doubtless be streamed by NASA or from the YouTube channels of particular person corporations like SpaceX. House launches are finicky, and the dates typically change with little warning. However for those who’re trying to keep watch over the sky in 2025, the listing under ought to assist.
January
The Blue Ghost moon lander is seen at Firefly Aerospace headquarters in Cedar Park, Texas, in December 2024.
Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Mission 1 & Hakuto-R M2 Resilience
Launch date: Launched efficiently on Jan. 15
Group: SpaceX / NASA / Firefly Aerospace
Launch web site: Kennedy House Middle, FL
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5
This uncrewed mission, which launched on Jan. 15, will carry Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander to the moon, together with a payload of 10 NASA devices designed to measure varied metrics on the lunar floor, together with place and navigation information, regolith habits and Earth’s magnetosphere.
New Glenn’s Inaugural Launch
Launch date: Launched efficiently on Jan. 16
Group: Blue Origin / NASA
Rocket: Blue Origin New Glenn
Launch web site: Launch Advanced 36 at Cape Canaveral House Power Station, FL
Blue Origin’s first take a look at flight of its New Glenn rocket was initially scheduled for Jan. 13. Nevertheless, a automobile subsystem subject sprung up that will’ve taken too lengthy to troubleshoot on the launch pad, so Blue Origin rescheduled the launch, and it efficiently reached orbit on Jan. 16. Along with the inaugural launch, the payload included Blue Ring Pathfinder, which was set to display its skill to speak from orbit to floor.
Learn extra: New Glenn Rocket Launch Marks a Huge Second for Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin
February
Lunar Trailblazer & Nova-C IM-2
Launch date: Efficiently launched on Feb. 27
Group: SpaceX / NASA / Intuitive Machines
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch web site: Kennedy House Middle, FL
The Lunar Trailblazer and Nova-C IM-2 mission lifted off efficiently on Feb. 27. Whereas the Nova-C IM-2 a part of the mission remains to be going okay, the Lunar Trailblazer misplaced communications with NASA and is at the moment misplaced in house. The mission’s success will rely solely on if NASA can reestablish contact, which the company remains to be attempting to do.
This mission will take the Intuitive Machines Nova-C lunar lander to the moon for its second mission. The journey additionally contains NASA’s PRIME-1 payload, which can be drilling into the moon and utilizing a mass spectrometer to investigate supplies beneath the floor.
SPHEREx & PUNCH
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon spacecraft atop takes off from Launch Advanced 39A at NASA’s Kennedy House Middle in October 2022 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Launch date: Launched efficiently on March 11
Group: SpaceX / NASA
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch web site: Vandenberg SFB, CA
SpaceX and NASA initially deliberate to launch the SPHEREx and PUNCH missions within the final week of February 2025, however have been delayed till the second week of March.
SpaceX despatched its Falcon 9 rocket into orbit with NASA’s SPHEREx and PUNCH. SPHEREx is a two-year mission that can launch a satellite tv for pc able to detecting near-infrared gentle and optical gentle to assemble information. PUNCH is 4 suitcase-sized satellites that can monitor the Solar’s corona to detect coronal mass ejections to ultimately be capable to predict after they’ll occur.
March
Crew-10
Launch date: March 14
Group: SpaceX / NASA / ROSCOSMOS / JAXA
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch web site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL
A crewed flight to the Worldwide House Station efficiently launched on March 14, bearing American astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Russian astronaut Kirill Peskov and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. As soon as they arrive on the ISS, Crew-9, together with Starliner astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, will make its method again to Earth. Williams and Wilmore made near-constant headlines since their June journey to the ISS stretched from the anticipated eight days to greater than eight months, however with Crew-10 on its method, they need to be dwelling quickly.
Learn extra: NASA Crew-10 Astronauts Launch to ISS on SpaceX Rocket
Mission Kuiper (Vulcan #1 and Vulcan #2)
Mission Kuiper is a subsidiary of Amazon with massive launch plans.
Launch date: TBA
Group: United Launch Alliance / Kuiper Techniques (Amazon)
Rocket: Vulcan VC6L and Atlas V 551
Launch web site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL
The primary two Mission Kuiper launches are scheduled for March 2025. Kuiper Techniques is a subsidiary of Amazon and plans to launch a complete of three,276 satellites into orbit for broadband web entry to compete with the likes of SpaceX. There can be a variety of these going up all through 2025 and past, however this mission is slated to start out in March 2025.
Blue Moon Pathfinder
Launch date: TBA
Group: Blue Origin
Rocket: Blue Origin New Glenn
Launch web site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL
Blue Origin will lastly start testing on its Blue Moon Pathfinder MK1 lunar lander. It is not going to the moon but, however Blue Origin launches at all times get loads of press earlier than they go up. Finally, Blue Origin desires to make use of the Pathfinder to take provides to the moon.
Fram2
Precise date: TBA
Group: SpaceX
Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch web site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL
The Fram2 mission is a crewed mission that can take 5 passengers round Earth’s polar caps. Over the five-day mission, the crew will conduct the first-ever human x-ray whereas in house together with extra analysis on how spaceflight impacts the human physique. They may even examine STEVE, or Robust Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, which is a ribbon of scorching gases that gentle up the night time sky just like aurora borealis. The crew will encompass Chun Wang, Jannicke Mikkelsen, Eric Philips and Rabea Rogge.
April
Axiom House Mission 4
Precise date: TBA
Group: SpaceX / Axiom House
Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch web site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL
The Axiom House Mission 4 will ship 4 folks to the Worldwide House Station the place they’re going to keep for a bit of over every week. The crew contains retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, Polish engineer Sławosz Uznański and Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu.
Might
EWS OD-1
Precise date: TBA
Group: Northrop Grumman House Techniques
Rocket: Minotaur IV
Launch web site: Vandenberg SFB, CA
The EWS OD-1 mission will deploy the Electro-Optical/Infrared Climate System into low Earth orbit as a tech demonstration, permitting varied branches of the US navy to judge its efficiency as a climate satellite tv for pc for the Division of Protection.
June
USSF-106
Precise date: TBA
Group: United Launch Alliance
Rocket: Vulcan VC4S
Launch web site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL
This can be a mission for america House Power. It’s going to deploy the NTS-3 navigation satellite tv for pc together with NASA’s SunRISE mini-satellites, which is able to examine photo voltaic exercise. Different payloads are deliberate for this launch however have not been introduced but.
EscaPADE
Certainly one of Blue Origin’s greatest launches of the yr is deliberate for June.
Precise date: TBA
Group: Blue Origin / NASA
Rocket: New Glenn
Launch web site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL
The Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) mission is a three way partnership between Blue Origin and NASA that can ship science instruments to Mars to check our crimson neighbor. The devices will examine the photo voltaic wind power switch by way of Mars’ magnetosphere. It is one among Blue Origin’s greatest launches of the yr.
July
Crew-11
Precise date: TBA
Group: SpaceX / NASA
Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch web site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL
The Crew-11 flight will take 4 extra astronauts to the ISS in July 2025. For now, the precise launch date hasn’t been set in stone and neither has the crew. Nevertheless, it will be identical to the Crew-10 launch, the place 4 astronauts will go to the ISS to conduct examine and relieve the prior crew.
September
STP-S29A
Precise date: TBA
Group: Northrop Grumman House Techniques / US Division of Protection
Rocket: Minotaur IV
Launch web site: Vandenberg SFB, CA
STP-S29A is a reasonably large mission from the US Division of Protection that’ll see Northrop Grumman launch a number of expertise demonstrations into low Earth orbit. Included within the payload are 200 kilograms price of CubeSats — very small satellites — for testing functions. As well as, the STPSat-7 may even be deployed, which is able to observe and catalog orbital particles.
September
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off in June 2024.
IMAP
Precise date: TBA
Group: SpaceX / NASA
Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch web site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL
The IMAP mission is a three way partnership between SpaceX and NASA that’ll see the deployment of the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, yet one more instrument to measure how photo voltaic winds have an effect on issues in and round Earth. The probe homes 10 devices that take varied measurements. As well as, the mission will home a small lunar orbiter known as Lunar Trailblazer, a photo voltaic sail known as Photo voltaic Cruiser and a climate satellite tv for pc to check ultraviolet emissions within the Earth’s exosphere.
October
TSIS-2
Precise date: TBA
Group: SpaceX / NASA
Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch web site: Cape Canaveral, FL
The Complete and Spectral Photo voltaic Irradiance Sensor 2 is a probe from NASA that’ll measure the Solar’s power enter into Earth by way of photo voltaic irradiance measurements. This information can be added to the many years of different Solar-related information that NASA has to higher perceive simply how a lot power strikes Earth from the Solar. The TSIS-1 is aboard the ISS and measures related standards from there.
