China National Space Administration (CNSA) Chang'E-5 lander at Statio Tianchuan "ship sailing in the Milky Way", Mons Rümker, Oceanus Procellarum, Moon (43° N, 51.9° W), surpasses another full year on lunar surface today; landed on this day in 2020, with sample return launching from the Moon 2 days later.
Astrobotic Griffin to attempt Nobile Crater / Moon South Pole landing with Astrolab FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform (FLIP) rover; originally slated to carry with NASA Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER).
Uncrewed 1st test flight for Gaganyaan orbital mission scheduled to occur before end of year, will carry fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster); 1st crewed flight planned for 2026. Will launch aboard a Human-rated Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (HLVM3). Re-entering capsule will slow to 8m / sec before landing.
Conference intended for AIAA Region VII Students from around the world except Canada and Mexico, which have been incorporated into AIAA North America Regions. Online component to accommodate students not able to travel to Australia to present their paper in-person at University of Sydney. AIAA Region VII Student Conference is […]
European Space Agency (ESA) / National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) craft studying sun, surpasses another full year of operations in space today, launched 1995; discovered more than 3,000 comets.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa surpasses another full year in space today; launched Dec 3, 2014, returned samples to Earth in 2020, and now in extended mission to flyby asteroid 98943 Torifune in 2026 and rendezvous with 1998 KY26 in 2031.
European Space Agency (ESA) craft in Very Eccentric Elliptical LEO studying X-ray emissions, star-forming regions, galaxy clusters, environment of supermassive black holes, mapping dark matter, surpasses next full year in space today, launched 1999.
China National Space Administration (CNSA) spacecraft at Guang Han Gong "Moon Palace", Sinus Iridum / Mare Imbrium, 44.12°N 19.51°W, surpasses another full year on Moon surface, landed 2013.
NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer spacecraft (redubbed Near-Earth Object WISE – NEOWISE) surpasses another full year in space today; launched 2009, went into hibernation February 17, 2011 and reactivated August 21, 2013.
Appearing to radiate from constellation Gemini, shower can produce 80-130 meteors per hour; bright, medium-slow meteors (35 km/sec), few leave persistent trains; peak 00:00 UTC (Dec 13, 14:00 HST).
Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) first lunar spacecraft Danuri surpasses another full year in lunar orbit today, having launched in Aug 2022 and reached Moon in Dec 2022.
Appearing to radiate from β star of Ursa Minor, Ursids are associated with comet 8P/Tuttle, they offer medium speed (33 km/sec), mostly faint with a few fireballs, 9-10 per hour, visible in northern Hemisphere 1 day before Last Quarter Moon; peak 14:00 UTC (00:00 HST).
ESA spacecraft surpasses next full year in Mars orbit today; will continue to study Mars atmosphere & climate, planet structure, mineralogy, geology, and to search for traces of water; launched June 2, 2003 and arrived at Mars in Dec 2003.
Launch Long March 10A / First Test Flight: First flight of China Long March 10A rocket, precursor to Long March 10 intended to support crewed / cargo missions to the Moon with 2 launches, one for crew spacecraft Mengzhou and one for lander Lanyue that will rendezvous in lunar orbit; developed […]
NET 2026 — Launch Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Mission 2 & Elytra Dark orbital transfer vehicle, TBD: Firefly Aerospace second lunar lander mission under $112M NASA CLPS to land on lunar far side with NASA payloads (RadPC, LuSEE-Night telescope, JPL User Terminal (UT), Australia’s Seismic Payload for Interplanetary Discovery, Exploration, and Research (SPIDER) by […]
NET 2026 — Launch Electron / Venus probe: Independent mission to Venus developed by Rocket Lab and MIT to send tiny probe flying in atmosphere for 5 minutes at altitude 48-60 km.
NET 2026 — Launch Martian Moons eXploration (MMX): Japan planning to launch its first Mars mission consisting of sample return probe; to conduct observations of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, collect Phobos sample, return to Earth.
NET 2026 — Launch Falcon Heavy / Astrobotic Griffin Lander Mission 2: Astrobotic Griffin planned to carry satellites to cislunar space and take commercial payloads to landing near Moon South Pole this year.
NET 2026 — Launch Atlas V / Starliner: Next launch of Starliner crew vehicle set to occur "early 2026", unknown whether craft will carry crew on this mission.