NASA and other global space programs (excluding Indian) news, Updates and Discussions

[skywatcher]

China Chang'e 6 lands on the far side of the Moon again

preparing for drills on the Moon surface

 

[skywatcher]

All the soft Moon landings since 1976

 

[skywatcher]

I guess this is the only orbital launch from the Moon this year.

 

[skywatcher]

I'm not surprised about the further delays.

 

[skywatcher]

Japanese billionaire cancels planned Starship lunar mission

A Japanese billionaire who was the first commercial customer for SpaceX’s Starship vehicle has abruptly canceled his circumlunar mission.

spacenews.com

Japanese billionaire cancels planned Starship lunar mission

Jeff Foust June 2, 2024

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Japanese billionaire who was the first commercial customer for SpaceX’s Starship vehicle has abruptly pulled the plug on his proposed quixotic circumlunar mission.

In a June 1 message, Yusaku Maezawa announced he was canceling his “dearMoon” mission, which was to fly him and eight artists around the moon on a Starship vehicle. He cited ongoing delays in the mission and uncertainty when it would launch.

“Arrangements were being made with SpaceX to target the launch by the end of 2023,” the dearMoon project said in a statement posted on its website. “Unfortunately, however, launch within 2023 became unfeasible, and without clear schedule certainty in the near-term, it is with a heavy heart that Maezawa made the unavoidable decision to cancel the project.”

“I signed the contract in 2018 based on the assumption that dearMoon would launch by the end of 2023,” Maezawa posted on social media June 1. “I can’t plan my future in this situation, and I feel terrible making the crew members wait longer, hence the difficult decision to cancel at this point in time.”

Maezawa was the first customer that SpaceX announced for Starship in a September 2018 event at SpaceX’s headquarters, back when the vehicle was still known as BFR, or Big Falcon Rocket. Maezawa made a down payment of undisclosed size, which SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk called “a non-trivial amount” and one that would have “a material impact on the BFR program.”

At the time the goal was to fly the mission by 2023, but even then Musk cautioned that schedule might not be achievable. “You have to set some kind of date that’s the things-go-right date,” he said then. “Of course, we have reality, and things do not go right in reality.”

Starship has yet to fly to the moon, carry people or even achieve orbit. SpaceX is gearing up for a fourth integrated test flight of Starship/Super Heavy, now scheduled for no earlier than June 6, that will fly the vehicle on a suborbital trajectory with the primary goal of demonstrating that both the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage can make it back to the surface without breaking apart first.

SpaceX has increasingly focused on getting Starship flying so that it can perform a crewed lunar landing for NASA under a Human Landing System contract awarded in 2021. The company is also working to increase Starship’s flight rate to support launches of Starlink satellites.

However, Maezawa had also been slow to select the people to accompany him. It was only in December 2022 that dearMoon publicly revealed the eight people who would fly with Maezawa on the mission, along with two alternates. By that time, though, it was clear that Starship would not be ready to fly the mission in 2023 or for potentially several years later, and the project didn’t provide a schedule for the mission when it announced the crew.

Some of the people selected for dearMoon spoke out on social media after Maezawa announced the cancellation. “We had no prior knowledge of this possibility,” said Tim Dodd, a YouTube personality known as “Everyday Astronaut.” “I voiced my opinions, even before the announcement, that it was improbable for dearMoon to happen in the next few years.”

He added he was “extremely disappointed” by the decision. “I slowly allowed myself to envision a trip to the Moon one little bit by little bit.”

“We have been dropped, apparently due to impatience,” said Rhiannon Adam, an Irish photographer who was the only woman on the prime crew for dearMoon, who offered a sharper critique of Maezawa’s decision. “As someone with a critical brain, much of this doesn’t make sense, particularly with regard to timeline. I never believed we were going in 2023, or 2024.”

She said she and others selected for dearMoon were willing to wait but were not consulted by Maezawa before he announced the cancellation. “I am left doubting the project’s integrity, and feel used.”

Maezawa did get to go to space, but not with SpaceX. In December 2021 he and his assistant, Yozo Hirano, flew on a Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station, spending a week and a half in space before returning. That mission was arranged by Space Adventures, a space tourism company.

There is one other Starship commercial lunar mission on the books: in October 2022, Dennis Tito, the first commercial space tourist to visit the ISS in 2001, announced that he and his wife would fly on a Starship mission around the moon along with up to 10 other people. Neither he nor SpaceX announced a date for the mission then or provided updates on its status since then.

 

[skywatcher]

finally launched.

It took Boeing ten years!

 

[skywatcher]

List of major events for the rest of 2024

6 June SpaceX Starship Flight 4
(TBD)June 2024 Gilmour Space Eris first orbital flight
9 July 2024 ESA Arianespace Ariane 6 first orbital flight
20 July 2024 CASC Long March 8A first launch of Guowang
(TBD)July 2024 ISRO LVM 3 Gaganyaan 1 first uncrewed Gaganyaan flight test
(TBD)July 2024 CASC Long March 12 first orbital flight
15 Aug 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz Progress MS-28 cargo mission to ISS
(TBD)Aug 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew-9 crewed mission to ISS
(TBD)Aug 2024 Space Pioneer Tianlong-3 first orbital flight
11 Sept 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz Soyuz MS-26 crewed mission to ISS
29 Sept 2024 Blue Origin New Glenn ESCAPADE Mars orbiters
30 Sept 2024 CASC Long March 7 Tianzhou-8 cargo mission to CSS
(TBD)Sept 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-31 cargo mission to ISS
Q3 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Polaris Dawn crewed mission first commercial spacewalk
(TBD)Q3 2024 Skyroot Aerospace Vikram 1 first orbital flight
8 Oct 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 ESA Hera Asteroid orbiter
10 Oct 2024 SpaceX Falcon Heavy NASA Europa Clipper Jupiter orbiter
16 Oct 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz Progress cargo mission to ISS
23 Oct 2024 CASC Long March 2F Shenzhou-19 crewed mission to CSS
(TBD)Oct 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 AX-4 crewed mission
(TBD)Nov 2024 Galactic Energy Pallas-1 first orbital flight
(TBD)Dec 2024 Rocket Lab Electron Photon & Venus Life Finder Venus flyby & entry
(TBD)Dec 2024 ISRO LVM 3 Gaganyaan 2 second uncrewed Gaganyaan flight test
(TBD)Dec 2024 Deep Blue Aerospace Nebula-1 first orbital flight
(TBD)Q4 2024 RFA RFA One first orbital flight
(TBD)Q4 2024 ULA Vulcan Centaur first Dream Chaser cargo mission to ISS
(TBD)Q4 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 IM-2 lunar lander & various rovers
(TBD)Q4 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 iSpace Hakuto-R 2 lunar lander & rover
(TBD)Q4 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Firefly Blue Ghost lunar lander

Anything else?

 

[skywatcher]

finally launched.View attachment 256858It took Boeing ten years!
View attachment 256859
View attachment 256860

 

[skywatcher]

Starship 4th flight is critical to Artemis III's launch date

 

[skywatcher]

Starship 4th flight is critical to Artemis III's launch date

 

[skywatcher]

Ascent module completed the delicate and risky lunar orbit automatic docking with the orbiting module

 

[FalconSlayers]

List of all major events in 2024

8 Jan 2024 ULA Vulcan Centaur first orbital flight with lunar lander Peregrine & rovers
11 Jan 2024 Orienspace Gravity-1 first orbital flight
17 Jan 2024 CASC Long March 7 Tianzhou-7 cargo mission to CSS
18 Jan 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 AX-3 crewed mission to ISS
20 Jan 2024 IRGC Qaem 100 first orbital flight
28 Jan 2024 ISA Simorgh first successful orbital flight of Simorgh
30 Jan 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Cygnus NG-20 cargo mission to ISS
15 Feb 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz Progress MS-26 cargo mission to ISS
15 Feb 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Nova-C IM-1 lunar lander
17 Feb 2024 JAXA H3 first successful orbital flight of H3
4 Mar 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew-8 crewed mission to ISS
13 Mar 2024 Space One KAIROS first orbital flight
13 Mar 2024 CASC Long March 2C DRO A/B lunar orbiters
14 Mar 2024 SpaceX Starship flight 3
20 Mar 2024 CASC Long March 8 Queqiao-2 lunar orbiters
21 Mar 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-30 cargo mission to ISS
23 Mar 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz MS-25 crewed mission to ISS
9 Apr 2024 ULA Delta 4 Heavy final flight of Delta 4 Heavy
25 Apr 2024 CASC Long March 2F/G Shenzhou-18 crewed mission to CSS
3 May 2024 CASC Long March 5 Chang'e 6 lunar sample return
30 May 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz Progress MS-27 cargo mission to ISS
(TBD)May 2024 Gilmour Space Eris first orbital flight
1 June SpaceX Starship Flight 4
2 June 2024 ULA Atlas 5 Boeing Starliner first crewed test flight
(TBD)June 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-31 cargo mission to ISS
(TBD)June 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Polaris Dawn crewed mission first commercial spacewalk
(TBD)June 2024 CNSA Chang'e 6 Ascent module orbital launch from the Moon surface
(TBD)July 2024 ESA Arianespace Ariane 6 first orbital flight
(TBD)July 2024 ISRO LVM 3 Gaganyaan 1 first uncrewed Gaganyaan flight test
(TBD)July 2024 CASC Long March 12 first orbital flight
15 Aug 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz Progress MS-28 cargo mission to ISS
(TBD)Aug 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew-9 crewed mission to ISS
11 Sept 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz Soyuz MS-26 crewed mission to ISS
29 Sept 2024 Blue Origin New Glenn ESCAPADE Mars orbiters
30 Sept 2024 CASC Long March 7 Tianzhou-8 cargo mission to CSS
(TBD)Q3 2024 Space Pioneer Tianlong-3 first orbital flight
(TBD)Q3 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Firefly Blue Ghost lunar lander
(TBD)Q3 2024 Skyroot Aerospace Vikram 1 first orbital flight
8 Oct 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 ESA Hera Asteroid orbiter
10 Oct 2024 SpaceX Falcon Heavy NASA Europa Clipper Jupiter orbiter
16 Oct 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz Progress cargo mission to ISS
23 Oct 2024 CASC Long March 2F Shenzhou-19 crewed mission to CSS
(TBD)Oct 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 AX-4 crewed mission
(TBD)Nov 2024 Galactic Energy Pallas-1 first orbital flight
(TBD)Nov 2024 SpaceX Falcon Heavy Griffin lunar lander
(TBD)Dec 2024 Rocket Lab Electron Photon & Venus Life Finder Venus flyby & entry
(TBD)Dec 2024 ISRO LVM 3 Gaganyaan 2 second uncrewed Gaganyaan flight test
(TBD)Dec 2024 Deep Blue Aerospace Nebula-1 first orbital flight
(TBD)Dec 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 IM-2 lunar lander & various rovers
(TBD)Dec 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 iSpace Hakuto-R 2 lunar lander & rover
(TBD)Q4 2024 RFA RFA One first orbital flight
(TBD)Q4 2024 ULA Vulcan Centaur first Dream Chaser cargo mission to ISS

Other possible new launchers without definite launch windows:
(TBD)2024 Argentina TLON Space Aventura I first orbital flight
(TBD)2024 Canada Reaction Dynamics Aurora first orbital flight
(TBD)2024 French Venture OS Zéphyr first orbital flight
(TBD)2024 Germany Isar Aerospace Spectrum first orbital flight
(TBD)2024 Germany HyImpulse SL1 first orbital flight
(TBD)2024 Russia VKS RF Rokot first orbital flight
(TBD)2024 South Korea Perigee Aerospace Blue Whale 1 first orbital flight
(TBD)2024 South Korea Innospace Hanbit-Nano first orbital flight
(TBD)2024 UK Skyrora Skyrora XL first orbital flight
(TBD)2024 UK Orbex Prime first orbital flight
(TBD)2024 US Aevum Ravn X first orbital flight
(TBD)2024 US Phantom Space Daytona first orbital flight
(TBD)2024 US Rocket Lab Neutron first orbital flight

I know the thread excludes ISRO projects, but Aditya L1 and ExpoSat were also major successes in 2024.

 

[skywatcher]

I know the thread excludes ISRO projects, but Aditya L1 and ExpoSat were also major successes in 2024.

Adiya L1 was launched in 2023. major missions mainly refer to crewed/cargo missions & deep space missions & new orbital launchers & other large strategic missions. Ordinary science satellites are not included for brevity. All Indian major missions in 2024 will be included.

 

[skywatcher]

Starship launched and landed

 

[skywatcher]

Active crewed spacecraft as of June 2024

 

[DumbPilot]

A great week in space

 

[skywatcher]

A great week in space

View attachment 257487

 

[skywatcher]

List of major events for the rest of 2024

(TBD)June 2024 Gilmour Space Eris first orbital flight
9 July 2024 ESA Arianespace Ariane 6 first orbital flight
(TBD)July 2024 ISRO LVM 3 Gaganyaan 1 first uncrewed Gaganyaan flight test
(TBD)July 2024 CASC Long March 12 first orbital flight
(TBD)July 2024 SpaceX Starship fight test 5
15 Aug 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz Progress MS-28 cargo mission to ISS
(TBD)Aug 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew-9 crewed mission to ISS
11 Sept 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz Soyuz MS-26 crewed mission to ISS
29 Sept 2024 Blue Origin New Glenn ESCAPADE Mars orbiters
30 Sept 2024 CASC Long March 7 Tianzhou-8 cargo mission to CSS
(TBD)Sept 2024 Space Pioneer Tianlong-3 first orbital flight
(TBD)Sept 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-31 cargo mission to ISS
Q3 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Polaris Dawn crewed mission first commercial spacewalk
(TBD)Q3 2024 Skyroot Aerospace Vikram 1 first orbital flight
8 Oct 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 ESA Hera Asteroid orbiter
10 Oct 2024 SpaceX Falcon Heavy NASA Europa Clipper Jupiter orbiter
16 Oct 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz Progress cargo mission to ISS
23 Oct 2024 CASC Long March 2F Shenzhou-19 crewed mission to CSS
(TBD)Oct 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 AX-4 crewed mission
(TBD)Nov 2024 Galactic Energy Pallas-1 first orbital flight
(TBD)Dec 2024 Rocket Lab Electron Photon & Venus Life Finder Venus flyby & entry
(TBD)Dec 2024 ISRO LVM 3 Gaganyaan 2 second uncrewed Gaganyaan flight test
(TBD)Dec 2024 Deep Blue Aerospace Nebula-1 first orbital flight
(TBD)Q4 2024 RFA RFA One first orbital flight
(TBD)Q4 2024 ULA Vulcan Centaur first Dream Chaser cargo mission to ISS
(TBD)Q4 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 IM-2 lunar lander & various rovers
(TBD)Q4 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 iSpace Hakuto-R 2 lunar lander & rover
(TBD)Q4 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Firefly Blue Ghost lunar lander

Anything else?

 

[skywatcher]

ESA-China moon cooperation could end with Chang’e-6

ESA-China moon cooperation could end with Chang’e-6 European-Chinese cooperation in lunar exploration could come to an end despite successful collaboration in the ongoing Chang’e-6 mission.

spacenews.com

ESA-China moon cooperation could end with Chang’e-6

Andrew Jones June 12, 2024

HELSINKI — European-Chinese cooperation in lunar exploration could come to an end despite successful collaboration in the ongoing Chang’e-6 mission.

ESA provided a payload for China’s Chang’e-6 complex lunar far side sample return mission which launched May 3. The mission aims to gather and return samples from the lunar far side, providing unprecedented insights into the moon’s composition and history.

An instrument developed by the Swedish Institute of Space physics was aboard the Chang’e-6 lander which earlier this month landed in and sampled the mid-latitude Apollo crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin.

The European team working with the Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface (NILS) instrument confirmed the success of their scientific mission. The payload made the first detection of negative ions on the lunar surface.

China is preparing for two lunar south pole missions with Chang’e-7 around 2026 and the Chang’e-8 in-situ resource utilization and technology mission no earlier than 2028.

The successful NILS experiment cooperation with Chang’e-6 may, however, mark the end of an era of ESA-China lunar collaboration.

“For the moment there are no decisions to continue the cooperation on the Chang’e-7 or -8,” Karl Bergquist, ESA’s international relations administrator, told SpaceNews.

Further ahead, ESA will not be involved in the China-led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).

“ESA will not cooperate on ILRS as this is a Sino-Russian initiative and space cooperation with Russia is at present under embargo,” Bergquist stated.

ESA last year also stated that it would no longer pursue opportunities to send European astronauts to the Tiangong space station.

ILRS, partners and Russian ratification

China and Russia officially presented a joint roadmap for the project in St. Petersburg in June 2021. The moon base is to be initially robotic, constructed via super heavy-lift rocket launches in the 2030s. It will also host crewed missions.

Moscow and Beijing had eyed attracting ESA and its member states to participate in the project. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 signaled an end to any cooperation prospects.

China has taken a leading role in the ILRS since 2022. The project’s headquarters will be established in China. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) and its Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) have been at the center of efforts to attract partners, at times omitting mention of Russia as a partner.

There are now 11 countries signed up, as well as other bodies. Russian reports state that Turkey has also applied to join ILRS. Russia President Vladimir Putin signed a law June 12 ratifying an intergovernmental agreement with China on creation of the ILRS.

The European Space Agency meanwhile is engaged in the Gateway and Artemis programs. A number of its member states have signed the Artemis Accords. 42 nations have now signed the Accords.

Artemis and ILRS projects and related diplomatic efforts can be perceived to be forming separate groups. There are however a small degree of overlap. This includes Bahrain, an Accords signatory, recently agreeing to cooperate with Egypt to develop a hyperspectral imager for Chang’e-7.

Cooperation with China will continue at least in the near future. The samples collected by Chang’e-6 are currently in lunar orbit awaiting a return to Earth, expected around June 25.

ESA-China moon cooperation could end with Chang’e-6

ESA-China moon cooperation could end with Chang’e-6 European-Chinese cooperation in lunar exploration could come to an end despite successful collaboration in the ongoing Chang’e-6 mission.

spacenews.com

 

[skywatcher]

List of major events for the rest of 2024

9 July 2024 ESA Arianespace Ariane 6 first orbital flight
(TBD)July 2024 ISRO LVM 3 Gaganyaan 1 first uncrewed Gaganyaan flight test
(TBD)July 2024 SpaceX Starship fight test 5
(TBD)July 2024 Gilmour Space Eris first orbital flight
15 Aug 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz Progress MS-28 cargo mission to ISS
28 Aug 2024 CASC Long March 12 first orbital flight
(TBD)Aug 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew-9 crewed mission to ISS
11 Sept 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz Soyuz MS-26 crewed mission to ISS
29 Sept 2024 Blue Origin New Glenn ESCAPADE Mars orbiters
30 Sept 2024 CASC Long March 7 Tianzhou-8 cargo mission to CSS
(TBD)Sept 2024 Space Pioneer Tianlong-3 first orbital flight
(TBD)Sept 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-31 cargo mission to ISS
Q3 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Polaris Dawn crewed mission first commercial spacewalk
(TBD)Q3 2024 Skyroot Aerospace Vikram 1 first orbital flight
8 Oct 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 ESA Hera Asteroid orbiter
10 Oct 2024 SpaceX Falcon Heavy NASA Europa Clipper Jupiter orbiter
16 Oct 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz Progress cargo mission to ISS
23 Oct 2024 CASC Long March 2F Shenzhou-19 crewed mission to CSS
(TBD)Oct 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 AX-4 crewed mission
(TBD)Nov 2024 Galactic Energy Pallas-1 first orbital flight
(TBD)Dec 2024 Rocket Lab Electron Photon & Venus Life Finder Venus flyby & entry
(TBD)Dec 2024 ISRO LVM 3 Gaganyaan 2 second uncrewed Gaganyaan flight test
(TBD)Dec 2024 Deep Blue Aerospace Nebula-1 first orbital flight
(TBD)Q4 2024 RFA RFA One first orbital flight
(TBD)Q4 2024 ULA Vulcan Centaur first Dream Chaser cargo mission to ISS
(TBD)Q4 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 IM-2 lunar lander & various rovers
(TBD)Q4 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 iSpace Hakuto-R 2 lunar lander & rover
(TBD)Q4 2024 SpaceX Falcon 9 Firefly Blue Ghost lunar lander


we don't know when Australia's first orbital launcher Eris will launch. If successful, Australia will be the 12th country to have independent orbital launch capability.

Soviet Union(1957),United States(1958),France(1965),Japan(1970),China(1970),United Kindom(1971),
India(1980),Israel(1988),Iran(2009),North Korea(2012),South Korea(2013)