With sub-orbital trips and space probes, the next few years promise to be captivating for space fans...
1 NASA flies i Orion capsule around the Moon
NASA’s landmark Exploration Mission EM-1 will see an uncrewed Orion spacecraft launched on its new and untested Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, heading off on a three-week journey 40,000 miles beyond the Moon.
2 Boeing tests its CST-100 Starliner
While SpaceX gets the headlines for its reusable rockets, Boeing has NASA contracts for six crewed flights to International Space Station (ISS). August 2018 will see an un-crewed CST-100 launch atop an Atlas V rocket, an ‘expendable launch vehicle’ from United Launch Alliance. The first crewed test flight of the spacecraft could take place in early 2019.
3 Space X tests its Falcon Heavy
SpaceX has been launching Falcon 9 rockets every few weeks recently, but in November 2017, its ambitious project will get an outing: the Falcon Heavy ‘heavy-lift launch vehicle’. Able to lift 54 metric tons into orbit, Falcon Heavy will launch from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
4 Virgin Galactic will take tourists to space
Though the space industry has bigger goals than taking tourists to space, it is going to be a big revenue-generator. So when Virgin Galactic takes six people paying $250,000 each, and two pilots, just above Earth’s atmosphere — as the company plans to do in 2018 — the entire space industry will experience a surge in self-belief.
5 India goes for the Moon’s south pole
Having already visited the Moon in 2008, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will send its first Rover, Chandrayaan-2, to the lunar surface in March 2018. A lunar orbiter, lander and rover will travel near the Moon’s south pole and study lunar dust, which could be a hazard for potential lunar bases.
6 Tiangong-1 comes crashing back to Earth
China’s Tiangong-1 space lab is headed for an uncontrolled nose-dive into Earth’s atmosphere around April 2018. While it has little to do with the space race per se, it’s indicative of both China’s expected dominance of space, and the danger that space junk is already bringing to space missions.
7 China heads for the Moon’s far side
While billionaires plan to colonise other planets, the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSE) is warming up for a manned lunar mission in 2018 on the far side of the Moon. China also joined the heavy-lift vehicle race with its Long March 5 (CZ-5) rocket, and wants to send a rover to Mars by 2020.
8 Blue Origin opens its rocket factory
Do not underestimate Jeff Bezos. His company Blue Origin has ambitious plans to build a rocket almost as big as SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy — and it is building it next door. Blue Origin is constructing a rocket manufacturing facility just a few miles from Kennedy Space Centre. Here it plans to assemble the company’s New Glenn heavy-lift reusable rocket.
Which one are you excited about?