Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost successfully landed on the Moon

India for the first time paired a spacecraft in space

Two satellites belonging to SpaDeX – the space docking experiment of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), linked together in orbit on January 15. This success makes India the fourth country in the world to implement space docking techniques, after the Soviet Union, the United States, and China. These are all space powers – a position that India is aiming for.

According to ISRO, space docking technology is essential for the country’s ambitions such as conducting lunar missions, bringing samples from the Moon to Earth, and building and operating the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) – a space station orbiting the Earth expected to be assembled around 2035. This technology is essential when it is necessary to launch rockets many times to achieve common mission goals.

Female astronaut breaks spacewalk record

NASA astronaut Suni Williams’s unexpectedly long space journey helped her set a new record. Last year, Williams and colleague Butch Wilmore flew to the International Space Station (ISS) on Boeing’s Starliner. However, problems with the ship caused their expected 10-day trip to take 9 months. Finally, the duo returned to Earth with two other astronauts by SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in March this year.

During her stay at the ISS, Williams performed two spacewalks on January 16 and January 30, bringing her total spacewalk time to 62 hours and 6 minutes, 1 hour and 45 minutes more than the previous record of NASA female astronaut Peggy Whitson. The joint record for both men and women is 82 hours and 22 minutes, held by Russian astronaut Anatoly Solovyev.

A private spacecraft successfully landed on the Moon for the first time

On March 2, the Blue Ghost lander of American company Firefly Aerospace made history when it became the first private spacecraft to land completely smoothly on the surface of the Moon. Last year, the American company Intuitive Machines did this, but the Odysseus lander then tilted to the side.

Blue Ghost, which operates on solar energy, “died” on March 16 after the Sun set on the Moon, ending a successful two-week mission. The ship transmitted a total of 119 GB of data to Earth, including 51 GB of scientific information, before shutting down.

The Blue Ghost mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. Many CLPS missions undertaken by Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic and a number of other companies are also expected to be deployed in the near future, opening up more opportunities for scientific research and human exploration activities on the Moon, and even the possibility of settlement in the future.

Launching the first human carrier to fly over the Earth’s poles

On March 31, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon launched four private astronauts into orbit following Fram2 – SpaceX’s 17th human mission. Ships carrying people fly around the Earth through the poles, something that has never happened in history. The Fram2 crew, led by billionaire and financier Chun Wang, carried out dozens of science experiments on a 3.5-day flight, observing the icy polar region from unprecedented perspectives.

Many satellites have flown over the poles, but NASA and other space agencies typically avoid polar orbits when launching human carriers. One reason is that the Earth’s rotation causes ships to spend more energy to reach this area. Additionally, flying over the poles also exposes astronauts to higher levels of radiation and causes communication challenges.

Pair of European satellites created the first artificial solar eclipse

The Proba-3 mission – consisting of two satellites Coronagraph and Occulter of the European Space Agency (ESA), launched into Earth orbit last December – aims to create the first artificial solar eclipse. On May 23, the duo successfully completed their mission by flying in precise formation: one satellite acted as the Moon blocking the Sun, the other satellite pointed the telescope towards the Sun to take pictures of the corona – the outermost layer of this star’s atmosphere.

Proba-3 allows scientists to study the super-hot corona, which is easier to observe during a total solar eclipse. Observing the corona helps understand phenomena such as the solar wind and coronal eruptions (CMEs), which can disrupt electrical and communication systems on Earth.

China launches a ship to sample Earth’s “fake satellite”.

On May 29, China launched the Thien Wen 2 spacecraft on its first mission to collect asteroid samples. Thien Van 2 has two goals. The first is to collect samples from asteroid 2016 HO3 or Kamo’oalewa, an object that is most likely a fragment from the Moon, becoming a “pseudo-satellite” near the Earth. Flying around and landing on such a small celestial body is complex, making the mission both exciting and risky. After bringing samples back to Earth in 2027, the spacecraft will continue to fly to study 311P/Pan-STARRS, an asteroid with a comet-like dust tail.

Studying and sampling Kamo’oalewa could help astronomers determine whether the object truly originated from the Moon. The Thien Van 2 mission also helps shed light on the risk of damage if an asteroid hits Earth. In addition, data collected from the mission could be useful for research on solar system bodies such as Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and the asteroid belt.

The Starship rocket successfully tested twice

Starship, a reusable launch system built by SpaceX, performed five test flights this year. The first three flights encountered many problems with at least one of the two rocket stages damaged. However, the two most recent flights took place in August and October and were successful. In both missions, the Super Heavy’s lower thruster returned to Earth and landed precisely in the Gulf of Mexico. The Starship upper stage flew into space, deployed a simulated version of the Starlink satellite and landed in the Indian Ocean.

Starship is over 120 meters tall and is the largest and most powerful rocket in history. This giant rocket is being developed to take humans to the Moon and Mars, but still needs to overcome many challenges before officially going into operation. For example, it needs to reach orbit and demonstrate the capability to refuel the upper stage in space, which is essential for all lunar and Mars missions.

China’s first emergency rescue of astronauts

The Shenzhou 20 crew, working on the Thien Cung space station since April 24 and scheduled to return to Earth on November 5, had to postpone their flight schedule when they discovered a small crack in the window of the capsule due to collision with space debris. They had to wait another 9 days, then “repatriate” safely by another means – the Shenzhou 21 ship, docking at Thien Cung station on October 31.

This puts the Shenzhou 21 crew in a precarious situation because there is no ship left to fly back to if an incident occurs on the station. Luckily they didn’t have to wait long. On November 25, China successfully launched the unmanned Shenzhou 22 ship to Thien Cung to serve as a “lifeboat”, and brought them back when completing the mission next year. The rescue operation attracted great attention when it demonstrated for the first time China’s emergency ship launching capabilities.

The New Glenn reusable rocket lands for the first time

On November 13, the first stage of the New Glenn rocket landed vertically on the Jacklyn ship in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time, making Blue Origin the second company in history to recover a rocket during an actual flight, after SpaceX. New Glenn also completed the flight’s main mission of delivering two Escapade Mars probes to space for NASA.

New Glenn is a two-stage reusable rocket 98 m high. With the ability to carry 50 tons into low Earth orbit (LEO), it has nearly the power of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket. According to design, the first stage of New Glenn is capable of carrying out at least 25 flights. The new achievement brings this rocket model closer to the goal of implementing large-value transportation contracts for the US Space Force and the US National Reconnaissance Office.

Two Chinese reusable rockets failed to land

On December 3, the 66-meter-high two-stage rocket Zhuque-3 of Chinese company LandSpace took off for the first time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to test its reusability. The rocket successfully reached orbit and about 8 minutes after takeoff, the first stage returned, trying to land at a location 390 km away from Jiuquan. However, this attempt failed when the rocket stage caught fire and crashed onto the edge of the landing pad.

On December 23, the 62-meter-high Long March 12A rocket, designed by the Shanghai Institute of Astronautical Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. While the rocket’s second stage reached its designated orbit, recovery of the first stage for reuse failed.

In recent years, China has launched dozens of rockets to put satellites into orbit but has yet to successfully test reusable rockets, which require a larger booster stage below to return and land. If China masters this technology, it can reduce costs and increase the frequency of rocket launches, making it easier to put satellites into space.