Infrastructure
Up to 14 Large Rockets and Tiny Competitors Are Poised for Launch in 2024
Space leaders in 2023 pondered a lack of launch vehicles to lift anticipated swarms of satellites to orbit. But 2024 could bring relief.
Led by Sharp Uptick in Commercial Demand and U.S. Space Launches, All-time Records Topple for Attempts and Successful Space Flights in 2023
In what was the busiest year of the Space Age, 2023 set records with 223 launch attempts and 212 successful launches. A sharp uptick in commercial space launches drove much of the increase, with the highest number of launches coming from the United States.
As Experts Debate Leap Seconds, Universal Time Tangle Grows in Importance
Time, the measurement that science still has difficulty explaining, has allowed everything from transatlantic exploration to space travel and now is the fabric that holds together financial institutions, supply chains and the internet. But if you counted down the closing seconds of 2023 with New Year’s revelers, you were almost certainly wrong.
Axiom-3 Private Mission Brings New Nation, Science to the ISS
The Axiom-3 private mission launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on Jan. 18, 2024, one day later than initially expected. The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule is scheduled to dock with the ISS as early as 9:19 a.m. UTC on Saturday.
Facing Safety, Budget Concerns, NASA Delays Artemis Moon Missions
With budget cuts on the horizon and technical hurdles to vault before astronauts return to the Moon, NASA pushed the brakes on its Artemis program launch schedule Tuesday, delaying a planned lunar fly-by mission into 2025 and its planned landing into 2026. The agency cited safety concerns for the delay, including an ongoing investigation into problems with a heatshield, which was damaged when the uncrewed Artemis I capsule re-entered Earth’s atmosphere after a 2022 test flight. The move also comes as congressional negotiators mull slimming the agency’s budget by more than $500 million from its 2023, and $2.2 billion short of NASA’s 2024 budget request.
With Maiden Flight, ULA’s Vulcan Joins 2024’s Stampede to Space
United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan launch vehicle successfully roared aloft Monday on its maiden flight from Florida, carrying lunar payloads and keeping up a blistering pace of spaceflight that could drive 2024 past annual records for payloads sent to space and launches set in 2023. The first eight days of 2024 have seen four launches from the United States, including three by SpaceX, along with missions to orbit from India and China.
Launch Log, 2024
Interested in this year’s global space activity? Keep track of orbital launch trends with our 2024 launch log. Launch data is updated every day during weekdays, excluding U.S. holidays.
Second Starship Test Flies Higher Before Failure
With 33 Raptor engines belching flame, SpaceX’s Starship demonstrated the full power of its main booster, reaching an altitude of 91 miles before the second uncrewed attempt to launch the massive rocket from Boca Chica, Texas, ended when the second stage apparently failed.
ESA’s Euclid Telescope Reveals First Images of the Stars
The European Space Agency released an initial batch of full-color images from its Euclid space telescope, showing the capability of the spacecraft’s 600-megapixel camera, which will be used on Euclid’s planned six-year mission to measure the accelerating expansion of the universe.
Space-based Solar Power Investments Rise, but Infrastructure Remains Daunting
Solar is the most abundant energy resource on Earth. In space, unobscured by Earth’s atmosphere, solar energy is even stronger. Space-based solar power (SBSP) is not a new concept, but the field has seen a rise in research and milestones since 2020.