In 2024, saw new world records for orbital launch attempts and successful orbital launches for the fourth consecutive year. Notable milestones included the successful maiden launches of the American Vulcan Centaur and China's Gravity-1, and Long March 12 rockets. The European Ariane 6 rocket also conducted its inaugural flight, though it experienced a partial failure. SpaceX advanced its Starship development, with flight test 5 achieving the first landing of its first stage. Additionally, the final launch of a Delta family rocket, a Delta IV Heavy variant, occurred in April.
In September, the private Polaris Dawn mission made history by performing the first commercial spacewalk, during which two crew members exited their Crew Dragon spacecraft. This mission set a new record for the number of individuals—four—simultaneously exposed to the vacuum of space.
Two significant scientific missions were launched in October: NASA's Europa Clipper to Jupiter's moon Europa to look for signs of an ocean under its icy surface and ESA's Hera to the Didymos binary asteroid system that was impacted four years earlier by the DART spacecraft to validate the kinetic impact method of redirecting an asteroid on a trajectory to collide with Earth. On Mars, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter concluded operations in January after completing 72 flights when its rotor blades sustained critical damage.
The year also featured notable lunar missions. CNSA's Chang'e 6 successfully completed the first-ever sample return mission from far side of the Moon. JAXA's SLIM and Intuitive Machines' IM-1 achieved soft landings on the lunar surface; however, both landers tipped over during their final descent, leading to the conclusion of their missions shortly thereafter. With SLIM, Japan became the fifth country to accomplish a soft landing on the Moon.
A record for the most people simultaneously in orbit was set on 11 September, with 19 individuals. This was achieved following the launch of the three-person Soyuz MS-26 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), joining the nine crew members already aboard the ISS, the three crew members of China's Tiangong space station, and the four crew members of Polaris Dawn.
Throughout the year, the ISS hosted long-duration Expedition 70, 71, and 72 missions, as well as two short-term missions: the four-person crew of the privately-operated Axiom Mission 3 (which included Alper Gezeravcı, the first Turkish astronaut) and the Russia's 21st Visiting Expedition (which included Maryna Vasileuskaya, the first Belarusian cosmonaut to reach space, excluding Soviet and Russian citizens of Belarusian origin). Meanwhile, Tiangong was visited by the long-term Shenzhou 18 and 19 missions.
Overview
Astronomy and astrophysics
On New Year's Day at 3:40 UTC marking the first launch of the new year, ISRO launched their XPoSat for studying X-raypolarization. It will serve as a complement to the present IXPE probe of NASA.[1][2][3] Later the ISRO's Aditya-L1 spacecraft launched 5 months previously was inserted into a halo orbit around the Earth-Sun L1 point on 6 January. It will study the solar atmosphere, solar magnetic storms, and their impact on the environment around Earth.
NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity flew its 72nd and last flight on 18 January. Because all four of its rotor blades were damaged, NASA subsequently announced the end of mission for Ingenuity on 25 January.[6][7]
On 7 October, the ESA Hera spacecraft was launched successfully. It will arrive at the asteroid Didymos in 2026 after Mars flyby, where it will study the effects of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test.
NASA's Europa Clipper mission launched on 14 October and will study the Jovian moon Europa while in orbit around Jupiter.
Lunar exploration
Artemis Program
In November, stacking operation begun for the Artemis 2 SLS solid rocket boosters segments.[8] On 5 December, NASA updated the mission timeline, where Artemis 2 was delayed from 2025 September to 2026 April, and Artemis 3 from 2026 September to mid-2027. The delay is mainly attributed to problems involving the heat shield of the Orion spacecraft.[9][10][11]
Peregrine
Peregrine lunar lander was successfully launched on 8 January, but after the launch a propellant leak was detected that precluded any attempt to perform a lunar landing. In the end, the Peregrine spacecraft never left the (highly elliptical) Earth orbit it was injected into by the carrier rocket, and the mission ended ten days later (after one orbit) on 18 January when the spacecraft re-entered the Earth's atmosphere (under control of the mission team) and was destroyed.
SLIM
SLIM achieved the first-ever lunar soft landing for a Japanese spacecraft.[12] It landed on 19 January 2024 at 15:20 UTC, making Japan the 5th country to soft land on the Moon.[13] Although it landed successfully, it landed on its side with the solar panels oriented westwards facing opposite the Sun at the start of lunar day, thereby failing to generate enough power.[14] The lander operated on an internal battery power, which was fully drained that day.[15]
Irrespective of this solar array issue on lander, the two LEV 1 and 2 rovers, deployed during hovering just before final landing worked as expected, with LEV-1 communicating independently to the ground stations.[15] LEV-1 conducted seven hops over 107 minutes on lunar surface. Images taken by LEV-2 show the wrong attitude landing with loss of an engine nozzle during descent and even possible sustained damage to lander's Earth bound antenna, that is not pointed towards Earth.[16] Irrespective of wrong attitude and loss of communication with the lander, the mission was fully successful after confirmation of its primary goal landing within 100 m (330 ft) of its landing spot was already achieved.[17][18][16]
On 29 January, the lander resumed operations after being shut down for a week. JAXA said it re-established contact with the lander and its solar cells were working again after a shift in lighting conditions allowed it to catch sunlight.[19] After that, SLIM was put in sleep mode for impending harsh lunar night. While SLIM was expected to operate only for one lunar daylight period, or 14 Earth days, with its on-board electronics not designed to withstand the −120 °C (−184 °F) nighttime temperatures on the Moon, it managed to survive 3 lunar nights, waking up on 25 February, 27 March and 24 April respectively, sending back more data and images. This feat of surviving lunar night without a radioisotope heater unit was only previously achieved by some landers in the Surveyor program.[20][21][22][23]
Nova-C
IM-1Nova-C Odysseus launched on 15 February 2024 towards the Moon via Falcon 9 on a direct intercept trajectory and later landed in the south polar region of the Moon on 22 February 2024 and became the first successful private lander and the first to do so using cryogenicpropellants. Though it landed successfully, one of the lander's legs broke upon landing and it tilted up on other side, 18° due to landing on a slope, but the lander survived and payloads were functioning as expected.[24]
Just before landing, at approximately 30 m (98 ft) above the lunar surface, the Odysseus lander was planned to eject the EagleCam camera-equipped CubeSat, which would have been dropped onto the lunar surface near the lander, with an impact velocity of about 10 m/s (22 mph). However, due to complications arising from the software patch, it was decided that EagleCam would not be ejected upon landing. It was later ejected on 28 February returning all types of data, except post IM-1 landing images that were the main aim of its mission.[25][26][27][28]
On 13 March, China attempted to launch two spacecrafts, DRO-A and DRO-B, into distant retrograde orbit around the Moon, but the mission failed to reach the strived for orbit, remaining stranded in a highly eliptical low Earth orbit.[31][32] Tracking data appears to show China attempted to salvage the spacecraft and they appear to have succeeded in reaching their desired orbit.[33][34]
On 20 March, China launched its relay satellite, Queqiao-2, to lunar orbit, along with two mini satellites Tiandu 1 and 2. Queqiao-2 will relay communications for the Chang'e 6 (far side of the Moon), Chang'e 7 and Chang'e 8 (Lunar south pole region) spacecrafts. Tiandu 1 and 2 will test technologies for a future lunar navigation and positioning constellation.[35] All the three probes entered lunar orbit successfully on 24 March 2024 (Both were attached to each other and separated in lunar orbit on 3 April 2024).[36][37]
China sent Chang'e 6 on 3 May 2024, which conducted the first lunar sample return from Apollo Basin on the far side of the Moon.[38] This is China's second lunar sample return mission, the first was achieved by Chang'e 5 from the lunar near side four years earlier.[39] It carries several international payloads as well as an un-(pre)announced Chinese mini-rover called Jinchan to conduct infrared spectroscopy of lunar surface and imaged Chang'e 6 lander on lunar surface.[40] The lander-ascender-rover combination was separated from the orbiter and returner before landing on 1 June 2024 at 22:23 UTC. It landed on the Moon's surface on 1 June 2024.[41][42] The ascender was launched back to lunar orbit on 3 June 2024 at 23:38 UTC, carrying samples collected by the lander, and completed rendezvous and docking with the waiting orbiter in lunar orbit. The sample container was transferred to the returner, which landed in Inner Mongolia on 25 June 2024, completing China's lunar far side sample return mission.
Pakistan sent a lunar orbiter called ICUBE-Q along with Chang'e 6. The lander also placed a small national flag of China, made of basalt, a substance that occurs in vast quantities on the Moon's surface, to demonstrate the spirit of in situ resource utilization.[43] After dropping off the return samples for Earth, the Chang'e 6 (CE-6) orbiter was successfully captured by the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point on 9 September 2024.[44]
Future
DARPA provided funding towards a forward looking 10 year lunar architecture proposals. Aimed at creating the beginning stages of a lunar economy the DARPA lunar programs is participated in by many current industry leaders.
Human spaceflight
On 4 February, Russian cosmonautOleg Kononenko broke the world record for the most time spent in space, when he surpassed the previous record of 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 48 seconds held by retired cosmonaut Gennady Padalka.[45] After Kononenko returned on 23 September, the new records stands at 1110 days, 14 hours and 57 minutes.[46]
On 17 December, two Chinese astronauts, Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, completed the longest spacewalk in human history, of 9 hours and 6 minutes, with the assistance of the space station's robotic arms and ground-based scientific personnel, completed tasks such as the installation of space debris protection devices, inspection, and maintenance of external equipment and facilities.[48]
Private human spaceflight and space tourism
SpaceX launched Axiom Mission 3 aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) on 18 January 2024. The successful mission ended with a splashdown on 9 February 2024.
Blue Origin'sNew Shepard also returned to suborbital space tourism launches with the successful NS-25 mission on 19 May. The next mission, NS-26, took place on 29 August and NS-28, that took place on 22 November.[50]
Polaris Dawn, featuring the first commercial spacewalk, launched on September 10 09:23 UTC. On September 11, the spacecraft reached an altitude of 1400 km, which is farther from Earth than any person has been since Apollo 17.[51]
Rocket innovation
The maiden flight of United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur took place on 8 January 2024. Vulcan is the first methane fueled rocket to reach orbit on its first attempt, and the first methane fueled rocket to reach orbit from the US.[52]
China's Orienspace's Gravity-1 rocket completed its successful maiden flight on 11 January 2024, debuting on a new mobile sea platform in the Yellow Sea while breaking records as both the world's largest solid-fuel carrier rocket and China's most powerful commercial launch vehicle to date (as of early 2024).
On 5 March, for the first time due to their fast turnaround of 1 hour 51 minutes between launches, SpaceX launch operations for a mission (in this case, Starlink Group 6-41) coincided with that of a preceding launch (in this case, payload deployment of Transporter-10:(53 payloads SmallSat Rideshare).[53]
On 13 March, the KAIROS rocket from Space One company attempted its maiden flight. The rocket was destroyed in an explosion five seconds after lift-off. No injuries were caused by the explosion.
On 11 April, another test flight of the Russian Angara A5 launched, with the Orion upper stage being used for the first time.[54][55]
On 7 May, Long March 6C flew its successful maiden mission.
SpaceX's Starship launched its fourth integrated flight test (IFT-4) on June 6, 2024. The launch resulted in the successful controlled splashdown of both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship vehicle.[56]
In June, Stoke Space tested its full flow staged combustion cycle (FFSC) engine with a successful hotfire, the test marks only the fourth FFSC engine to have made it far enough in development to reach hotfire.[57]
The maiden launch of Ariane 6 occurred on 9 July, but it was a partial failure as though CubeSats were deployed correctly, but the second stage failed to relight due to an anomaly with an auxiliary power unit.[58][59] The second stage could not be deorbited and payloads studying and testing re-entry could not be deployed.[60]
On 13 October, Starship flew its fifth orbital flight test during which, for the first time, the first stage booster was recovered. This makes Super Heavy the second ever orbital class rocket booster to be recovered by the use of retropropulsive landing (first being the Falcon 9 booster).
On 30 November, Long March 12 successfully launched on its debut flight. Importantly, the launch also marked the debut of the YF-100K engine that will power the first stage of Long March 10 which is expected to send Chinese astronauts to the Moon before 2030.[61]
The maiden flight of Blue Origin's New Glenn was planned for November.[62] Initial rollout of the vehicle and testing was completed in February[63] and in May Blue Origin planned to conduct additional testing in preparation for launch.[64] On June 12 Blue Origin received the communications license necessary for the flight.[65] The launch was rescheduled for December 2024 or early 2025.
In March, China successfully launched the Queqiao-2 relay satellite mission. The satellite is designed to act as a communication relay between Chang’e missions (including the Chang'e 6) and Earth. The satellite was announced as operational in April.
Sample return mission. Launch happened roughly 48 hours after landing, during which lunar samples were collected.[69] The ascent vehicle rendezvoused and docked with Chang'e 6 orbiter waiting in the lunar orbit and transferred the collected lunar samples to return vehicle for return to Earth.
Partial success; lander touched down successfully, but one of the footpads came to rest on a rock, and the lander leaned over, then toppled on its side. The lander survived the fall, with instrumentation and solar panels oriented upward.[76]
Fourteenth EVA from the Tiangong space station. Tasks included maintenance of the solar panels of the Tianhe core module, which have sustained minor damage caused by impacts of space debris and micrometeoroids; evaluation and analysis of the performance status of the solar panel power generation and also inspection of the status of the space station modules.[80]
The cosmonauts ventured out and released launch locks on the Mini Radar Unit to get it deployed and installed a series of experiments TKK and Kvartz onto Poisk including a monoblock payload adapter and boom and photograph the Russian Segment.The Cosmonauts also repositioned the Plume Measurement Unit, removed an ion radiation probe and jettisoned it, and retrieved the Biorisk canisters for return to earth. The cosmonauts also wiped down the handrails on Nauka and Poisk to check for microbial growth and contamination from the radiator leak and from visiting vehicles and hydrazine from Nauka's arrival.[81][82]
Longest Chinese spacewalk to date. Tasks included installing space debris protection devices and conducting inspections of extravehicular equipment and facilities.[83]
Dyson and Barratt were intended to venture out and retrieve the SASA Antenna and bring it inside, collect samples from the station's hull to look for signs of microbial growth that could be present on the modules either after launch or exposed to space, and prep the LEE A Wrist Joint Replacement Module for installation on an upcoming spacewalk. However, the spacewalk was terminated shortly after depress due to a water leak in the service and cooling umbilical unit on Dyson’s spacesuit.[84]
Testing EVA capability of Dragon and a new suit designed by SpaceX. Isaacman left the capsule for 7 minutes and 56 seconds followed by Gillis, who left the capsule for 7 minutes and 15 seconds. The other two crew members were exposed to the vacuum of space in the capsule, but did not leave it. First all-private crew spacewalk with commercially developed hardware, procedures, and the EVA suit. New record for most people exposed to the vacuum of space at a time.[86]
The two astronauts completed the longest spacewalk in human history with the assistance of the space station's robotic arms and ground-based scientific personnel, completed tasks such as the installation of space debris protection devices, inspection, and maintenance of external equipment and facilities.[87]
The cosmonauts ventured outside and installed an x-ray telescope on plain 5 of the Zvezda Service Module, jettisoned an ion radiation probe, retrieved Biorisk, TEST, and two exposure experiments on Zvezda and Poisk, and rewired Zvezda and replaced two patch panels which were showing signs of degraded insulation, electronics, and frayed wiring. The task to relocate the ERA control panel was moved to another spacewalk because of time and because of a late start. [88][89]
Energetic fragmentation event; Spacecraft was part of a family of spacecraft that all have a design flaw in the battery assembly which makes them vulnerable to explosion; likely caused by passivisation process as the satellite was designed before space debris mitigation practices were enacted. [98]
Orbital launch statistics
By country
For the purposes of this section, the yearly tally of orbital launches by country assigns each flight to the country of origin of the rocket, not to the launch services provider or the spaceport. For example, Electron rockets launched from the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand are counted under the United States because Electron is an American rocket. For a launch attempt to be considered orbital it must be trying to achieve a positive perigee. For this reason the fourth and fifth flight tests of Starship are not included in the orbital statistics for 2024. Launches from the Moon are not included in the statistics.
For the purposes of this section, the yearly tally of suborbital launches by country assigns each flight to the country of origin of the rocket, not to the launch services provider or the spaceport. Flights intended to fly below 80 km (50 mi) are omitted.
^"Galactic Legacy Archive". Arch Mission Foundation - Preserving humanity forever, in space and on Earth. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
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