Downrange

● = Terrestrial and o = International terrestrial events in local time; ☾ = Moon, ★ = Space and ☆ = International space events in Hawai’i time unless noted.

2025

 

★ Sep 15 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Cygnus CRS-2 (NG-23), SLC 40, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: 23rd flight of Northrop Grumman uncrewed resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its 22nd flight to ISS under NASA Commercial Resupply Services program.

o Sep 15 — European Space Agency Lunar Science Office at the Human and Robotic Exploration Directorate, Noordwijk, The Netherlands / Online: Finding Regions of Scientific and Operational Interest for a European Lunar Exploration Infrastructure; at ESTEC; 09:00-18:00 CEST.

o Sep 15-17 — Nice Observatory, Nice, France: Binary Asteroids Meeting VI; discussing binary and multiple systems among the NEO, Hungaria, main-belt, Trojan, Centaur and TNO populations; held at Observatoire de la Côte D’Azur.

o Sep 15-17 — European Space Agency, University of Helsinki, Europlanet, Helsinki, Finland: Mercury Laboratory Workshop 2025; 2nd gathering to foster collaboration on study of the planet.

o Sep 15-19 — Novaspace, Paris, France / Online: World Space Business Week; expects 1400+ from 60+ countries; includes Space Innovation Summit Sep 17; at Hôtel du Collectionneur; €660-3600.

● Sep 15 – Oct 22 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Online / Reston VA: Online Short Course: Spacecraft Design, Development and Operations; 12 sessions, US$695-$1595.

o Sep 16 — Moon Village Association, Global Experts Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA), Online / Vienna, Austria: 11th GEGSLA operational meeting; to highlight importance of international cooperation for sustainable utilization of lunar resources; contact gegsla@moonvillageassociation.org.

o Sep 16-18 — ESA, Paris Observatory, et al, Meudon, France: 20 years celebration of the Huygens landing and the Cassini mission’s success; at Salle Cassini.

● Sep 16-19 — Maui Economic Development Board, Maui HI: 26th Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference (AMOS); at Wailea Beach Resort US$950-1,795; virtual US$195-495.

★ Sep 17 — Juno, Perijove 76 / 75th Science Flyby, Jupiter Orbit: NASA craft to perform Jupiter flyby during Perijove 76, its 76th close flyby of Jupiter and 75th science flyby with instruments turned on – to be last flyby of planet before controlled impact into Jupiter clouds.

● Sep 17 — Maryland Space Business Roundtable, Greenbelt MD: 24th Annual Fall Reception and Lecture at the National Air and Space Museum.

● Sep 18 — AIAA, Commercial Space Federation, Space Force Association, Space Generation Advisory Council, Washington DC: Submissions Due: 2026 ASCEND Conference; to be held May 19-21.

o Sep 19 — JAXA, Osaka Institute of Technology, Osaka, Japan: JAXA Symposium 2025: Beyond the Moon to the Infinite Universe; officials will brief on H3 launch rocket, HTV-X resupply vehicle,  Martian Moon Exploration project, Hayabusa2, challenges to Japanese astronauts, and more.

★ Sep 21 — MAVEN, Mars Orbit: NASA Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft reaches 11 full years / enters 12th year of operations in Mars orbit after insertion on this day 2014; continuing to study upper atmosphere.

o Sep 22-23 — Launchspace Services, Lausanne, Switzerland: Fundamentals of Space Vehicle Mechanisms; in-person course ahead of ESMATS2025 Conference; Instructor: Bill Purdy, US$795-895.

o Sep 22-24 — International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), Chinese Society of Astronautics (CSA), Shanghai Institute of Space Technology, Shanghai, China: 11th International Conference on Space Technology Innovation: Exploring Lunar New Home.

● Sep 22-25 — LPI, USRA, NASA, University of Texas, Austin TX: Workshop on Tomography of Planetary Materials: X-Rays and Beyond.

★ NET Sep 23 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / IMAP, Carruthers & Follow On L1,  SLC 39A, Kennedy Space Center FL: 2 satellites for NASA Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe to analyze solar wind, Carruthers Geocorona Observatory; NOAA Space Weather Follow On L1.

● Sep 23-24 — NASA, Houston TX: Briefings for media representatives on Artemis II mission; at Johnson Space Center; 10:00 + noon Sep 23, 09:00 Sep 24, CST.

o Sep 23-25 — Space Science Centre (ANGKASA), Institute of Climate Change (IPI) of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Malacca, Malaysia: 9th International Conference on Space Science and Communication (IconSpace 2025).

o Sep 23-25 — REDI Research for Educational Impact, Deakin University, et al, Melbourne, Australia: AstroEdu: Bridging Research and Practice, Astronomy Education 2025.

o Sep 23-25 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), IEEC, IEEE, et al, Barcelona, Spain: 42nd International Communications Satellite Systems Conference (ICSSC) and its Colloquium.

o Sep 24-26 — European Space Agency, EPFL, et al, Lausanne, Switzerland: 21st European Space Mechanisms and Tribology Symposium, ESMATS2025; design, development, testing, production and in-flight experience of spacecraft and payloads.

● Sep 25 — Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC), Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, Online / Laurel MD: Surface Power Focus Group: Lunar Power Applications Across Varying Scales; 11:00-16:00 EDT.

o Sep 25-27 — Space Generation Advisory Congress, IAF, Sydney, Australia: Space Generation Congress 2025.

o Sep 26 — Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) 3rd Observation, Nationwide USA / Global: 1st planetary defense / asteroid deflection test success observed today; DART crashed into minor-planet moon Dimorphos of asteroid Didymos on this day in 2022 shortening Dimorphos’ orbital period.

● Sep 26 — NASA, Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Online / Atlanta GA: Abstracts Due: 2025 LSIC Fall Meeting; to be held Nov 5-6 at Georgia Institute of Technology.

o Sep 26-28 — United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs, International Astronautical Federation, Sydney, Australia: UNOOSA Workshop: Resilient Coasts, Resilient Earth: Innovative Space Solutions for Coastal Resilience Emergency Management.

o Sep 27 — The Astronomical League, Global: Fall Astronomy Day; astronomical societies, planetariums, museums, observatories sponsoring public viewing sessions, presentations, workshops.

☆ Sep 28 — Astrosat, 650-km Near Equatorial LEO: ISRO first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory reaches 10th full year / begins its 11th year in space today, launched 2015.

o Sep 28 — International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), Sydney, Australia: IAA Academy Day 2025.

o Sep 28 — Indo-Pacific Space & Earth Network, IAF, Sydney, Australia: The QUAD Industry Networking Series; IAF Adjacent Event; for business discussions re space, technology, etc., followed by Five Nations Partner Forum and Welcome Reception.

o Sep 28 – Oct 1 — Robotic Telescopes Student Research and Education Conference (RTSRE), Hobart, Australia: Robotic Telescopes in Education Conference; at University of Tasmania, opening reception first evening.

★ NET Sep 29 — Blue Origin, Launch New Glenn / Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE), LC 36A, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Pair of smallsats for Mars orbit to measure interaction of magnetosphere and solar wind.

● Sep 29 – Oct 2 — NOIRLab, National Science Foundation, Tucson AZ: The Solar System in Context; main topics include habitability, active asteroids; at University of Arizona.

o Sep 29 – Oct 3 — International Astronautical Federation, Space Industry Association of Australia, Australian Space Agency, New South Wales Government, Sydney, Australia: 76th International Astronautical Congress: Sustainable Space – Resilient Earth; >4,500 delegates expected; Jeff Bezos to be given World Space Award.

o Sep 29 – Oct 3 — International Institute of Space Law (IISL), Space Court Foundation, Sydney, Australia: International Finals of IISL Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition; >100 law schools from five global regions participate; held concurrently with 76th IAC.

● Oct 1 — National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 67th Observation, USA: Nationwide celebrations and educational events occur to observe NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) becoming NASA on this day in 1958.

o Oct 1 — Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, et al, Oslo, Norway: Nominations Due: 2026 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics; US$1,000,000 award; astrophysics categories include planetary science, 9 others.

o Oct 2-5 — International Astronomical Union Office for Astronomy Outreach, International Planetarium Society, Akashi Municipal Planetarium, et al, Online / Multiple International Locations: 100-hour marathon of astronomy events and activities; dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the 1st planetarium.

o Oct 4 — International Observe the Moon Night Organization, Global: International Observe the Moon Night 2025; for observation, appreciation, understanding of the Moon / its connection to planetary science / exploration; 1st quarter Moon is best time due to shallow angle of sunlight that illuminates details.

o Oct 4 — Australian Space Agency, IAF, et al, Sydney, Australia: SAS Sydney Space Architecture Symposium; IAC Adjacent Event; includes live demo of lunar habitat construction; at UNSW Kensington.

● Oct 4-5 — NASA and space agencies of Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Europe, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain and Turkey, 2800+ Local Events / Online: 2025 NASA Space Apps Challenge; 48-hour hackathon in French and English for space enthusiasts, programmers, designers, engineers, entrepreneurs and students.

o Oct 4-10 — World Space Week Association, Global: World Space Week 2025; celebrates international contributions of space science for betterment of the human condition; Oct 4 is 68th observation of 1st Space mission Sputnik One launched by Soviet Union 1957; Oct 10 is 58th observation of Outer Space Treaty going into effect 1967.

● Oct 5-6 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Space Society, The Planetary Society, et al, Washington DC: The Day of Action to Save NASA Science; at United States Capitol Building.

o Oct 6-7 — Hub Exhibitions, Dubai, UAE: Space-Comm Expo Dubai 2025: Accelerating the Commercial Future of Space.

o Oct 6-10 — Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, IAA-CSIC, Byurakan, Armenia: Astronomical Heritage of the Middle East 2 (AHME-2); 2nd international conference on astronomy in culture, astrochemistry, astrobiology, astrogeology, archaeoastronomy; at BAO Astrophysical Observatory.

o Oct 7-8 — New Zealand Space Agency, Rocket Lab, IAF, et al, Christchurch, New Zealand: New Zealand Aerospace Summit 2025: Open Skies; IAC Adjacent Event; at Te Pae Convention Centre.

● Oct 9-11 — The Mars Society, University of Southern California, Los Angeles CA: 2025 International Mars Society Convention; theme for this 28th year is Mars: The Time has Come.

● Oct 12-15 — Interstellar Research Group (IRG), Austin TX: 9th Interstellar Symposium (IRG 2025): Distant Worlds, Neighboring Opportunities.

o Oct 13-19 — SXSW Sydney 2025, IAF, Sydney, Australia: SXSW Sydney Conference; IAC Adjacent Event; with 1,200 attendees from 40+ countries; includes Innovation Expo.

☆ Oct 14 — Chinese H-alpha Solar Explorer (CHASE), 517-km SSO: First solar observatory for China known as CHASE or Xihe / 羲和 reaches 4th full year / enters 5th year in space since launching on this day via Long March 2D in 2021.

● Oct 15 — Maryland Space Business Roundtable, Greenbelt MD: MSBR Luncheon: Topic / Speaker TBA.

☆ Oct 17 — INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL), LEO: Detecting some of the most energetic radiation in space, ESA, NASA, Roscosmos spacecraft enters 23 full years / enters 24th of operations (despite loss of its thrusters); launched 2002, expected to run out of fuel early 2020s and fall to Earth Feb 2029.

● Oct 17 — Stanford on the Moon (SOM) Alumni Club, Stanford CA: 2025 SOM Conference; at Varian Physics Building Room PAB 102-103, during Stanford Reunion Homecoming Weekend.

● Oct 18-19 – Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Family Overnight; tent-camp by Falcon 9 rocket or Independence shuttle replica; STEM activities; US$80.

★ Oct 19 — Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), HEO: NASA spacecraft mapping boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space reaches 17 full years / enters 18th year in space; launched on this day 2008.

☆ Oct 19 — ExoMars 2016 Orbiter, Mars Orbit: ESA and Roscosmos spacecraft reaches 9 full years / enters 10th years at Mars, launched 2016; craft continues collecting data on atmosphere, deployed Schiaparelli demonstration lander 19 Oct 2016 (unsuccessful).

● Oct 19-22 — Geological Society of America, San Antonio TX: GSA Connects 2025: From Earth to the Cosmos: Geoscience Beyond Our Planet; looks at planetary bodies in Solar System & beyond, including ISRU uses for future human habitation on other worlds.

☆ Oct 20 — BepiColombo, Mercury Trajectory: European Space Agency / JAXA Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (dubbed Mio ‘waterway or fairway’) reach 7 full years / enter 8th year in space today, launched 2018; expected to reach Mercury polar orbit in Nov 2026 to map planet, investigate magnetosphere.

o Oct 20-22 — World Summit on Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Science, Spaceland, Dubai, United Arab Emirates: 3rd Edition of the World Summit on Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Science (WSAASS-2025).

● Oct 21 — American Museum of Natural History, NYC NY: Family Party; entertaining and hands-on educational activities; Galaxy package US$25,000 for 30 tickets.

o Oct 22-23 — Secure World Foundation, Centre National D’études Spatiales (CNES), Government of France, Paris, France: 7th Summit for Space Sustainability.

● Oct 23-25 — Earthlight Foundation, Austin TX: New Worlds 2025 and Space Cowboy Ball; space entrepreneurs, artists, engineers, dreamers, Orson Scott Card, Robert Zubrin, Dyland Taylor, Frank White, et al; US$599-799; at AT&T Conference Center.

● Oct 23-25 — XPrize Foundation, Peter Diamandis, Malibu CA: Visioneering; meet the teams currently competing for an X-Prize and help choose a winner, learn about breakthrough technology and solutions.

★ Oct 24 — Mars Odyssey, Mars Orbit: NASA spacecraft reaches 24 full years / begins 25th year in orbit around Mars today, holds record for longest-surviving continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth; launched 2001.

● Oct 25-26 — Federal Business Council, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), et al, Kennedy Space Center FL: SmallSat Education Conference; with keynote speaker Charles Bolden.

★ Oct 26 — STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) A & B, Heliocentric Orbit: NASA craft imaging Sun and solar phenomena reach 19 full years / enter 20th year in space today; launched 2006.

● Oct 27-29 — American Astronautical Society, Huntsville AL: The 2025 von Braun Space Exploration Symposium; 18th annual event for networking and collaboration; at The University of Alabama.

o Oct 27-29 — British Interplanetary Society, London, United Kingdom: Reinventing Space Conference: The Rapidly Changing Context of Global Space.

● Oct 28-30 — Lunar Exploration Analysis Group, Laurel MD: Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group; at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory; registration required, no fee.

★ NET Nov — Blue Origin, Launch New Glenn / Blue Moon Pathfinder, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: First lunar lander from Blue Origin to launch to Moon South Pole region with payloads including NASA Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS).

o NET Nov — Moon Village Association (MVA), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: MVA 9th Annual Workshop and Symposium.

☆ Nov 2 — International Space Station, ~405-km LEO: Today marks 25 full years / start to 26th year of continuous Human occupation of ISS; first component Zarya launched Nov 20, 1998, occupation began Nov 2, 2000.

o Nov 2-8 — Association of Space Explorers, São Paulo, Brazil: 36th Planetary Congress of the ASE.

o Nov 3-7 — Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation, Nicosia, Cyprus: 6th Symposium of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR): Space Exploration 2025: A Symposium on Humanity’s Challenges and Celestial Solutions.

● Nov 3-7 — University of Central Florida, National Space Society, Orlando FL: UCF Space Week; includes Space Settlement Summit 2025.

● Nov 5-6 — NASA, Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Atlanta GA: 2025 LSIC Fall Meeting; at Georgia Institute of Technology.

● Nov 6-10 — Academy for the Relentless Exploration of Space (ARES), El Paso TX: Earth and Space Experience for Educators; astrogeology, Spaceport America tour, et al with Kirby Runyon, Mark Wagner.

o Nov 11-13 — International Astronomical Union, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan: 2025 Middle East and Africa Regional IAU Meeting (MEARIM7).

● Nov 12 — Maryland Space Business Roundtable, Greenbelt MD: MSBR Luncheon: Topic / Speaker TBA.

● Nov 12-14 — University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Honolulu HI / Online: 2nd Lunar Polar Volatiles Conference; special session on Artemis mission; at Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach.

★ Nov 13 — Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE), Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit / Cislunar Space: NASA 12-U CubeSat Capstone acting as a pathfinder for planned International Lunar Gateway reaches 3rd full year / enters 4th year around Moon today since launch in 2022.

☾ Nov 16 — Artemis 1 2nd Observation, USA / Global: As USA and its international partners work toward Artemis 2 crewed mission around the Moon, Space Launch System and Artemis 1 mission is observed today for its successful uncrewed flight Nov 16 – Dec 11, 2022.

☆ Nov 17 — Leonid Meteor Shower Peak: appearing to radiate from constellation Leo, Leonids are associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle; can produce 10+ meteors per hour, 1 day after Full Moon.

o Nov 17-21 — United Arab Emirates Space Agency, et al, Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Dubai Airshow; “Space” is one of 9 conference tracks.

o Nov 18-21 — IAU Office of Astronomy for Education, International Astronomical Union, Online / Heidelberg, Germany: 7th Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education; Webinar for astronomy educators in primary and secondary schools.

o Nov 19-21 — Space Energy Insights, Space Frontier Foundation, Ilago, TBC, France: International Conference on Energy from Space 2025: Energy for Security.

★ Nov 20 — Swift, LEO: Observing gamma-ray bursts & their afterglows in gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet, optical wavelengths from LEO, multiwavelength craft reaches 21 full years / begins 22nd year of operations in space today, launched in 2004.

o Nov 20 — Shenzhou-1 26th Observation, China / Zhongguo: As China and international partners plan permanently occupied International Lunar Research Station and next-gen rockets for Solar System Complete exploration, observation of 1999 launch of Shenzhou-1, first experimental crewed spacecraft honored today.

o Nov 26-28 — Space Faculty, World Robot Olympiad, Aramco, Singapore: Expand Space: A deep tech playground to spark your passion to profession; introducing youth to artificial intelligence, virtual reality, space, robotics; and WRO 2025: International Final; follows regional robot competitions worldwide, for many ages and skill levels.

☆ Nov 27 — Roscosmos, Launch Soyuz 2.1a / Progress MS-28, Baikonur Cosmodrome 31/6, Kazakhstan: Will take crew to the International Space Station: cosmonauts Commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergey Mikayev and Oleg Platonov, and NASA Astronaut Christopher Williams (a medical physicist on his 1st space flight); from spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan.

● Nov 30 — Icarus Planetary Science Journal, Science Direct, Online / San Diego CA: Submissions due for special edition: Carbon in Planetary Environments – Sources and Evolution.

☆ NET Dec — ISRO, Launch LVM-3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3) / Gaganyaan G1, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Uncrewed 1st test flight for Gaganyaan orbital mission, will carry fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster); 1st crewed flight could occur 2026.

★ NET Dec — SpaceX, Launch Falcon Heavy / Astrobotic Griffin Lander / Astrolab FLIP Rover, LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center FL: Astrobotic Griffin to attempt Nobile Crater / Moon South Pole landing with Astrolab FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform (FLIP) rover; originally slated to carry with NASA Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER).

☾ Dec 1 — Chang’E-5, Mons Rümker, Oceanus Procellarum, Moon (43° N, 51.9° W): CE-5 lander as part of sample return mission reaches 5 full years / enters 6th year on lunar surface, having landed on this day in 2020, with sample return launching from the Moon 2 days later.

☆ Dec 2 — Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), LEO: ESA / NASA craft studying sun, reaches 29 full years / begins 30th year of operations in space today, launched 1995; discovered more than 3,000 comets.

● Dec 2-4 — Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC), Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, Laurel MD: 6th Annual Cislunar Security Conference (2025).

☆ Dec 3 — Hayabusa 2, Asteroid 98943 Torifune Trajectory: JAXA Hayabusa 2 reaches 11 full years / enters 12th full year in space today; launched Dec 3, 2014, returned samples to Earth in 2020, and now in extended mission to flyby asteroid 98943 Torifune in 2026 and rendezvous with 1998 KY26 in 2031.

o Dec 3-4 — UK Space Agency, UK Space Trade Associations, Space Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, Glasgow, Scotland: Space-Comm Expo 2025: Accelerating the Commercial Future of Space.

● Dec 8-12 — Arizona State University, Tempe AZ: 33rd Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics.

☆ Dec 10 — XMM-Newton, Very Eccentric Elliptical LEO: ESA craft studying X-ray emissions, star-forming regions, galaxy clusters, environment of supermassive black holes, mapping dark matter, reaches 26 full years / begins 27th year in space today, launched 1999.

● Dec 10 — Maryland Space Business Roundtable, Greenbelt MD: MSBR Luncheon: Topic / Speaker TBA.

★ Dec 14 — NEOWISE, LEO: NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer spacecraft (redubbed Near-Earth Object WISE – NEOWISE) reaches 16 full years / begins 17th year in space; launched 2009, went into hibernation February 17, 2011 and reactivated August 21, 2013.

☾ Dec 14 — Chang’E-3 Lander, Guang Han Gong, Sinus Iridum / Mare Imbrium, 44.12°N 19.51°W, Moon Surface: Spacecraft reaches 12 full years / enters 13th year on Moon surface, landed 2013.

● Dec 15-19 — American Geophysical Union (AGU), New Orleans LA: AGU 2025 Annual Meeting; features Session P046-To the Moon: A New Era of Lunar Science, Session P030-Planetary Magnetism.

☾ Dec 16 — Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter ‘Danuri’, Moon Orbit: KARI first lunar spacecraft Danuri reaches 3rd full year / enters 4th year in lunar orbit today, having launched in 2022.

☆ Dec 19 — Gaia, Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange Point: ESA spacecraft reaches 12 full years / enters 13th year in space today; now in extended mission phase working to map more than 1 billion stars; launched in 2013.

☆ Dec 19 — Roscosmos, Launch Soyuz 2.1a / Progress MS-33 (94P), Baikonur Cosmodrome 31/6, Kazakhstan: Resupply mission to the International Space Station from spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan.

● Dec 20-21 – Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Family Overnight; tent-camp by Falcon 9 rocket or Independence shuttle replica; STEM activities; US$80.

☆ Dec 25 — Mars Express, Mars Orbit: ESA spacecraft reaches 22 full years / enters 23rd year in Mars orbit today; will continue to study Mars atmosphere & climate, planet structure, mineralogy, geology, and to search for traces of water; launched June 2, 2003.

☆ Dec 25 — James Webb Space Telescope, Sun–Earth L2: NASA (STSci) / ESA / CSA infrared astronomy telescope reaches 4th full year / enters 5th year in space since launching on this day via Ariane 5 ECA rocket in 2021.

2026

★ NET 2026 — James Webb Space Telescope, Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange Point: Planned end to 5-year primary mission; spacecraft expected to operate for at least another 5 years.

☆ NET 2026 — CNSA, Launch Long March 10A / First Test Flight, Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): First flight of China Long March 10A rocket, precursor to Long March 10 intended to support crewed / cargo missions to the Moon with 2 launches, one for crew spacecraft Mengzhou and one for lander Lanyue that will rendezvous in lunar orbit; developed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) for contractor CASC.

☆ NET 2026 — ISRO, Launch GSLV MK3/ Gaganyaan G2, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: India planning for 1st crewed flight of Gaganyaan to LEO ~400 km.

★ NET 2026 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Intuitive Machines IM-3 Nova-C Lander, LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center FL: Under US$77.5M NASA CLPS contract, IM 3rd mission using Nova-C, to Reiner Gamma ‘lunar swirl’ 7.5°N, 59.0°W with 4 NASA payloads: Lunar Vertex, CADRE, MoonLIGHT retroreflector, LUSEM; various private payloads.

★ NET 2026 — Launch Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Mission 2 & Elytra Dark orbital transfer vehicle, TBD: Firefly Aerospace second lunar lander mission under $112M NASA CLPS to land on lunar far side with NASA payloads (RadPC, LuSEE-Night telescope, JPL User Terminal (UT), Australia’s Seismic Payload for Interplanetary Discovery, Exploration, and Research (SPIDER) by Fleet Space Technologies) and commercial payloads; will deploy to lunar orbit ESA Lunar Pathfinder satellite and Elytra Dark for communications relay.

☆ NET 2026 — Rocket Lab, Launch Electron / Venus probe, Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand: Independent mission to Venus developed by Rocket Lab and MIT to send tiny probe flying in atmosphere for 5 minutes at altitude 48-60 km.

☆ NET 2026 — JAXA, Launch Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), Tanegashima Space Center, Japan: Japan planning to launch its first Mars mission consisting of sample return probe; to conduct observations of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, collect Phobos sample, return to Earth.

★ NET 2026 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon Heavy / Astrobotic Griffin Lander Mission 2, TBD: Astrobotic Griffin planned to carry satellites to cislunar space and take commercial payloads to landing near Moon South Pole.

★ NET 2026 — United Launch Alliance, Boeing, Launch Atlas V / Starliner, SLC-41, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Unknown whether crewed or not.

● Jan 4-8 — American Astronomical Society, Phoenix AZ: 247th Meeting of the AAS; at Phoenix Convention Center.

o Jan 5-9 — University of Hong Kong, Laboratory for Space Research (LSR), Hong Kong, China: 7th China-Chile Bilateral Astronomy Conference (CCBC2026).

● Jan 12-16 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Orlando FL: AIAA SciTech Forum.

● Jan 17-19 — Nichelle Nichols Foundation, Huntsville AL: Nichelle Nichols Space Camp; offers space, aviation and robotics program for girls ages 14-18, inspiring young women to aim for the stars.

● Jan 17-22 — Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), San Francisco CA: SPIE Photonics West; subconference on Optical Power Delivery, key to development of Space Solar Power.

o Jan 25-30 — ESA, INAF, Les Houches, France: Winter school at Les Houches: The exploration of Jupiter and its moons by ESA’s JUICE mission; covers main topics of the JUICE mission.

● Jan 27 — Apollo 1 59th Observation, Nationwide USA: Increasing space awareness and education, remembrances and events honor three Apollo 1 crew members lost during a launch pad test: Command Pilot Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Senior Pilot Edward H. White and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee.

● Jan 28 — Challenger STS-51L 40th Observation, Nationwide USA: Educational and ceremonial events held worldwide to advance space technology / education and honor 7 crew members killed in Shuttle accident 28 January 1986: Commander Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, Astronaut Christa McAuliffe (the 1st ‘Teacher in Space’), Mission Specialists Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnick and Ronald E. McNair, along with Payload Specialist Gregory B. Jarvis.

o Jan 30 – Feb 4 — American Astronautical Society, Breckenridge CO: 48th Annual AAS Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference; at Beaver Run Resort; US$225-780.

● Jan 31 — Explorer 1 68th Observation, Nationwide USA: American Artemis Return to the Moon For Good is underway, Mars attention and planning advancing, Outer Solar System search for life ongoing, and Interstellar craft on outgoing trajectories while first USA satellite launch on this day in 1958 ‘Explorer 1’ is celebrated and remembered.

★ NET Feb — NASA, Launch SLS / Orion / Artemis 2, LC-39B, Kennedy Space Center FL: Planned 1st fully-crewed Orion Moon flight to last 10-14 days with 3 USA and 1 Canada Astronaut: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen; mission will also deploy numerous CubeSats.

● Feb 1 — Columbia STS-107 23rd Observation, Nationwide USA: Annual international conferences and events take place to further space exploration efforts in remembrance of Columbia 7 loss: Commander Richard D. Husband, Mission Specialist Laurel Clark, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon (the ‘1st Israeli astronaut’) and Astronauts: William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, David M. Brown and Kalpana Chawla (the ‘1st Indian American astronaut’ and ‘1st Indian woman in space’).

o Feb 2-6 — International Association of Geomorphologists, ANZGG, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand: 11th IAG International Conference on Geomorphology; includes track on planetary geomorphology for all Solar System bodies and exoplanets.

● Feb 15 — National Space Society, Online / Washington DC: Business Plan Submissions Due: Space Settlement In Our Lifetime Prize 2026; must address vision of Martine Rothblatt.

o Feb 17 — Lunar New Year, China (Zhongguo) / Worldwide: Lunar New Year 2026 Spring Festival marks the Year of the Horse.

● Feb 18-19 — International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), University of Texas at Austin, et al, Austin TX: 12th Annual Space Traffic Management Conference: Operational Assurance for All; at The University of Texas at Austin.

● Feb 24-25 — Beyond Earth Institute, Washington DC: Beyond Earth Symposium 2026: From Space Habitat to Space Town: Creating a Clear Pathway; at American University Washington College of Law.

o Mar 2-6 — International Astronomical Union (IAU), Online: IAU Symposium 404: Advancing the Search for Technosignatures.

● Mar 16-20 — Universities Space Research Association, Lunar and Planetary Institute, The Woodlands TX / Online: 57th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference; at Waterway Marriott.

o Mar 26-27 — International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), Milan, Italy: 2nd IAA Moon Farside Protection Symposium.

● Apr 10 — Pōwehi Day, Statewide Hawai’i: Recognized proclamation to celebrate the first-ever imaged black hole M87* by Event Horizon Telescope collaboration involving Mauna Kea Observatories, given the Hawaiian name Pōwehi; imaged in April 2017 and released Apr 10, 2019.

o Apr 12 — 65th Commemoration of Human Spaceflight / Cosmonautics Day, Worldwide: Celebrating Yuri Gagarin of Russia, the 1st human to orbit Earth on Vostok 1 spacecraft in 1961; the flight lasted 108 minutes at 27,400 kph and 327 km above Earth.

● Apr 12 — 45th Observation of STS-1 Columbia Flight, Nationwide USA: Commemorations occur today in honor of 1st ever NASA Space Shuttle Columbia carrying John Young and pilot Robert Crippen around Earth on 54.5-hour mission in 1981.

o Apr 12 — 25th Yuri’s Night Celebrations, Global: Yuri’s Night 2026; annual worldwide party to celebrate Yuri Gagarin’s 1st flight into space and promote space exploration.

● Apr 13-16 — Texas A&M University, American Society of Civil Engineers, College Station TX: ASCE Earth & Space 2026 Conference.

☆ Apr 24 — Hubble Space Telescope, LEO: Spacecraft with 2.4-meter diameter main telescope begins 37th year in space today, launched Apr 24, 1990; could continue operations until 2040s.

o Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China: National Day of Space Flight 2026; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.

☆ Apr 29 — Tiangong Space Station (TSS), ~390-km LEO: Tianhe, first component of China TSS reaches 5 full years / enters 6th year in Space today, having launched on this day in 2021.

● Apr 29 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Washington DC: After AIAA ‘Honorary Fellows’ and ‘Fellows’ Induction Ceremony, AIAA Awards Gala; 17:30-22:00 ET.

★ NET May — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 Block 5/ Haven-1, TBD, Cape Canaveral FL: First commercial space station, built by Vast Space, planned for insertion into LEO.

o May 1 — International Space Day 2026, Worldwide: First Friday in May, events and presentations to promote STEM education and inspire people to continue the work of Space explorers; originally began as ‘National Space Day’ in 1997 by Lockheed Martin Corp.

o May 4-8 — International Astronomical Union, Hong Kong, China: 2026 Asia-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting (APRIM 2026).

o May 18-22 — International Astronomical Union (IAU), Brno, Czech Republic: IAU Symposium 405: Traversing the Galactic Center in Space and Time.

● May 19-21 — AIAA, Commercial Space Federation, Space Force Association, Space Generation Advisory Council, Washington DC: 2026 ASCEND Conference: Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration and New Discovery.

● May 25 — 65th Observation John F. Kennedy 1st Moon Speech, USA / Worldwide: NASA Artemis program to land 1st Woman and Person of Color on Moon is well underway as today is recognized for Kennedy declaring to congress “I believe that this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth” (1961).

o NET May 25-29 — International Astronomical Union (IAU), Turku, Finland: IAU Symposium 406: Future landscape of astrophysical transients: novel approaches in theory and observations.

o Jun 2-4 — International Astronautical Federation, Rwanda Space Agency (RSA), Kigali, Rwanda: IAF Global Space Conference on Climate Change (GLOC 2026): Uniting Space and Earth for Climate Resilience.

o Jun 2-4 — South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, ZA Space, GMN Fairs, Hauweng, Advanced Business Events, Pretoria, South Africa: International Space Summit Africa; expecting 300 exhibitors, 500 companies, 25 countries, 3,000 B2B (business to business) meetings.

● Jun 4-7 — National Space Society (NSS), McLean VA: International Space Development Conference 2026 (ISDC26): Space For Us All; at Hilton McLean Tysons Corner.

☆ Jun 5 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Today marks 4th full year / starts 5th year of continuous Human occupation of TSS; Shenzhou 14 three-member crew launched on this day in 2022, beginning occupation.

o Jun 16-17 — Islamic New Year 1448 AH, Worldwide: New Year 1 Muharram (1st day) to begin at sunset on Jun 16; if young New Moon is not visible the beginning of the month and year may be delayed.

★ Jun 27 — Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) P1, Moon Orbit: NASA ARTEMIS P1 craft reaches 15 full years / enters 16th year in lunar orbit since 2011; 1 of 5 satellites launched 2007 to study Earth magnetosphere.

☆ NET Jul — Hayabusa 2, Asteroid 98943 Torifune Flyby: JAXA Hayabusa 2 mission to flyby S-type asteroid 98943 Torifune this month and rendezvous with asteroid 1998 KY26 in 2031, after returning samples from (162173) Ryugu to Earth in 2020.

☆ Jul 4 — Tianwen-2, Kamo’oalewa (2016 HO3) Rendezvous: China asteroid sample return mission, to arrive at Kamo’oalewa today to collect at least 100 grams via anchoring-drilling, hover-sampling and touch-and-go techniques; planned to depart Apr 24, 2027 and return to Earth Nov 29, 2027.

★ Jul 5 — Space Age Publishing Company (SPC), Global / Inter-Global: SPC, publisher of Space Calendar and Lunar Enterprise Daily, observes 50 years since inception and looks towards the next 50 years of publishing-broadcasting from Earth, the surface of the Moon, and perhaps far beyond with its affiliated International Lunar Observatory Association and other enterprises.

o Jul 6-11 — International Astronomical Union (IAU), Paris, France: IAU Symposium 407: Origins 2026.

★ Jul 17 — Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) P2, Moon Orbit: NASA ARTEMIS P2 craft reaches 15 full years / enters 16th year in lunar orbit since 2011; 1 of 5 satellites launched 2007 to study Earth magnetosphere.

☾ Jul 20 — Apollo 11 57th Observation, Nationwide USA / Global: First Human mission to land on Moon in 1969; 1st steps by humans on another World taken by Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin; Command Module piloted by Michael Collins.

● Jul 20 — Viking 1 Mars Lander 50th Observation, Nationwide USA / Global: First USA spacecraft to successfully land on another planet; originally scheduled for July 4, landing was delayed until this day in 1976 due to rough landing site.

☾ Jul 20 — International Moon Day / Space Exploration Day, Global: Celebrating the 1st people walking on the Moon / another celestial body – 5th year in which International Moon Day is a recognized / endorsed declaration by the United Nations.

● Aug 1-6 — Utah State University, Logan UT: 40th annual Small Satellite Conference.

o Aug 1-9 — Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), Italy National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), Florence, Italy: 46th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) and Associated Events (COSPAR 2026).

★ Aug 12 — Parker Solar Probe, Heliocentric Orbit: On Dec 24, 2024, NASA craft came within ~6.16M km of the Sun, inside orbit of Mercury, ~7 times closer than any prior spacecraft, traveling faster than any other human-made object, ~692,000 km/hr; reaches 8th full year / enters 9th year in Space today; launched Aug 12, 2018.

o Aug 17-21 — International Astronomical Union (IAU), Liege, Belgium: IAU Symposium 408: Unraveling the joint lives of Stars and Exoplanets.

☆ NET Sep — JUICE, Jupiter Trajectory: ESA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) expected to perform second flyby of Earth this month, arriving at Jupiter in 2031.

☆ NET Sep — ESA, Launch Ariane 6-2 / PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO), Launch Area 4, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana: array of 26 cameras in Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange Point will look for signs of planets in habitable zones of stars.

★ NET Oct — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / APEX 1.0 Lunar Lander Mission 1, KSC FL: Lunar lander built by ispace, Draper (mission lead) and Karman Space & Defense under $73M NASA CLPS to land near Schrödinger Basin, Moon South Pole region with NASA payloads (two seismometers, a drill, a probe, a magnetic sounder, LuSEE-Light telescope) and commercial payloads.

o Oct 5-9 — International Astronautical Federation, Republic of Türkiye, Turkish Space Agency, et al, Antalya, Turkey: 77th International Astronautical Congress; NEST Congress & Exhibition Center.

o Oct 17 — International Observe the Moon Night Organization, Global: International Observe the Moon Night 2026; encouraging observation, appreciation, understanding of the Moon and its connection to planetary science & exploration; 1st quarter Moon is considered the best time to observe the Moon due to shallow angle of sunlight hitting surface and illuminating details.

● Oct 25-30 — American Astronomical Society Division of Planetary Sciences, Spokane WA: AAS DPS 2026 Meeting.

☆ NET Nov — BepiColombo, Hermocentric Orbit Insertion at Mercury, Mercury Orbit: European Space Agency / JAXA Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) expected to reach Mercury, achieve polar orbit and spacecraft separation; will map planet, investigate magnetosphere.

☆ NET Nov — CNSA, Launch Long March 5 / Chang’E-7, Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): CE-7 planned to land at Moon South Pole to survey environment and resources with Relay Satellite, Orbiter, Lander (Rashid-2 from UAE), Rover, Mini-Flying Probe; next, CE-8 could be last robotic mission before landing Humans on the Moon.

★ NET Nov — SpaceX, Launch Starship / Venturi Astrolab FLEX LTV, Starbase, Boca Chica TX: Under NASA Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) Services contract, and carrying commercial payloads, Astrolab (working with Axiom Space and Odyssey Space Research) full-scale Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover, with payload capacity up to 1,500 kg, aiming to land at 1 of 9 Artemis 3 selected sites and operate on surface for 6 years; launch window 2 years.

☆ Nov 2 — International Space Station, ~405-km LEO: Today marks 26 full years / start to 27th year of continuous Human occupation of ISS; first component Zarya launched Nov 20, 1998, occupation began Nov 2, 2000.

o Nov 2-6 — International Astronomical Union (IAU), Tokyo, Japan: IAU Symposium 409: Innovative Research and Techniques in Astronomy Outreach.

o Nov 22-27 — International Astronomical Union (IAU), Shenzhen, China: IAU Symposium 410: New look at Solar and Stellar Coronae.

o Nov 22-27 — International Astronomical Union (IAU), San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina: IAU Symposium 411: Star Clusters as Guides to Galaxies: Synergies and New Developments from Upcoming Surveys.

o Nov 23-27 — International Astronomical Union (IAU), Mysuru, India: IAU Symposium 412: Hub Filament Structures in Star Formation.

● Dec 7-11 — American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco CA: AGU 2026 Annual Meeting.

2027

☆ NET 2027 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Luna-26, Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia: Roscosmos Luna-Resurs O (Luna-Resurs Orbiter) to launch to polar orbit with 14 instruments for 1 year at 60-80 km altitude for lunar mapping.

☆ NET 2027 — ISRO, Launch GSLV MK3 / Chandrayaan-4, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Planned launch of Chandrayaan-4 mission for Moon landing and sample return up to 3 kg (6.6 lb) from near Statio Shiv Shakti.

☆ NET 2027 — CNSA, Launch Long March 5 / Xuntian, Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N), China: Launch of Xuntian (Space Sentinel / Chinese Space Station Telescope ‘Touring the Heavens’) to LEO; will co-orbit with Tiangong Space Station, allowing it to dock periodically; 2-meter primary mirror, 2.5 gigapixel camera.

● Jan 10-14 — American Astronomical Society, Salt Lake City UT: 249th Meeting of the AAS; at Salt Palace Convention Center.

● Jan 27 — Apollo 1 60th Observation, Nationwide USA: Increasing space awareness and education, remembrances and events honor three Apollo 1 crew members lost during a launch pad test: Command Pilot Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Senior Pilot Edward H. White and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee.

● Jan 28 — Challenger STS-51L 41st Observation, Nationwide USA: Educational and ceremonial events held worldwide to advance space technology / education and honor 7 crew members killed in Shuttle accident 28 January 1986: Commander Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, Astronaut Christa McAuliffe (the 1st ‘Teacher in Space’), Mission Specialists Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnick and Ronald E. McNair, along with Payload Specialist Gregory B. Jarvis.

● Jan 31 — Explorer 1 69th Observation, Nationwide USA: American Artemis Return to the Moon For Good is underway, Mars attention and planning advancing, Outer Solar System search for life ongoing, and Interstellar craft on outgoing trajectories while first USA satellite launch on this day in 1958 ‘Explorer 1’ is celebrated and remembered.

● Feb 1 — Columbia STS-107 24th Observation, Nationwide USA: Annual international conferences and events take place to further space exploration efforts in remembrance of Columbia 7 loss: Commander Richard D. Husband, Mission Specialist Laurel Clark, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon (the ‘1st Israeli astronaut’) and Astronauts: William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, David M. Brown and Kalpana Chawla (the ‘1st Indian American astronaut’ and ‘1st Indian woman in space’).

o Feb 6 — Lunar New Year, China (Zhongguo) / Worldwide: Lunar New Year 2027 Spring Festival marks the Year of the Goat.

☆ Mar 1 — 241st Galactic Tick Day, Milky Way Galaxy: Highlighting Galaxy awareness by celebrating the Solar System traveling around Milky Way Galaxy Center every ~225 million Earth years, one Galactic Tick happens every 633.7 days; first Tick Day was one Tick after October 2nd, 1608 when the first telescope patent was filed.

● Apr 10 — Pōwehi Day, Statewide Hawai’i: Recognized proclamation to celebrate the first-ever imaged black hole M87* by Event Horizon Telescope collaboration involving Mauna Kea Observatories, given the Hawaiian name Pōwehi; imaged in April 2017 and released Apr 10, 2019.

☆ Apr 24 — Hubble Space Telescope, LEO: Spacecraft with 2.4-meter diameter main telescope begins 38th year in space today, launched Apr 24, 1990; could continue operations until 2040s.

☆ Apr 24 — Tianwen-2, Kamo’oalewa (2016 HO3) Departure: China asteroid sample return mission planned to return to Earth with least 100 grams today and enter Earth atmosphere on Nov 29, 2027.

o Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China: National Day of Space Flight; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.

☆ Apr 29 — Tiangong Space Station (TSS), ~390-km LEO: Tianhe, first component of China TSS reaches 6 full years / enters 7th year in Space today, having launched on this day in 2021.

★ NET Jun — NASA, Launch SLS / Orion / Artemis 3 / Humans to Moon South Pole, LC-39B, Kennedy Space Center FL: Projected for 1st crewed lunar landing since 1972, planning to land 1st Woman & 1st Person of Color on the Moon, and 1st crew to Moon South Pole; 30-day mission to consist of 4 crew at launch, 2 to land on surface for 6.5 days using Human Landing System.

☆ Jun 5 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Today marks 5th full year / starts 6th year of continuous Human occupation of TSS; Shenzhou 14 three-member crew launched on this day in 2022, beginning occupation.

o Jun 6-7 — Islamic New Year 1449 AH, Worldwide: New Year 1 Muharram (1st day) to begin at sunset on Jun 6; if young New Moon is not visible the beginning of the month and year may be delayed.

★ Jun 27 — Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) P1, Moon Orbit: NASA ARTEMIS P1 craft reaches 16 full years / enters 17th year in lunar orbit since 2011; 1 of 5 satellites launched 2007 to study Earth magnetosphere.

★ Jul 17 — Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) P2, Moon Orbit: NASA ARTEMIS P2 craft reaches 16 full years / enters 17th year in lunar orbit since 2011; 1 of 5 satellites launched 2007 to study Earth magnetosphere.

☾ Jul 20 — Apollo 11 58th Observation, Nationwide USA / Global: First Human mission to land on Moon in 1969; 1st steps by humans on another World taken by Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin; Command Module piloted by Michael Collins.

● Jul 20 — Viking 1 Mars Lander 51st Observation, Nationwide USA / Global: First USA spacecraft to successfully land on another planet; originally scheduled for July 4, landing was delayed until this day in 1976 due to rough landing site.

☾ Jul 20 — International Moon Day / Space Exploration Day, Global: Celebrating the 1st people walking on the Moon / another celestial body – 6th year in which International Moon Day is a recognized / endorsed declaration by the United Nations.

o NET Aug 1 — International Astronomical Union, Rome, Italy: XXXIII (33rd) IAU General Assembly.

★ Aug 12 — Lucy, 3548 Eurybates / Queta Satellite Flyby, Jupiter Greek camp at L4: NASA mission to encounter 11 asteroids including a main belt and 7 Jupiter Trojans to come within 1,000 km of 64-km diameter 3548 Eurybates asteroid and its 1-km diameter satellite Queta.

★ Aug 12 — Parker Solar Probe,Heliocentric Orbit: On Dec 24, 2024, NASA craft came within ~6.16M km of the Sun, inside orbit of Mercury, ~7 times closer than any prior spacecraft, traveling faster than any other human-made object, ~692,000 km/hr; reaches 9th full year / enters 10th year in Space today; launched Aug 12, 2018.

★ Sep 15 — Lucy, 15094 Polymele, Jupiter Greek camp at L4: NASA mission to encounter 11 asteroids including a main belt and 7 Jupiter Trojans to come within 415 km of 21-km diameter 15094 Polymele asteroid which may be a collisional fragment and rich in organic tholin compounds.

★ NET Oct — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Intuitive Machines IM-4 Lunar Lander, LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center FL: Under US$116.9M NASA CLPS award, Intuitive Machines 4th mission to deliver 6 NASA payloads totaling ~79 kg, including carry ESA Lunar ice drill ProSEED / PROSPECT sensor array, magnetometer, radiometer to investigate surface composition, instrument to measure how lander affects regolith, retroreflectors as location marker, a yeast experiment; payload capacity for commercial customers is available.

★ Oct 16 — Lucy, Inner Main Asteroid Belt: NASA craft reaches 6 full years in Space, about mid-way through planned 12-year mission to encounter 8 different asteroids.

☆ Nov 2 — International Space Station, ~405-km LEO: Today marks 27 full years / start to 28th year of continuous Human occupation of ISS; first component Zarya launched Nov 20, 1998, occupation began Nov 2, 2000.

☆ Nov 29 — Tianwen-2 Sample Return Craft, Earth Atmosphere Reentry: China asteroid sample return mission planned to return to Earth today with at least 100 grams from Kamo’oalewa (2016 HO3); main Tianwen-2 craft is on trajectory to Main Asteroid Belt to rendezvous with comet 311/P PanSTARRS in 2035.

● Dec 13-17 — American Geophysical Union (AGU), Washington DC: AGU 2027 Annual Meeting.

☆ NET Dec — Hayabusa 2, Earth Flyby: JAXA Hayabusa 2 mission to perform first flyby Earth today on way to rendezvous with asteroid 1998 KY26 in 2031, after returning samples from (162173) Ryugu to Earth in 2020 and flying by asteroid 98943 Torifune in 2026.

2028

☆ NET 2028 — International Space Station, ~405-km LEO: Standard funding of International Space Station may end this year from partner Russia; mission extension to at least 2030 from other partners is expected; future goals and scientific, engineering, utilization, education potential to be determined.

☆ NET 2028 — CNSA, Launch Long March 5 / Chang’E-8, Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): CE-8 planned to land at Moon South Pole and conduct in-situ resource utilization experiments with lander, Pakistan SUPARCO rover, robot for supporting international lunar base buildout.

☆ NET 2028 — CNSA, Launch Tianwen-3 Mars Sample Return Mission, TBD, China: China expects to launch sample return mission to Mars by this date, to deliver samples to Earth by 2031; focus is on astrobiology.

☆ NET 2028 — Galactic Energy, Launch Gushenxing-2 / TBD, Ziyang, Sichuan Province, China: Initial flight by private company of rocket using superconducting maglev technology from electromagnetic launch testing platform; goal: twice the payload at fraction of cost.

★ NET 2028 — Firefly Aerospace, Launch Vehicle TBD / Blue Ghost Mission 3, TBD: Under $179.6M NASA CLPS award, to take 6 payloads to Gruithuisen Domes, 36.3° N, 319.8° E, for radio-wave observations, neutron measurements, photovoltaic investigation, regolith sampling, Heimdall camera imaging, Lunar-VISE exploration.

☆ NET 2028 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Luna-27, Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia: Roscosmos Luna-Resurs 1 lander expected to launch to Moon South Pole to target frozen volatiles in sub surface.

☆ NET 2028 — ISRO, Launch Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) Soorya / Bharatiya Antariksh Space Station Module 1, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Planned launch of first module for space station Bharatiya Antariksh Station, BAS-1.

o Jan 26 — Lunar New Year, China (Zhongguo) / Worldwide: Lunar New Year 2028 Spring Festival marks the Year of the Monkey.

● Jan 27 — Apollo 1 61st Observation, Nationwide USA: Increasing space awareness and education, remembrances and events honor three Apollo 1 crew members lost during a launch pad test: Command Pilot Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Senior Pilot Edward H. White and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee.

● Jan 28 — Challenger STS-51L 42ndObservation, Nationwide USA: Educational and ceremonial events held worldwide to advance space technology / education and honor 7 crew members killed in Shuttle accident 28 January 1986: Commander Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, Astronaut Christa McAuliffe (the 1st ‘Teacher in Space’), Mission Specialists Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnick and Ronald E. McNair, along with Payload Specialist Gregory B. Jarvis.

● Jan 31 — Explorer 1 70th Observation, Nationwide USA: American Artemis Return to the Moon For Good is underway, Mars attention and planning advancing, Outer Solar System search for life ongoing, and Interstellar craft on continued trajectories while first USA satellite launch on this day in 1958 ‘Explorer 1’ is celebrated and remembered.

● Feb 1 — Columbia STS-107 25th Observation, Nationwide USA: Annual international conferences and events take place to further space exploration efforts in remembrance of Columbia 7 loss: Commander Richard D. Husband, Mission Specialist Laurel Clark, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon (the ‘1st Israeli astronaut’) and Astronauts: William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, David M. Brown and Kalpana Chawla (the ‘1st Indian American astronaut’ and ‘1st Indian woman in space’).

☆ Mar 29 — ISRO, Launch Shukrayaan-1 Mission, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India: Planning to launch India first mission to Venus to study the surface and atmosphere of Venus; planned to enter Venusian orbit 19 July 2028.

☆ NET Apr — BepiColombo, Mercury Orbit: European Space Agency / JAXA Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter nominal mission ends, 5.82 Mercury years after orbit insertion; potential extended mission and plans TBD.

● Apr 10 — Pōwehi Day, Statewide Hawai’i: Recognized proclamation to celebrate the first-ever imaged black hole M87* by Event Horizon Telescope collaboration involving Mauna Kea Observatories, given the Hawaiian name Pōwehi; imaged in April 2017 and released Apr 10, 2019.

★ Apr 18 — Lucy, 11351 Leucus Flyby, Jupiter Greek camp at L4: NASA mission to encounter 11 asteroids including a main belt and 7 Jupiter Trojans to come within 1,000 km of 34-km diameter 11351 Leucus asteroid.

o Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China: National Day of Space Flight; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.

☆ Apr 29 — Tiangong Space Station (TSS), ~390-km LEO: Tianhe, first component of China TSS reaches 7 full years / enters 8th year in Space today, having launched on this day in 2021.

★ NET Jun — NASA, Near-Earth Object Surveyor space telescope (NEO Surveyor) to be read for launch no later than this date.

☆ NET Jun — Hayabusa 2, Earth Flyby: JAXA Hayabusa 2 mission to perform second flyby Earth today on way to rendezvous with asteroid 1998 KY26 in 2031, after returning samples from (162173) Ryugu to Earth in 2020 and flying by asteroid 98943 Torifune in 2026.

☆ Jun 5 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Today marks 6th full year / starts 7th year of continuous Human occupation of TSS; Shenzhou 14 three-member crew launched on this day in 2022, beginning occupation.

● Jun 11-15 — American Astronomical Society, Madison WI: 252nd Meeting of the AAS; at Monona Terrace.

★ Jun 27 — Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) P1, Moon Orbit: NASA ARTEMIS P1 craft reaches 17 full years / enters 18th year in lunar orbit since 2011; 1 of 5 satellites launched 2007 to study Earth magnetosphere.

★ Jul 17 — Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) P2, Moon Orbit: NASA ARTEMIS P2 craft reaches 17 full years / enters 18th year in lunar orbit since 2011; 1 of 5 satellites launched 2007 to study Earth magnetosphere.

☾ Jul 20 — Apollo 11 59th Observation, Nationwide USA / Global: First Human mission to land on Moon in 1969; 1st steps by humans on another World taken by Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin; Command Module piloted by Michael Collins.

● Jul 20 — Viking 1 Mars Lander 52nd Observation, Nationwide USA / Global: First USA spacecraft to successfully land on another planet; originally scheduled for July 4, landing was delayed until this day in 1976 due to rough landing site.

☾ Jul 20 — International Moon Day / Space Exploration Day, Global: Celebrating the 1st people walking on the Moon / another celestial body – 7th year in which International Moon Day is a recognized / endorsed declaration by the United Nations.

☆ NET Aug — Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), Return to Earth: Japan mission with Phobos sample to begin return to Earth Aug 2028, arriving by July 2029 to deliver Sample Return Capsule.

★ Aug 12 — Parker Solar Probe, Heliocentric Orbit: On Dec 24, 2024, NASA craft came within ~6.16M km of the Sun, inside orbit of Mercury, ~7 times closer than any prior spacecraft, traveling faster than any other human-made object, ~692,000 km/hr; reaches 10th full year / enters 11th year in Space today; launched Aug 12, 2018.

★ NET Sep — NASA, Launch SLS / Orion / Artemis 4, LC-39B, Kennedy Space Center FL: Artemis SLS on 4th flight / 3rd crewed mission lasting 30-days.

☆ Nov 2 — International Space Station, ~405-km LEO: Today marks 28 full years / start to 29th year of continuous Human occupation of ISS; first component Zarya launched Nov 20, 1998, occupation began Nov 2, 2000.

★ Nov 11 — Lucy, 21900 Orus Flyby, Jupiter Greek camp at L4: NASA mission to encounter 11 asteroids including a main belt and 7 Jupiter Trojans to come within 1,000 km of 51-km diameter 21900 Orus asteroid (which may be a possible binary).

☆ Nov 24 — 242nd Galactic Tick Day, Milky Way Galaxy: Highlighting Galaxy awareness by celebrating the Solar System traveling around Milky Way Galaxy Center every ~225 million Earth years, one Galactic Tick happens every 633.7 days; first Tick Day was one Tick after October 2nd, 1608 when the first telescope patent was filed.

☆ NET Dec — ISRO, Launch GSLV MK3 / Chandrayaan-5 Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX), Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Planned launch of Chandrayaan-5 joint ISRO and JAXA mission to explore permanently shadowed regions near Moon South Pole, landing on elevated ridge of Shackleton Crater ~89.45°S, 222.85°E.

● Dec 11-15 — American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Diego CA: AGU 2028 Annual Meeting.

2029

☆ NET 2029 — ISRO, Launch Soorya / Human Moon Mission, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Potential date for India 1st crewed mission to cislunar space.

☆ NET 2029 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Luna-28, Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia: Roscosmos Luna-Resurs 2 expected to launch to Moon South Pole for return sample mission.

☆ NET 2029 — JAXA, Launch HRV (HTV Return Vehicle) / Human Mission, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan: Japan plans to launch JAXA Astronauts to space this year.

☆ NET 2029 — CNSA, Launch Jupiter Spacecraft, Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): China planning to launch first probe to Jupiter this year.

☆ NET 2029 — CNSA, Launch Solar Polar Orbit Observatory, TBD, China: Expected launch of a spacecraft that enters a high-inclination orbit around the Sun to observe its poles, via a gravity-assist maneuver at Jupiter.

☆ NET 2029 — Euclid, Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange Point: Scheduled end of European Space Agency Euclid mission to measure accelerated expansion of Universe, aid in understanding of dark energy / dark matter; future plans to be determined.

★ NET 2029 — Psyche Mission, 16 Psyche Orbit: NASA, JPL Caltech mission to investigate all-metal asteroid Psyche to insert itself into asteroid orbit today if launching 2026.

☆ NET Jan — JUICE, Jupiter Trajectory: ESA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) expected to perform 3rd and final flyby of Earth this month, arriving at Jupiter in 2031.

☆ NET Feb — INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL), LEO: ESA / NASA / Roscosmos INTEGRAL space telescope will burn up upon Earth atmosphere reentry this month due to natural orbit decay after running out of fuel reserves / end of science mission in early 2020s; launched Oct 2002.

o Feb 13 — Lunar New Year, China (Zhongguo) / Worldwide: Lunar New Year 2029 Spring Festival marks the Year of the Rooster.

☆ NET Apr — BepiColombo, Mercury Orbit: European Space Agency / JAXA Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter extended mission ends, 9.98 Mercury years after orbit insertion; potential extension of mission or de-orbit plans TBD.

● Apr 10 — Pōwehi Day, Statewide Hawai’i: Recognized proclamation to celebrate the first-ever imaged black hole M87* by Event Horizon Telescope collaboration involving Mauna Kea Observatories, given the Hawaiian name Pōwehi; imaged in April 2017 and released Apr 10, 2019.

☆ Apr 13 — Asteroid 99942 Apophis, Earth Flyby: On this day, which happens to be a Friday, 370-meter diameter asteroid previously known as 2004 MN4 will narrowly miss Earth by about 30,000 km.

★ Apr 21 — OSIRIS-APEX, Asteroid 99942 Apophis Rendezvous: OSIRIS-APophis EXplorer is planned rendezvous with and orbit asteroid Apophis for 9 months following the asteroid’s close Earth approach which occurred April 13, 2029; craft previously known as Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) which returned samples from asteroid Bennu to Earth on Sep 24, 2023.

o Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China: National Day of Space Flight; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.

☆ Jun 5 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Today marks 7th full year / starts 8th year of continuous Human occupation of TSS; Shenzhou 14 three-member crew launched on this day in 2022, beginning occupation.

★ Jun 27 — Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) P1, Moon Orbit: NASA ARTEMIS P1 craft reaches 18 full years / enters 19th year in lunar orbit since 2011; 1 of 5 satellites launched 2007 to study Earth magnetosphere.

★ Jul 17 — Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) P2, Moon Orbit: NASA ARTEMIS P2 craft reaches 18 full years / enters 19th year in lunar orbit since 2011; 1 of 5 satellites launched 2007 to study Earth magnetosphere.

☆ NET Jul — Chang’E-2, Deep Space: Spacecraft expected to come within 7M km of Earth this year after reaching 300M km apogee.

☆ NET Jul — Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), Earth Flyby: Japan mission with Phobos sample to arrive at Earth this month to deliver Sample Return Capsule.

☾ Jul 20 — Apollo 11 60th Observation, Nationwide USA / Global: First Human mission to land on Moon in 1969; 1st steps by humans on another World taken by Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin; Command Module piloted by Michael Collins.

● Jul 20 — Viking 1 Mars Lander 53rd Observation, Nationwide USA / Global: First USA spacecraft to successfully land on another planet; originally scheduled for July 4, landing was delayed until this day in 1976 due to rough landing site.

☾ Jul 20 — International Moon Day / Space Exploration Day, Global: Celebrating the 1st people walking on the Moon / another celestial body – 8th year in which International Moon Day is a recognized / endorsed declaration by the United Nations.

★ Aug 12 — Parker Solar Probe, Heliocentric Orbit: On Dec 24, 2024, NASA craft came within ~6.16M km of the Sun, inside orbit of Mercury, ~7 times closer than any prior spacecraft, traveling faster than any other human-made object, ~692,000 km/hr; reaches 11th full year / enters 12th year in Space today; launched Aug 12, 2018.

☆ NET Oct — JUICE, Jupiter Trajectory: ESA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) expected to perform flyby of asteroid 223 Rosa this month, arriving at Jupiter in 2031.

☆ Nov 2 — International Space Station, ~405-km LEO: Today marks 29 full years / start to 30th year of continuous Human occupation of ISS; first component Zarya launched Nov 20, 1998, occupation began Nov 2, 2000.

2030

☾ NET 2030 — ESA, Moon Surface: Europe plans to build a sustainable Moon Village and work toward Mars missions.

★ NET 2030 — NASA, Launch Human Mars Mission, TBD: Projected date / decade for NASA to send Humans to Mars.

☆ NET 2030 — CNSA, Launch Long March 10 / Human Moon Missions, Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): Tentative date for China crewed spaceflight program (China Manned Space Agency) to have first of its multiple human Moon missions using 2 launches, one for crew spacecraft Mengzhou and one for lander Lanyue that will rendezvous in lunar orbit; developed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) for contractor CASC.

☆ NET 2030 — CNSA, Launch Tianwen-4 Jupiter System Mission, TBD, China: China expects to launch mission to Jovian system by this date.

☆ NET 2030 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Angara A5 / Luna-29, Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia: Roscosmos Luna-Resurs 3 Moon South Pole lander and rover mission goals / landing site TBD, will support future Human base.

☆ NET 2030 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Millimetron (Spektr-M), TBD: Russia to launch space observatory with a diameter of 10 meters to Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange Point to study black holes, formation of stars, planets, galaxies.

● Jan 9-14 — American Astronomical Society, National Harbor MD: 255th Meeting of the AAS; at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.

● Apr 10 — Pōwehi Day, Statewide Hawai’i: Recognized proclamation to celebrate the first-ever imaged black hole M87* by Event Horizon Telescope collaboration involving Mauna Kea Observatories, given the Hawaiian name Pōwehi; imaged in April 2017 and released Apr 10, 2019.

★ Apr 11 — Europa Clipper, Jupiter Orbit Insertion: If launched 10 October 2024, Europa Clipper mission to insert into Jupiter orbit on this day to study Galileo moon Europa through a series of 44 close flybys (25 to 2,700 km).

o Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China: National Day of Space Flight; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.

☆ Jun 5 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Today marks 8th full year / starts 9th year of continuous Human occupation of TSS; Shenzhou 14 three-member crew launched on this day in 2022, beginning occupation.

★ Jun 27 — Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) P1, Moon Orbit: NASA ARTEMIS P1 craft reaches 19 full years / enters 20th year in lunar orbit since 2011; 1 of 5 satellites launched 2007 to study Earth magnetosphere.

★ Jul 17 — Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) P2, Moon Orbit: NASA ARTEMIS P2 craft reaches 19 full years / enters 20th year in lunar orbit since 2011; 1 of 5 satellites launched 2007 to study Earth magnetosphere.

☾ Jul 20 — Apollo 11 61st Observation, Nationwide USA / Global: First Human mission to land on Moon in 1969; 1st steps by humans on another World taken by Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin; Command Module piloted by Michael Collins.

● Jul 20 — Viking 1 Mars Lander 54th Observation, Nationwide USA / Global: First USA spacecraft to successfully land on another planet; originally scheduled for July 4, landing was delayed until this day in 1976 due to rough landing site.

☾ Jul 20 — International Moon Day / Space Exploration Day, Global: Celebrating the 1st people walking on the Moon / another celestial body – 9th year in which International Moon Day is a recognized / endorsed declaration by the United Nations.

★ Aug 12 — Parker Solar Probe, Heliocentric Orbit: On Dec 24, 2024, NASA craft came within ~6.16M km of the Sun, inside orbit of Mercury, ~7 times closer than any prior spacecraft, traveling faster than any other human-made object, ~692,000 km/hr; reaches 12th full year / enters 13th year in Space today; launched Aug 12, 2018.

★ Dec 25 — Lucy, Earth Flyby / Gravity Assist, Jupiter Trojan Camp Trajectory: NASA mission to encounter 11 asteroids including a main belt and 7 Jupiter Trojans to perform Earth flyby / gravity assist today coming within 660 km after reaching Jupiter orbit and returning to the vicinity of the Earth.

2031

★ NET 2031 — ISEE-3 (International Sun-Earth Explorer-3), Heliocentric Orbit: Craft presumably in safe mode, traveling around Sun & predicted to return to vicinity of Earth this year – may be able to reestablish contact; launched August 12, 1978.

☆ NET 2031 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Luna-30, Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia: Roscosmos lander to deliver a reusable cargo delivery spacecraft with supplies for human missions.

☆ NET 2031 — European Space Agency, Launch Ariane 6-4 / Argonaut, Launch Area 4, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana: Argonaut Lunar Descent Element lunar lander built by Thales Alenia Space expected to arrive at the Moon with cargo platform element and lander payload.

o Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China: National Day of Space Flight; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.

☆ Jun 5 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Today marks 9th full year / starts 10th year of continuous Human occupation of TSS; Shenzhou 14 three-member crew launched on this day in 2022, beginning occupation.

☆ NET Jul — Hayabusa 2, Asteroid 1998 KY26 Rendezvous: JAXA Hayabusa 2 mission to rendezvous with asteroid 1998 KY26, after returning samples from (162173) Ryugu to Earth in 2020 and flying by asteroid 98943 Torifune in 2026.

☆ NET Jul — JUICE, Jupiter Insertion: ESA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) expected to reach Jupiter this month if launched April 2023; will perform a flyby of Ganymede 7.5-hours before Jupiter insertion; will spend ~3.5 years studying Jupiter atmosphere and magnetosphere, moons Ganymede, Europa, Callisto and Io with 10 state-of-the-art instruments plus one experiment that uses spacecraft telecommunication system with Earth-based instruments.

★ Aug 12 — Parker Solar Probe, Heliocentric Orbit: On Dec 24, 2024, NASA craft came within ~6.16M km of the Sun, inside orbit of Mercury, ~7 times closer than any prior spacecraft, traveling faster than any other human-made object, ~692,000 km/hr; reaches 13th full year / enters 14th year in Space today; launched Aug 12, 2018.

☆ Aug 20 — 243rd Galactic Tick Day, Milky Way Galaxy: Highlighting Galaxy awareness by celebrating the Solar System traveling around Milky Way Galaxy Center every ~225 million Earth years, one Galactic Tick happens every 633.7 days; first Tick Day was one Tick after October 2nd, 1608 when the first telescope patent was filed.

2032

☆ NET 2032 — KARI, Launch Korea Space Launch Vehicle-2 / Moon Lander & Rover, Naro Space Center, South Jeolla, South Korea: South Korea to launch Moon lander & rover to look for signs of rare minerals on Moon surface.

o Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China: National Day of Space Flight; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.

☆ NET Jul — JUICE, Jupiter Orbit: ESA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) expected to perform flyby of moon Europa this month.

★ Aug 12 — Parker Solar Probe, Heliocentric Orbit: On Dec 24, 2024, NASA craft came within ~6.16M km of the Sun, inside orbit of Mercury, ~7 times closer than any prior spacecraft, traveling faster than any other human-made object, ~692,000 km/hr; reaches 14th full year / enters 15th year in Space today; launched Aug 12, 2018.

☆ Nov 12 — Transit of Mercury: Mercury to pass directly between Earth and Sun; observers see distant planet as small dot gliding slowly across face of Sun; starts Nov 12 at 20:41 HST, ends 01:07 Nov 13.

2033

☆ NET 2033 — CNSA, Launch Long March 9 Test Flight, Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): Tentative date for China to test launch its next-gen rocket intended to carry people and cargo to the Moon.

☆ NET 2033 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Luna-31, Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia: Roscosmos lander to deliver a heavy lunar rover weighing up to 5,000 kg, capable of mining / extracting lunar resources.

☆ NET 2033 — Government of the Republic of Türkiye, Roketsan Inc., Ankara, Türkiye: Türkiye hopes to have space-launch capabilities and more than 20 operational satellites by this date.

★ Mar 3 — Lucy, 617 Patroclus-Menoetius Flyby, Jupiter Trojan camp at L5: NASA mission to come within 1,000 km of 113-km diameter 617 Patroclus and 104-km diameter Menoetius, p-type binary asteroids; Lucy will be in a stable, 6-year orbit between the L4 and L5 — mission extension may be granted.

o Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China: National Day of Space Flight; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.

★ Aug 12 — Parker Solar Probe, Heliocentric Orbit: On Dec 24, 2024, NASA craft came within ~6.16M km of the Sun, inside orbit of Mercury, ~7 times closer than any prior spacecraft, traveling faster than any other human-made object, ~692,000 km/hr; reaches 15th full year / enters 16th year in Space today; launched Aug 12, 2018.

☆ Jun 5 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Today marks 10th full year / starts 11th year of continuous Human occupation of TSS; Shenzhou 14 three-member crew launched on this day in 2022, beginning occupation.

2034

o Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China: National Day of Space Flight; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.

★ Aug 12 — Parker Solar Probe, Heliocentric Orbit: On Dec 24, 2024, NASA craft came within ~6.16M km of the Sun, inside orbit of Mercury, ~7 times closer than any prior spacecraft, traveling faster than any other human-made object, ~692,000 km/hr; reaches 16th full year / enters 17th year in Space today; launched Aug 12, 2018.

☆ NET Dec — JUICE, Ganymede Orbit: ESA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) expected to achieve Ganymede elliptical orbit insertion this month.

2035

☆ NET 2035 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Luna-32, Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia: Roscosmos to deliver heavy modules weighing up to 5,000 kg for the construction of the International Lunar Research Station.

☆ NET 2035 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Luna-33, Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia: Roscosmos orbiter to be used for communication and navigation for Human Moon Missions and lunar base.

☆ NET 2035 — China National Space Agency, Moon Surface: International Lunar Research Station ILRS-5 mission; final mission before human occupation of ILRS will include Lunar-based astronomy and Earth observation capabilities.

☆ NET 2035 — ISRO, Launch Soorya / Launch final Bharatiya Antariksh Space Station Module, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Planned completion of space station Bharatiya Antariksh in LEO.

☆ NET 2035 — JUICE, Ganymede Orbit: ESA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) expected to achieve Ganymede 500-km circular orbit insertion this year.

☆ Jan 24 — Tianwen-2, Comet 311/P PanSTARRS Rendezvous: China asteroid sample return mission, having returned at least 100 grams from Kamo’oalewa (2016 HO3), to orbit comet 311/P PanSTARRS for 1 year.

o Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China: National Day of Space Flight; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.

★ Aug 12 — Parker Solar Probe, Heliocentric Orbit: On Dec 24, 2024, NASA craft came within ~6.16M km of the Sun, inside orbit of Mercury, ~7 times closer than any prior spacecraft, traveling faster than any other human-made object, ~692,000 km/hr; reaches 17th full year / enters 18th year in Space today; launched Aug 12, 2018.

☆ NET Dec — JUICE, Ganymede Orbit: ESA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is planned to be deorbited and impact Ganymede at the end of 2035, having reached Jupiter in 2031.

2036

☾ NET 2036 — China National Space Agency, Moon Surface: International Lunar Research Station; planned to be permanently inhabited by this date.

☆ Apr 13 — Asteroid 99942 Apophis, Earth Flyby: Asteroid, 370 meters in diameter & previously known as 2004 MN4, will make 2nd pass by Earth missing by about 50M km.

o Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China: National Day of Space Flight; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.

★ Aug 12 — Parker Solar Probe, Heliocentric Orbit: On Dec 24, 2024, NASA craft came within ~6.16M km of the Sun, inside orbit of Mercury, ~7 times closer than any prior spacecraft, traveling faster than any other human-made object, ~692,000 km/hr; reaches 18th full year / enters 19th year in Space today; launched Aug 12, 2018.

2040

☆ NET 2040 — Hubble Space Telescope, LEO: Veteran spacecraft with 2.4-meter mirror could continue operations into this decade and beyond; launched April 24, 1990.

★ NET 2040 — New Horizons, Interstellar Space: Spacecraft could continue to operate well into this decade; is predicted to reach 125 AU from Sun and enter interstellar space this year traveling at 46,600 kph; launched Jan 19, 2006.

☆ NET 2040 — ISRO, Launch Soorya / Human Moon Landing, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Plans to continue Moon exploration, with human crew.

☆ NET 2040 — International Space Elevator Consortium, GEO or Apex Station: Space Elevator DEMO-1: First Climb planned for this year taking “cargo to Mars and beyond”.

o Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China: National Day of Space Flight; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.

2045

☆ NET 2045 — KARI, Launch Mars Lander & Rover, Naro Space Center, South Jeolla, South Korea: South Korea hopes to launch and land Mars spacecraft to surface of Red Planet this year.

o Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China: National Day of Space Flight; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.

2046

☆ NET 2046 — CNSA, Launch Uranus Spacecraft, Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): China planning to launch first mission to Uranus this year.

o Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China: National Day of Space Flight; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.

2055

☆ NET 2055 — International Space Elevator Consortium, Earth Space Elevator: Fully operational Space Elevator planned to be open this year taking humans to Mars, Jupiter, and Beyond.

2060

☆ NET 2060 — EC2LIPSE, Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange Point: ISU project EC2LIPSE to explore climate change, create solar radiation management roadmap in Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point with solar shield.

2061

☆ Jul 27 — 1P / Halley’s Comet: Return of Halley’s Comet / closest approach to Sun, 0.59278 AU; comet is ~5×8 kilometers with albedo of 0.03.

2069

★ NET 2069 — NASA, Launch Interstellar Mission to Alpha Centauri, TBD: Planning to send spacecraft to Alpha Centauri system 4.4 LY away to search for life, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the first Moon landing; aiming for craft to travel at a minimum of 10% of the speed of light on a 44-year trip, reaching nearest neighbor Star system by 2113.

2078

★ NET 2078 — Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), LEO: Orbiting ultraviolet space telescope will burn up upon atmospheric reentry this year – 65 years after being decommissioned in 2013.

2084

☆ Nov 10 — Transit of Earth, Moon, Phobos: As seen from the slopes of Elysium Mons on Mars, the Earth, the Moon and Mars moon Phobos to pass directly between Mars and Sun; observers see Moon(s) and Earth as small dots gliding slowly across face of Sun.

2117

☆ NET 2117 — UAE Space Agency, Mars Surface: UAE plans to have city on Mars fit for habitation completed by this year, first development started in 2020 with launch of Hope satellite to Mars.

☆ Dec 11 — Transit of Venus: Venus to pass directly between Earth and Sun; observers see distant planet as small dot gliding slowly across face of Sun.

2125

☆ Dec 8 — Transit of Venus: Venus to pass directly between Earth and Sun; observers see distant planet as small dot gliding slowly across face of Sun.

2123

☾ Jun 9 — Total Eclipse of Moon: Long-duration total lunar eclipse of 106.1 minutes.

2168

☆ Jul 16 — Eclipse of Sun: Longest solar eclipse of the Century at 7 minutes 29 seconds; may be longest eclipse during 10,000-year period from 4000 BC to AD 6000.

2287

☆ Aug 29 — Earth and Mars: Planets reach record-breaking distance for opposition at ~55.69 million km, will appear extra bright in sky.

2391

☆ May 11 — Partial Transit of Mercury: Mercury to pass directly between Earth and Sun; observers see distant planet as small dot gliding slowly across face of Sun.

2600

☆ May 5 — Eclipse of Sun: First total solar eclipse visible in London since 2151.

2650

☆ Sep 3 — Earth / Mars Minimum Distance Reached: Distance between Earth & Mars reaches new minimum at 55,651,582.118 km on this date during perihelion.

2729

☆ Sep 8 — Earth / Mars Minimum Distance Reached: Distance between Earth & Mars reaches new minimum at 55,651,033.122 km on this date during perihelion.

3000

☆ NET Jan — Gamma Cephei Becomes ‘North Star’: Due to precession of the equinoxes, also known as axial precession or lunisolar precession, positions of stars slowly change in both equatorial coordinates & ecliptic longitude; this year Gamma Cephei will enter the North Star position.

42013

★ NET 42013 — Voyager 1, Interstellar Space: NASA spacecraft predicted to come within 1.7 LY of star AC+79 3888, also known as Gliese 445, in the constellation Ursa Minor (the Little Dipper).

★ NET 42013 — Voyager 2, Interstellar Space: NASA spacecraft predicted to come within 11.7 LY (9.7 trillion miles) of the star Ross 248, also known as HH Andromedae or Gliese 905, located 10.3 LY from Earth.

8401976

★ NET May — Laser Geodynamics Satellite 1 (LAGEOS-1), MEO: LAGEOS-1 laser ranging satellite mission, carrying plaque designed by Carl Sagan, predicted to reenter Earth atmosphere close to this date; launched May 4, 1976 to 5,900-km altitude orbit.

1100000000

☆ ~1.1 Billion Years — Solar System: Solar luminosity estimated to increase by 10% by this date, causing all oceans to boil with 70° C mean surface temperature unless Earth orbit is altered by massive astronomical engineering initiative.

2000000000

☆ ~2 Billion Years — Milky Way Galaxy and Large Magellanic Cloud: Observations of LMC suggest it is tightly bound to MWG due to a dark matter halo nearly twice as massive as previously thought implying it will collide at ~2 billion years.

4500000000 (~22 Galactic Years)

☆ 4.5 Billion Years — Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies: Andromeda approaching MWG at 110 km/sec, these 2 largest galaxies in Local Group have 50/50 chance to swoop past each other about this time when Andromeda will become tidally stretched and Milky Way becomes warped.

5000000000

☆ 5 Billion Years — Solar System: The Sun, now about 9.6 billion years old, is predicted to have grown into a red giant star by this point, and have expanded more than a hundred times larger than its current size, while experiencing an intense mass loss through a very strong stellar wind; it will engulf Mercury and Venus (and possibly Earth).

7000000000 (~30 Galactic Years)

☆ 7 Billion Years — Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies: If merger of Galaxies occurs, the 2 central supermassive black holes of MWG and Andromeda should converge near center of newly forming ‘Milkomeda’ or ‘Milkdromeda’ Galaxy.

☆ 7 Billion Years — Solar System: The Sun, now about 11.6 billion years old, is predicted to collapse into a white dwarf star about the size of Earth.

10300000000 (~45.7 Galactic Years)

☆ 10.3 Billion Years — Milkomeda / Milkdromeda Galaxy: If merger of MWG and Andromeda occurs, it is predicted to be nearly complete around this date forming a giant elliptical, large lenticular or super spiral galaxy; simulations indicate whatever remains of our Solar System might be brought near center & ejected entirely out of Galaxy.