A Record-Breaking Year for Space Exploration: 2024 and Beyond
The year 2024 was a historic one for space exploration, with a total of 244 successful missions launched into orbit or space—the highest number ever recorded. Space agencies around the world, led by the United States, demonstrated unprecedented determination and innovation, pushing the boundaries of what humanity can achieve in space. This record-breaking year set the stage for an even more ambitious 2025, with dozens of missions already planned. Whether you’re a space enthusiast or just curious about the wonders of the cosmos, 2025 promises to be an exciting year to watch the skies.
January 2025: A Strong Start to the Year
January 2025 kicked off with two notable missions that showcased the collaboration between space agencies and private companies. The first was the Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Mission 1 & Hakuto-R M2 Resilience, launched on January 15 by SpaceX, NASA, and Firefly Aerospace. This uncrewed mission sent Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander to the moon, equipped with 10 NASA instruments designed to study the lunar surface, including navigation data and regolith behavior. Just a day later, on January 16, Blue Origin successfully launched its New Glenn rocket on its inaugural test flight. Despite initial delays due to technical issues, the mission reached orbit successfully, marking a significant milestone for Jeff Bezos’ space venture. The payload included the Blue Ring Pathfinder, which tested communication capabilities from orbit to ground.
February 2025: Challenges and Triumphs
February 2025 saw the Lunar Trailblazer & Nova-C IM-2 mission, launched on February 27 by SpaceX, NASA, and Intuitive Machines. This mission carried the Nova-C IM-2 lunar lander to the moon for its second mission, along with NASA’s PRIME-1 payload, which aimed to analyze materials beneath the lunar surface using a mass spectrometer. However, the Lunar Trailblazer portion of the mission faced a setback when it lost communication with NASA and was declared lost in space. Despite this, the Nova-C IM-2 lander continued its journey, and NASA remains hopeful about reestablishing contact with the Trailblazer.
March 2025: A Month of Exploration and Crewed Missions
March 2025 was a busy month for space exploration, with two major missions taking place. On March 11, SpaceX and NASA launched the SPHEREx and PUNCH missions from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Initially scheduled for late February, the mission was delayed due to technical issues. SPHEREx is a two-year mission that will study the universe in near-infrared and optical light, while PUNCH consists of four suitcase-sized satellites that will monitor the Sun’s corona to predict coronal mass ejections.
Just a few days later, on March 14, SpaceX launched Crew-10, a crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The crew included American astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Russian astronaut Kirill Peskov, and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. This mission marked another successful collaboration between SpaceX, NASA, ROSCOSMOS, and JAXA. Once aboard the ISS, the crew joined astronauts from previous missions, including Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who had been on an extended stay since June 2024.
Later in March, Amazon’s subsidiary Project Kuiper launched its first two satellites as part of a broader plan to deploy 3,276 satellites for broadband internet access. This marks a significant step in the race to provide global internet connectivity from space. Blue Origin also began testing its Blue Moon Pathfinder MK1 lunar lander, a crucial step in its plans to send supplies to the moon in the future.
April 2025 and Beyond: Missions for Science and Exploration
April 2025 saw the Axiom Space Mission 4, which sent four individuals to the ISS for a week-long stay. The crew included retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, Polish engineer Sławosz Uznański, and Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu. This mission highlighted the growing diversity of participants in space exploration and the increasing role of private companies in crewed spaceflight.
In May 2025, Northrop Grumman launched the EWS OD-1 mission, deploying a weather satellite capable of providing critical data for the U.S. military. June 2025 was marked by the USSF-106 mission, which deployed the NTS-3 navigation satellite and NASA’s SunRISE mini-satellites to study solar activity. Additionally, Blue Origin and NASA collaborated on the EscaPADE mission, sending instruments to Mars to study the planet’s magnetosphere and solar wind interactions.
July 2025 and Beyond: Continued Exploration and Scientific Discovery
July 2025 saw the Crew-11 mission, another crewed flight to the ISS, carrying four astronauts to conduct scientific research and relieve the previous crew. In September, Northrop Grumman launched STP-S29A, a Department of Defense mission that deployed 200 kilograms of CubeSats and the STPSat-7, which tracks orbital debris. NASA and SpaceX also launched the IMAP mission, which included the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, the Lunar Trailblazer, and a solar sail called Solar Cruiser. These instruments will study solar winds, lunar surface characteristics, and ultraviolet emissions in Earth’s exosphere.
October 2025: Wrapping Up the Year with Solar Studies
October 2025 closed out the year with the TSIS-2 mission, launched by SpaceX and NASA to measure the Sun’s energy input into Earth. This data will complement decades of solar irradiance measurements, helping scientists better understand the Sun’s impact on our planet. The mission also demonstrated the continued importance of international collaboration and the role of both government agencies and private companies in advancing space exploration.
The Year Ahead: A Look into the Future of Space Exploration
As 2025 comes to a close, the world can look back on a year filled with groundbreaking achievements in space exploration. From lunar landers and crewed missions to solar studies and weather satellites, 2025 has proven that humanity’s interest in space is unwavering. With private companies like Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Amazon’s Project Kuiper leading the charge, the future of space exploration seems brighter than ever. Whether it’s expanding broadband access, studying the Sun, or preparing for human settlements on the moon, the missions of 2025 have set the stage for even greater accomplishments in the years to come.
