From a record-breaking number of launches to the first private spacewalk, 2024 was a landmark year in space exploration. Highlights included significant progress with SpaceX's Starship, Boeing’s notable setbacks, and key advancements in lunar exploration. What lies ahead for the coming year?
The year 2024 marked another record-breaking milestone in human space activity, with 253 successful orbital launches, surpassing 211 in 2023 and 178 in 2022. The failure rate also dropped significantly, with six failures and two partial failures compared to 11 in the previous year.
SpaceX solidified its dominance as the leading space power of the year, achieving a remarkable 134 successful orbital launches—accounting for more than half of all global launches. The majority of these launches utilized Falcon 9 rockets, complemented by two Falcon Heavy missions. Notably, 89 of these launches were dedicated to expanding SpaceX's Starlink communications network and deploying additional satellites into orbit.
China ranked second with 65 successful launches, encompassing both public and private endeavors. The United States (excluding SpaceX) followed with 21 launches, while Russia took fourth place with 17. Japan and India each recorded five successful launches, Iran completed four, and the European Union managed only two fully successful launches, with an additional launch classified as a "partial success."
A record-breaking 134 successful launches in a single year. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, March 2024. Photo: SpaceX
The Year of the Starship
SpaceX's colossal spacecraft, poised to revolutionize the spaceflight market, made significant strides in 2024 with four test flights, though it has not yet achieved full operational readiness. After the first two test flights in 2023 ended with the spacecraft exploding—one shortly after launch and the other after reaching space—the third test flight in March 2024 marked a turning point. Starship successfully reached space and operated there but burned and exploded upon re-entry into the atmosphere. The fourth test in June demonstrated further progress, with the spacecraft surviving re-entry. The fifth test in October reaffirmed this achievement, and a major milestone was reached when the booster rocket landed as planned on the launch tower. During the sixth test in November, the company had to forgo the booster's landing maneuver, but the spacecraft performed well, successfully executing a landing maneuver over the Indian Ocean, paving the way for future land-based landings.
Despite this progress, it is worth noting that Starship spacecraft have yet to achieve orbit around Earth. While they have traveled far beyond the boundary of space, their trajectory has been akin to that of a ballistic missile, falling back to Earth without requiring additional engine burns. In future tests, the spacecraft will need to ignite its engines in space to reach orbit, perform maneuvers there, and successfully land. Additionally, SpaceX must demonstrate a rendezvous between two Starships to enable in-space refueling—a critical step toward using Starship as a lunar lander or for realizing the ambitious vision of Mars missions set forth by the company’s founder, Elon Musk.
Significant progress, but major challenges remain. Starship's launch during the sixth test flight, November 2024. Photo courtesy of SpaceX.
The Year of the Moon
Plans to renew human exploration of the Moon faced setbacks in 2024, as NASA announced anticipated delays in the Artemis program timeline. The Artemis 2 mission, a crewed flight around the Moon without a landing, has been officially postponed from September 2025 to April 2026, while the first crewed lunar landing under Artemis 3 is now tentatively scheduled for spring 2027. Key factors contributing to these delays include issues with the heat shield of the Orion spacecraft and slower-than-expected progress in the development of SpaceX’s Starship, which is intended to serve as the lunar lander for the first crewed missions. However, even these revised dates may prove overly optimistic under the current schedule. Adding to the uncertainty, the upcoming U.S. presidential transition this month could bring significant changes to the crewed Moon flight program.
In contrast, 2024 saw several significant advancements in uncrewed lunar missions. In January, Japan became the fifth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon. While the SLIM lander tipped over upon landing, it successfully completed most of its mission objectives and exceeded its expected operational lifetime. In February, the American company Intuitive Machines achieved a milestone as the first private entity to land a spacecraft on the Moon. Despite the "Odysseus" lander sustaining a broken leg, it accomplished its mission. In June, China successfully completed the Chang'e 6 mission, bringing to Earth the first-ever lunar soil samples from the Moon’s far side.
There were also cancellations in uncrewed lunar missions, as NASA decided to shelve the planned launch of the VIPER rover by Astrobotic. NASA had funded the mission as part of the CLPS program, which supports uncrewed lunar missions as part of the Artemis framework. However, after numerous delays and significant budget overruns, the agency announced the cancellation of the project.
Standing on the Moon, albeit with a broken leg. The Odysseus lander by Intuitive Machines, the first private spacecraft to successfully land on the Moon. Photo: Intuitive Machines
A Year of Private Space Ventures
The year 2024 saw notable progress in private space activity, highlighted by the Polaris Dawn mission in September. Four private astronauts flew aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, funded by billionaire pilot Jared Isaacman, who also served as the mission commander. Although privately financed, the mission was conducted as a fully professional operation, with extensive crew training and the execution of scientific experiments.
The spacecraft reached an altitude of 1,400 kilometers, making it the farthest crewed flight from Earth outside of lunar missions. Isaacman and crew member Sarah Gillis became the first private astronauts to perform a spacewalk—exiting the spacecraft in their suits, though in this case, only partially. Their spacewalk, conducted at an altitude of 750 kilometers, was also the farthest ever performed outside a lunar mission. The Polaris program has two more private missions planned, one of which involves the Starship spacecraft. However, their future remains uncertain after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Isaacman as next NASA administrator.
Another private mission was Axiom-3, during which a crew of four private astronauts traveled to the International Space Station in February aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, as part of Axiom Space's initiative to build a private space station. . As part of this mission, pilot Alper Gezeravcı became Turkey’s first representative in space.
Additionally, 2024 saw five commercial suborbital tourism flights. Virgin Galactic conducted two flights, thus completing its spaceplane operations and shifting focus to developing a next-generation tourist spacecraft. Meanwhile Blue Origin completed three commercial spaceflights.
A historic private spacewalk during a record-breaking mission. Isaacman outside the Dragon spacecraft during the Polaris Dawn mission. Photo: SpaceX
Across the Solar System
In January, the Ingenuity helicopter completed its mission after operating on Mars for two and a half years. As the first aircraft to fly outside Earth without rocket propulsion, Ingenuity landed on Mars with the Perseverance rover in early 2021 and performed its maiden flight shortly thereafter. Initially designed for just five demonstration flights, the helicopter accomplished an impressive 72 flights before being decommissioned at the start of the year after one of its rotor blades broke during landing. NASA has announced plans to continue using it for ground data collection. Meanwhile, Perseverance and the veteran Curiosity rover continue their work on Mars, with Curiosity marking an impressive 12 Earth years of operation on the neighboring planet.
However, NASA decided to abandon its future plan to return Martian soil samples to Earth, deeming the proposed mission to retrieve and transport samples collected and stored by Perseverance too costly. Instead, NASA invited private companies to submit proposals for their own missions with more reasonable budgets and timelines.
In October, NASA launched the Europa Clipper mission to explore Europa, one of Jupiter's largest moons, and evaluate whether its subsurface ocean, likely concealed beneath a thick icy crust, could support life. The Israeli company Aktar contributed to the development of one of the mission's scientific instruments. Europa Clipper is expected to arrive in the Jupiter system in 2030.
Earlier in the year, the European Space Agency launched the Hera mission, a follow-up to the planetary defense DART mission, which successfully altered an asteroid's trajectory in 2022. Hera is set to enter orbit around the binary asteroid system of Didymos and Dimorphos in about two years, closely examining surface changes on Dimorphos caused by the collision that shifted its path.
In the final week of 2024, NASA's Parker Solar Probe achieved another milestone, making the closest-ever approach to the Sun, passing just 6.1 million kilometers from its surface. The spacecraft, which studies phenomena such as solar wind and solar storms, endured temperatures of approximately 1,000 degrees Celsius during its historic pass. Parker also set a new speed record for a human-made object, reaching over 690,000 km/h.
Designed for five flights but achieved 72. The Mars helicopter Ingenuity during one of its flights. Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
Rocket Milestones
The year 2024 saw the maiden launches of several new rockets. In November, China successfully conducted the maiden launch of the Long March 12, a medium-sized rocket designed for satellite launches. This mission also marked the inaugural test of the YF-100K engine, which China plans to utilize in larger rockets, including those for crewed lunar missions. In May, China successfully launched the Long March 6C for the first time, a slightly smaller variant of the Long March 6, also designed for satellite launches.
In January, the Chinese company OrienSpace launched its new Gravity 1 rocket, designed to deliver medium-sized satellites into Earth orbit. Powered by solid fuel, it was successfully launched from a sea platform,making it the most powerful solid-fuel rocket launched to date.
The American company United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully launched its new heavy-lift rocket, Vulcan Centaur, in January 2024. Equipped with new engines from Blue Origin, the rocket carried the Peregrine spacecraft by Astrobotic, which was intended to be the first private spacecraft to land on the Moon. However, the mission failed early due to a fuel leak.
In July, the long-delayed maiden launch of the European Ariane 6 rocket took place. While the launch itself was successful, the rocket's second-stage engines did not perform as planned, resulting in a partial success. A follow-up mission is still pending.
There were also more severe failures, including those by the Japanese company Space One, which experienced two unsuccessful attempts to launch its new Kairos rocket. The first attempt in March ended in an explosion shortly after liftoff, while the second rocket was deliberately destroyed from the ground after veering off course.
Successful Maiden Launch of Vulcan Centaur, January 2024
Humans in Space
The International Space Station (ISS) continues its operations despite tensions between the United States and Russia over safety concerns, particularly cracks near one of the Russian segment’s docking ports. Not only did activities aboard the station continue, but new records were also set this year.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko returned to Earth in September with a record-breaking 1,111 cumulative days in space across five missions. His latest mission set a new benchmark for the longest continuous stay aboard the ISS, with Kononenko and fellow cosmonaut Nikolai Chub spending 374 days in orbit—three days longer than the previous record set in 2023.
Another milestone was achieved by American astronaut Don Pettit, who arrived at the ISS in September at the age of 69, becoming the oldest astronaut assigned to a long-term mission at the station. However, Pettit is not the oldest person to visit the ISS. Larry Connor, who traveled with Israeli astronaut Eytan Stibbe on the Axiom-1 mission in 2022, was 72 years old when he spent two weeks aboard the station.
September also saw a record for the number of people simultaneously in orbit around Earth: 12 aboard the ISS during crew exchanges, 4 on the Polaris Dawn mission, and 3 aboard China’s space station—19 people in total, surpassing the previous record by two.
There was also the year's major failure: after years of delays and postponements, Boeing launched its Starliner spacecraft on its first crewed mission, aimed at transporting astronauts to the ISS for NASA and breaking SpaceX's monopoly. Despite concerns about a helium leak detected pre-launch, NASA and Boeing proceeded with the mission. While the spacecraft successfully docked at the ISS, additional leaks were discovered during the mission.
The spacecraft, carrying astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, was initially scheduled to remain at the ISS for eight days. However, NASA delayed its return to Earth while attempting to work with Boeing to address the issues identified. After more than a month, NASA decided not to risk returning the astronauts aboard the spacecraft. Instead, Williams and Wilmore joined the current ISS crew, replacing two astronauts who remained on Earth to make room for their return. The Starliner returned to Earth empty in September, landing safely despite NASA’s concerns. Meanwhile, the two astronauts will remain in space until at least March, turning their planned eight-day mission into a ten-month stay.
NASA has yet to release its official conclusions from the incident, leaving the future of Boeing's ability to conduct regular crewed flights uncertain. It remains unclear whether additional test flights will be required before the spacecraft can enter regular service.
The bitter failure of 2024, reinforcing SpaceX’s dominance. Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft docked at the International Space Station. Photo: NASA
What’s Ahead for The New 2025 Year?
The major developments in space for 2025 might turn out to be political. As noted, the Trump administration is aiming to appoint Jared Isaacman as the head of NASA, and it will be intriguing to see how a billionaire and private astronaut will navigate the space agency’s operations. Additionally, Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and a close associate of the president-elect, is expected to assume a quasi-governmental role as a "Secretary of Efficiency," tasked with overseeing the optimization of federal agencies.
Beyond the glaring conflict of interest that such a move represents - placing a billionaire with commercial stakes in charge of regulating the very industries he operates in - this appointment could have significant and potentially controversial implications for the space sector. For instance, Musk could push for changes to the Artemis program, such as canceling the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, which have already faced severe criticism for inefficiency and excessive costs, and replacing them with SpaceX rockets and spacecraft. While such changes might be warranted, they would be highly controversial if initiated by someone with clear financial interests in such a decision.
Musk has also been publicly at odds with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and environmental regulatory bodies over their safety and environmental requirements for SpaceX, particularly regarding Starship launches. With his new governmental influence, SpaceX could potentially operate with reduced oversight, a situation that might lead to decreased accountability and possibly also to disaster.
Another expected development this year is the debut of a new heavy-lift rocket, Blue Origin's New Glenn. The rocket is designed to compete with SpaceX's Falcon Heavy and ULA's Vulcan Centaur, but its entry comes years behind schedule. If Starship development continues as planned, such rockets might lose relevance within a few years. However, Blue Origin is thinking long-term, aiming to use New Glenn for lunar landings with their own spacecraft—selected as a follow-up to Starship for NASA’s lunar missions—and for building a pioneering private space station.
Additionally, 2025 is expected to feature maiden launches of other new rockets, including an Australian rocket, several Chinese rockets, the first flight of an unmanned European space shuttle, and other innovations. It promises to be an exciting year!