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2025 in spaceflight

2025 in spaceflight
Illustration of NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), scheduled to be launched in 2025
Orbital launches
First4 January
Last8 February
Total29
Successes28
Failures1
Partial failures0
Rockets
Maiden flights
Retirements
2025 in spaceflight
← 2024
2026 →

Spaceflight in 2025 promises to follow the 2020s trend of record-breaking orbital launches (with at least 300 expected) and increased developments in lunar, Mars, and low-earth orbit exploration.

Overview

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Astronomy and astrophysics

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Exploration of the Solar System

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China plans to launch the Tianwen-2 (ZhengHe) asteroid sample-return and comet probe.[1]

Lunar exploration

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On 15 January, Blue Ghost Mission 1 by Firefly Aerospace and Hakuto-R Mission 2 by ispace launched together on a Falcon 9.

Firefly Aerospace's lunar lander will carry NASA-sponsored experiments and commercial payloads as a part of Commercial Lunar Payload Services program to Mare Crisium.[2] Landing is expected on 2 March 2025.[3]

The Hakuto-R Mission 2 will carry the RESILIENCE lunar lander and the TENACIOUS micro rover.[4] Landing is expected in Mare Frigoris around May–June 2025.[5]

Blue Origin plans to launch their MK1 Lunar Lander as a "pathfinder" mission in 2025.[6]

Human spaceflight

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On 30 January, Sunita Williams broke the world record for the most time spent on spacewalk by a woman when she accumulated 62 hours and 6 minutes on her ninth EVA. The record was previously held by Peggy Whitson with 60 hours and 21 minutes.[7]

Private human spaceflight and space tourism

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The first human spaceflight to polar orbit is expected to occur in March when Fram2 is planned to launch on Crew Dragon Resilience.

Rocket innovation

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Blue Origin completed the maiden flight of its New Glenn rocket on 16 January 2025. The second stage successfully placed its payload into orbit, while the first stage failed to land on the recovery ship offshore.[8]

ESA plans to conduct an orbital test flight of the Space Rider uncrewed spaceplane in the third quarter of the year.[9]

SpaceX expects to perform an in-space propellant transfer demonstration using two docked Starships in 2025—a critical milestone that will allow SpaceX to refuel their Starship HLS vehicle for an uncrewed lunar landing demonstration in the following year.[10]

Satellite technology

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ISRO successfully completed the docking of two SpaDeX satellites (SDX-01 & SDX-02) in the early hours of 16 January 2025.[11] Docking of two vehicles in space has previously only been achieved by the Soviet Union/Russia, United States, ESA, and China.

Kuiper Systems, Amazon's satellite internet subsidiary, plans to ramp up launches for its constellation of over 3,000 satellites. The launches will occur on Falcon 9, Ariane 6, Vulcan Centaur and New Glenn launch vehicles.[12]

Orbital launches

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Main articles: List of spaceflight launches in January–June 2025 and List of spaceflight launches in July–December 2025
Numbers of orbital launches
Month Total Successes Failures Partial failures
January 22 21 1 0
February 7 7 0 0
March TBD TBD TBD TBD
April TBD TBD TBD TBD
May TBD TBD TBD TBD
June TBD TBD TBD TBD
July TBD TBD TBD TBD
August TBD TBD TBD TBD
September TBD TBD TBD TBD
October TBD TBD TBD TBD
November TBD TBD TBD TBD
December TBD TBD TBD TBD
Total 29 28 1 0

Deep-space rendezvous

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Date (UTC) Spacecraft Event Remarks
8 January BepiColombo Sixth gravity assist at Mercury Success
1 March Europa Clipper Gravity assist at Mars
2 March Blue Ghost Mission 1 Lunar landing Landing is targeted for Mare Crisium near Mons Latreille
March Hera Gravity assist at Mars Will conduct observations of the Martian moon Deimos
20 April Lucy Flyby of asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson Target altitude 922 km
NET April Hakuto-R Mission 2 Lunar landing Landing targeted for Mare Frigoris
31 August JUICE Gravity assist at Venus
24 December Odin Flyby of asteroid 2022 OB5

Extravehicular activities (EVAs)

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See also: List of spacewalks since 2025
Start Date/Time Duration End Time Spacecraft Crew Remarks
16 January
13:01 		6 hours 19:01 Expedition 72
ISS Quest
Hague and Williams ventured outside and replaced the Rate Gyro Assembly Gyroscope 2 on the S0 Truss, replaced the retro reflectors on IDA 3, installed shields on NICER to patch holes in the light shades, relocated the C2V2 cables out of the way so the astronauts and Canadarm 2 could access the worksite, tested a tool on the AMS jumpers, and photographed the AMS jumpers so they can be de-mated on a future spacewalk. As part of a get-ahead task, they inspected an ammonia vent line on Unity and inspected a foot restraint located near the Z1 Radio Antenna. This spacewalk was originally supposed to be performed by Andreas Mogensen and Loral O'Hara during Expedition 70, but it was delayed indefinitely due to a radiator leak on Nauka.[13]
20 January
08:55 		8 hours, 17 minutes 17:12 Shenzhou 19
TSS Wentian
Tasks included installation of space debris protection devices and inspections of the exterior of the TSS.[14]
30 January
12:43 		5 hours, 26 minutes 18:09 Expedition 72
ISS Quest
Wilmore and Williams successfully removed a faulty radio communications unit, although the time needed for this meant that other tasks that were scheduled for the spacewalk weren't accomplished. Williams broke the record for the woman to have spent the most on EVA, with a total of 62 hours and 6 minutes.[7]

Space debris events

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See also: List of space debris producing events
Date/Time (UTC) Source object Event type Pieces tracked Remarks
9 February United States New Glenn upper stage+Blue Ring Breakup ~67 Energetic fragmentation event; Cause Unknown; but may be related to upper stage passivization or insulation.

Orbital launch statistics

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By country

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For the purposes of this section, the yearly tally of orbital launches by country assigns each flight to the country of origin of the rocket, not to the launch services provider or the spaceport. For example, Electron rockets launched from the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand are counted under the United States because Electron is an American rocket. For a launch attempt to be considered orbital it must be trying to achieve a positive perigee. Launches from the Moon are not included in the statistics.

Australia: 0China: 6France: 0Germany: 0India: 1Iran: 0Italy: 0Japan: 1North Korea: 0Russia: 1USA: 20
Country Launches Successes Failures Partial
failures 		Remarks
 China 6 6 0 0
 India 1 1 0 0
 Japan 1 1 0 0
 Russia 1 1 0 0
 United States 20 19 1 0 Includes Electron launches from Māhia
World 29 28 1 0

By rocket

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5
10
15
20

By family

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By type

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By configuration

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By spaceport

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5
10
15
20
Australia
China
France
India
Iran
Japan
Kazakhstan
New Zealand
North Korea
Russia
United States
Site Country Launches Successes Failures Partial failures Remarks
Cape Canaveral  United States 8 8 0 0
Jiuquan  China 2 2 0 0
Kennedy  United States 5 5 0 0
Māhia  New Zealand 1 1 0 0
Plesetsk  Russia 1 1 0 0
Satish Dhawan  India 1 1 0 0
Starbase  United States 1 0 1 0
Taiyuan  China 1 1 0 0
Tanegashima  Japan 1 1 0 0
Vandenberg  United States 5 5 0 0
Xichang  China 2 2 0 0
Yellow Sea  China 1 1 0 0
Total 29 28 1 0

By orbit

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5
10
15
20
  •   Transatmospheric
  •   Low Earth
  •   Low Earth (ISS)
  •   Low Earth (CSS)
  •   Low Earth (SSO)
  •   Low Earth (polar)
  •   Medium Earth
  •   Molniya
  •   Geosynchronous
  •   High Earth
  •   Lunar transfer
  •   Heliocentric
Orbital regime Launches Achieved Not achieved Accidentally
achieved 		Remarks
Transatmospheric 1 0 1 0
Low Earth / Sun-synchronous 20 20 0 0 Including flights to ISS and Tiangong (CSS)
Geosynchronous / Tundra / GTO 6 6 0 0
Medium Earth / Molniya 1 1 0 0
High Earth / Lunar transfer 1 1 0 0
Heliocentric orbit / Planetary transfer 0 0 0 0
Total 29 28 1 0

Expected maiden flights

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Rocket Origin Organization Launch Outcome Ref.
New Glenn  USA Blue Origin 16 January Success [15]
Starship Block 2  USA SpaceX 16 January Failure [16]
Long March 8A  China China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology February 11 TBD [17][18]
Eris Block 1  Australia Gilmour Space Technologies March TBD [19]
HLVM3  India ISRO March TBD [20][21]
Tianlong-3  China Space Pioneer May TBD [22] [23]
Ceres-2  China Galactic Energy June TBD [24]
Pallas-1  China Galactic Energy June TBD [25]
Zhuque-3  China LandSpace June TBD [26]
Neutron  USA Rocket Lab July TBD [27]
HANBIT-Nano  South Korea Innospace July TBD [28]
Kinetica 2  China CAS Space September TBD [29]
RFA One  Germany Rocket Factory Augsburg Q3 TBD [30]
Irtysh  Russia TsSKB Progress December TBD [31]
Hyperbola-3  China i-Space December TBD [32] [33]
Antares 330  USA Northrop Grumman Q4 TBD [34]
Ariane 64  France ArianeGroup Q4 TBD [35]
Cyclone-4M  Ukraine Yuzhnoye Planned TBD [36]
Daytona I  USA Phantom Space Corporation Planned TBD [37]
Hera-II  UK Astraius Planned TBD
Nova  USA Stoke Space Planned TBD [38]
Prime  UK Orbex Planned TBD [39]
Starship Block 3  USA SpaceX Planned TBD [40]
Spectrum  Germany Isar Aerospace Planned TBD [41]
Skyrora XL  UK Skyrora Planned TBD [42]
H3-30  Japan JAXA and MHI Planned TBD [43]
Solid fuel SLV (All stages variant)  South Korea Agency for Defense Development Planned TBD [44]
Miura 5  Spain PLD Space Planned TBD [45]
Zéphyr  France Latitude Planned TBD [46]
Nebula-1  China Deep Blue Aerospace Planned TBD [47]
Yuanxingzhe-1  China Space Epoch Planned TBD [48]
4-meter-class Reusable Launcher  China Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology Planned TBD [49][50]
Agnibaan  India AgniKul Cosmos Planned TBD [51]
Vikram-1  India Skyroot Aerospace Planned TBD [52]

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ Jones, Andrew (26 June 2023). "China conducts parachute tests for asteroid sample return mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  2. ^ "NASA Selects Firefly Aerospace for Artemis Commercial Moon Delivery in 2023". NASA (Press release). 4 February 2021. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Lunar Lander". Firefly Aerospace. 1 February 2021. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  4. ^ "ispace Announces Mission 2 with Unveiling of Micro Rover Design". ispace. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  5. ^ "ispace Announces SMBC x HAKUTO-R Mission 2 Venture Moon Mission Milestones & Ventures". ispace, Inc. 18 December 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  6. ^ Foust, Jeff (8 March 2024). "Blue Origin aims to launch first lunar lander in 2025". SpaceNews. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b Robert Z. Pearlman (30 January 2025). "NASA astronaut Suni Williams sets new record on 5.5-hour spacewalk outside ISS (video)". Space.com. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  8. ^ Dunn, Marcia (16 January 2025). "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launches massive New Glenn rocket on first test flight". Associated Press News. Cape Canaveral. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  9. ^ Richards, Bella (26 August 2023). "ESA's Space Rider likely to launch third quarter of 2025, program manager says". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  10. ^ Berger, Eric (11 June 2024). "As NASA watches Starship closely, here's what the agency wants to see next". Ars Technica. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  11. ^ "Isro's SpaDeX: India successfully conducts historic space-docking test". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  12. ^ Rivera, Mikayla (17 January 2024). "Project Kuiper: Amazon's Satellite Internet Provider". SatelliteInternet.com. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  13. ^ Garcia, Mark (16 January 2025). "Two Astronauts Start Spacewalk for Astrophysics Hardware Work". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  14. ^ Jones, Andrew. "Chinese astronauts install debris shields on Tiangong space station during 8.5-hour spacewalk (video)". Space. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  15. ^ Berger, Eric (16 January 2025). "Blue Origin reaches orbit on first flight of its titanic New Glenn rocket". ArsTechnica. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  16. ^ Wall, Mike (16 January 2025). "SpaceX catches Super Heavy booster on Starship Flight 7 test but loses upper stage (video, photos)". Space.com. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  17. ^ "China's Long March-8A rocket set for maiden flight in January 2025". CASC. 18 December 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  18. ^ Lei, Zhao. "Space contractor plans maiden flight for carrier rockets". China Daily. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  19. ^ "UPDATE: #Testflight1 is now NET mid-Jan Our team is finalising test & verification, and coordinating with CASA. A Jan launch will also give our team a well-deserved break... and an extended window for our 1st launch". X. Gilmour Space. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  20. ^ "Human Rated LVM3 assembly starts at SDSC for the first un-crewed flight". Indian Space Research Organisation. 18 December 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  21. ^ "Gaganyaan's unmanned mission likely in March next year; ISRO to track from Pacific, Atlantic oceans". Livemint. 25 November 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  22. ^ "The maiden launch of SpacePioneer's "Tianlong-3" has been postponed to 2025. Source:https://m.weibo.cn/status/OCKrREUkH". X. CNSAWatcher. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  23. ^ 天兵科技天龙三号明年5月在酒泉自建工位首飞, retrieved 18 January 2025
  24. ^ "2025年, 这类大国重器密集上新". xinhuanet.com. 6 January 2025. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  25. ^ "北京民营火箭"开门红", 可重复使用火箭6月也将首飞". Baidu. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  26. ^ Jones, Andrew (9 December 2023). "Landspace launches third methane Zhuque-2, targets 2025 launch of new stainless steel rocket". spacenews.com. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  27. ^ "Rocket Lab Completes Archimedes Engine Build, Begins Engine Test Campaign". Rocket Lab (Press release). 6 May 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024 – via Business Wire.
  28. ^ Robert Wall (13 December 2024). "Innospace Delays First Hanbit-Nano Launch". Aviation Week. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  29. ^ CAS Space [@cas_space] (13 November 2024). "Update: Inaugural launch now aiming September 2025 Engineering Design Phase is now completed; all onboard and ground equipment are now in production" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  30. ^ "Rocket launch expected in the third quarter of this year, says RFA CEO". CNBC. 20 January 2025. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  31. ^ "First launch of Soyuz-5 rocket due Dec 24, 2025". TASS. 17 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  32. ^ Jones, Andrew (2 November 2023). "China's iSpace launches and lands rocket test stage". SpaceNews. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  33. ^ "iSpace accelerates the development of its reusable rocket 'Hyperbola-3' with a 700 million yuan investment". sankyungtoday. Park Si-su. 17 September 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  34. ^ Clark, Stephen (2 July 2024). "Firefly is building fast and breaking things on path to a reusable rocket". Ars Technica. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  35. ^ ESA Director General's Annual Press Briefing, 9 January 2025, retrieved 18 January 2025
  36. ^ "Precious Payload Partners With Maritime Launch, Adding Canada's First Commercial Spaceport, Spaceport Nova Scotia, to Launch.ctrl Marketplace". Business Wire (Press release). 8 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  37. ^ "Daytona I – Phantom Space". Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  38. ^ Foust, Jeff (6 October 2023). "Stoke Space raises $100 million for reusable rocket development". SpaceNews. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  39. ^ Dorsey, Kristy (1 May 2024). "New Orbex chief hints at Sutherland launch next year". The Herald. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  40. ^ Clark, Stephen (16 January 2024). "Here's what NASA would like to see SpaceX accomplish with Starship this year". Ars Technica. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  41. ^ Parsonson, Andrew (22 September 2024). "Isar Confirms Hot Fire Testing Has Commenced at Andøya". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  42. ^ Thompson, Alan (13–14 May 2024). Skyrora - ICAO (PDF). Workshop on New Entrants Integration in the NAT Region (2024). Paris: ICAO. p. 5. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  43. ^ "H3ロケット30形態試験機の打上げ計画及び超小型衛星相乗り" (PDF). JAXA. 27 September 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  44. ^ Park Si-su (5 December 2023). "한국군, 고체연료 로켓 3차 발사...한화 SAR 위성". SpaceRadar. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  45. ^ Jeff Foust (3 December 2024). "PLD Space secures loan for Miura 5 launch facility". SpaceNews. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  46. ^ Aurélie Pasquier (9 January 2025). "Latitude unveils its roadmap for 2025". Maddyness. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  47. ^ Xinhua Daily Finance (5 January 2025). "追梦2025, 苏企怎么看怎么干深蓝航天: 逐梦深空, 加速推进商业化布局". Xinhua Daily Finance. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  48. ^ "行者证道, 向新而行 箭元科技2024年度盘点". Space Epoch. 15 January 2025. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  49. ^ China News Service (4 March 2024). "中国4米级可重复使用火箭计划2025年首飞". China News Network. Retrieved 18 January 2025.<
  50. ^ Xinhua (24 June 2024). "我国重复使用运载火箭飞行试验圆满成功". Xinhuanet. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  51. ^ Ashley Bowden (30 October 2024). "Spacetech Company Agnikul Cosmos to Commercialize in 2025". Built in Chennai. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  52. ^ From Vikram-S to Vikram-1: Two years of continued innovation, 17 November 2024, retrieved 17 January 2025
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Generic references:

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