2022 Space Missions – All the Space Milestones to Look Forward to This Year – Popular Mechanics

With the successful deployment of NASAs long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope into its orbit around L2, 2022 is already proving itself to be a doozy of a year.

And were just ramping up on all the space missions.

NASA is plotting its return to Europa, has plans to slam into an asteroid this year, and may finally dock Boeings Starliner to the International Space Station. Several international missionsamong them, Indias return to the lunar surface, Roscosmos/ESAs next Mars rover, and South Korea's lunar orbiterare gearing up to launch. Commercial spaceflight is bustling, too, with the upcoming launch of Axiom's first private mission to the space station, orbital tests of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft and Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, and the debut of United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket.

Heres a (living) list of all the space missions to add to your calendar in 2022. Check back throughout the year as we continue to update launch dates.

Loren ElliottGetty Images

SpaceX is targeting early March for the first orbital launch of its Starship rocket from the companys Brownsville, Texas, spaceport. The stainless steel spacecraft has been selected to ferry the first woman and next man to the lunar surface later this decade. The companys CEO, Elon Musk, also has plans to ride Starship to Mars and seed the planets first human colony.

But first, Starship must safely make it to orbit. (The company is currently waiting on FAA approval.) On February 3, Musk announced plans to provide updates at a live event scheduled for 9 p.m. ET on February 10.

United Launch Alliance, based in Colorado, plans to send its Vulcan Centaur rocket to orbit this year. Multiple delays, according to ArsTechnica, have pushed back the debut of the next generation rocket, which is powered by two of Blue Origins BE-4 engines, as opposed to the Russian-made engines which powered the companys Atlas V rockets.

This year, Jeff Bezos-led rocket company Blue Origin will finally test its orbital rocket, New Glenn. Last year, the company announced it would conduct the first test of its 322-foot-tall rocket no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2022 from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The rockets reusable first stage is powered by seven BE-4 engines. (These same engines will power ULAs Vulcan Centaur rocket.) Its second stage is powered by two of the companys BE-3U reignitable engines. New Glenn will generate a total of 18,200 kilonewtons of thrust and will be able to carry roughly 45 metric tons to low-Earth orbit.

Billionaire Jared Isaacman, who helmed last year's Inspiration4 mission, is at it again. This time, he's pledged to fund and lead three crewed space missions, the first of which, dubbed Polaris Dawn, launches in the fourth quarter of this year. The Polaris Program's first two missions will launch using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule, while the last will mark the first crewed launch of SpaceX's next-generation Starship rocket. Also on the docket? The first ever spacewalk from a crew of private astronauts.

Sierra Nevada Corp.

The Houston-based space firm Axiom plans to send a crew of private astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on February 28. The crew of Axiom Mission 1 (AX-1), which will conduct a slew of experiments during their ten-day stay aboard the space station, includes Larry Connor, Mark Pathy, Eytan Stibbe, and former NASA astronaut Michael Lpez-Alegra.

Boeing is planning to launch its second uncrewed test flight of the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, known as Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT 2), no earlier than May this year. Starliner, which was built for NASAs Commercial Cargo and Crew program along with SpaceXs Crew Dragon, has been plagued by a series of costly delays. (This time, Boeing decided to swap service modules.)

The company first tested Starliner in December 2019, but the mission was cut short after the spacecraft suffered a software anomaly preventing it from reaching the proper altitude to dock with the ISS. In August, Boeing scrubbed a second OFT 2 attempt after it discovered an issue with the propulsion system.

If all goes according to plan (hopefully it does this time), the service module will launch atop ULAs Atlas 5 rocket and dock with the ISS, spending a total of five days in space. Later this year, the spacecraft will carry a crew of NASA astronauts to the ISS.

The private spaceplane Dream Chaser, built by Colorado-based firm Sierra Space, is scheduled to make its long-awaited orbital debut this year. Last year, the company announced that the smaller space shuttle would begin ferrying supplies to the ISS as soon as this spring. Itll catch a ride to space (sans crew) aboard ULAs Vulcan Centaur rocket and stay docked to the ISS for eighty-four days before returning to Earth. And like the space shuttle, Dream Chaser can land horizontally on any runway.

The spaceplane, which can fit seven, may someday fly a crew of astronauts to space. In November, Sierra Space won a $1.4 billion investment that could help the company transport humans to and from orbit by 2025, according to The Washington Post.

AOES medialab M.Thiebaut

ESAs Mini Cooper-sized rover, Rosalind Franklin (named for the famed DNA researcher), will launch this fall from Kazakhstans Baikonur spaceport and begin the nine-month journey to the Red Planet. Once it lands safely at the Oxia Planum site, the rover will drill into the Martian soil, searching for signs of ancient life.

Roscosmos/ESAs Trace Gas Orbiter (also part of the ExoMars mission) landed on Mars in 2016 and serves a relay for Perseverance and Chinas Zurong rover in addition to its duties analyzing the Martian atmosphere.

This fall, NASAs Juno spacecraft will make its closest pass of Jupiters moon Europa yet, coming within just 221 miles of the moons surface. The Juno mission launched in 2011 and has since delivered stunning images of the gas giant and its diverse array of moons. Last year, NASA announced that the spacecraft had completed its primary mission and would begin its extended missionan additional forty-two orbits of the planetwhich will wrap up in 2025.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

On August 1, NASAs Psyche mission is scheduled to begin its journey to the metal-rich asteroid Psyche, an ancient planetary core which orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter. Researchers hope the mission, which arrives at the asteroid in 2026, will shed light on the formation of such asteroids, believed to be the building blocks of our solar system.

A smaller set of probes on board, part of the Janus mission, will peel off the spacecraft and study a pair of binary asteroid systems called 1996 FG3 and 1991 VH. Both missions will launch together from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Its time to HULK SMASH an asteroid. NASAs Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)mission, which launched on November 24 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, will attempt to slam into the near-Earth asteroid Dimorphos later this year. The mission will demonstrate how we could potentially divert an asteroid hurtling toward Earth.

Thankfully, Dimorphos, which is part of a binary asteroid system with its larger counterpart, Didymos, isn't a threat.

NASA/Frank Michaux

It turns out a rocket part destined to slam into the lunar surface later this year isn't a Falcon 9 second stage after all. Updated trajectory estimates suggest the piece of space junk may actually be part of the Long March 3C rocket which launched China's Chang'e 5-T1 mission. The fragment is expected to slam into Hertzsprung crater on the Moon's far side at 7:26 a.m. ET on March 4.

One of the most anticipated missions this year will be NASAs return to the lunar surface. More than sixty years after Apollo missions touched down on the lunar surface, NASA is determined to return to the moon. Before the agency sends astronauts back to retrace Neil, Buzz, and the rest of the Apollo astronauts steps, they plan to conduct a series of critical flight tests. Artemis-1 is the first of these flight tests.

Pending any last minute delays, NASA will debut the worlds most powerful rocket, its $20 billion Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion crew capsule, launching them from Launch Complex 39B at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (The European Space Agencys European Service Module will tag along for the ride.) The spacecraft will travel along a loop-like orbit for twenty-six days before returning to Earth.

This year, NASA will team up with Pittsburgh-based space firm Astrobotic Technology to launch the Peregrine 1 mission. Perched atop a Vulcan Centaur rocket, the company's lunar lander will ferry scientific instrumentsa total of 14 payloadsto the lunar surface.

Correction: We've updated this article to clarify the origins of a rocket fragment that will slam into the lunar surface on March 4. Updated estimates suggest it is part of a Chinese Long March 3C rocket, not a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

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2022 Space Missions - All the Space Milestones to Look Forward to This Year - Popular Mechanics