Analysis: 2025 will be the year of ‘New Space’, a return to the Moon and a new era in space endeavour
With so much space exploration underway, keeping abreast of such compelling activity is as easy as following a favourite sports team on your mobile phone. Here’s a selection of missions to come in the next decade, leading to private space stations with artificial gravity and lunar bases. We are entering New Space, a new era in space endeavour.
A year of lunar landers and rovers
Previously, we highlighted humanity’s ramp-up to a permanent return to the Moon through Artemis which is poised to send people around the Moon in spring 2026 and to land on the Moon in 2027. The coming year is pivotal for commercial companies, with NASA and ESA, to commence that return in earnest through robotic landers, rovers, drones and satellites.
Artemis II SLS Assembly and 25 starship launches
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to bring astronauts to the Moon was tested successfully through the Artemis I mission in 2022. Artemis II will bring four astronauts on a 10-day mission around the Moon in March 2026. Assembly of the Artemis II SLS rocket has just commenced and can be followed online throughout the year.
Starship is SpaceX‘s new reusable rocket. Also powerful enough of bring people to the Moon, for now it will bring its Human Landing System (HLS) out to the Moon and dock with SLS to bring astronauts down to the lunar surface. Five Starships have been tested to date, but SpaceX intend to run 25 Starship test launches through 2025 to perfect this pioneering technology.
Commercial Lunar Payload Service
NASA’s new Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) has spawned an industry of start-up companies producing the infrastructure for long-term engagement with the Moon. 2025 will see a multitude of landers and rovers in search of resources; and orbiters to scan the surface and as telecommunication and data relays with Earth. Here’s a flavour of the missions coming up:
In January Firefly Aerospace launch their “Blue Ghost” lander, carrying 10 payloads to Mare Crisium – the circular dark area to the right of a full moon as seen with the unaided eye. Among its payloads are a sample collection device, a lunar-global navigation system and experiments to understand lunar dust impacts on humans.
Credit: HAKUTO-R ispace
Hot on their heels is Japanese company HAKUTO-R ispace’s “Mission 2” carrying the “Resilience” lander with a NASA Artemis payload, and the European built “Tenacious” rover. US company Intuitive Machines launch two exciting missions IM-2 and IM-3 in February and November respectively. These far-reaching missions not only test payload delivery to the Moon but also deliver a plethora of extraordinary payloads to orbit and to the surface.
IM-2 brings Lockheed Martin’s “Trailblazer” orbiter to search for water. Near the lunar south pole will land the “Nova-C” lander with an ice drill, the “micro-Nova” drone that will literally hop across the lunar surface as well as fly laterally where needed. The Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform rover (MAPP) will scoop up lunar regolith to manufacture useful resource such as oxygen.
Credit: Intuitive Machines
IM-3 lands in the northern region and among others, will deploy a data-relay satellite called “Khron-2” as well as a trio of small artificially intelligent rovers called “CADRE” designed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which will roam surface as a coordinated team in search of resources and geological features such as caves.
ESA launches its “Lunar Pathfinder” lunar orbiting satellite that will act as a crucial data link for devices and sites across the Moon’s surface. US company Astrobotic “Griffin Mission 1” also launches in September carrying a payload of experiments by NASA and lunar prospecting companies.
Credit: ESA
For more information, check out such space-related events as Irish Astronomy Week (March 1st-8th), Skellig Coast Dark Sky Festival (March 28th-30th) and National Space Week (October 4th-10th).
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
