2024 in Spaceflight
What was the year 2024 for spaceflight?
With commercial spaceflight just over the horizon, what were some notable events for the year 2024?
The year 2024 has been a landmark for space exploration, showcasing remarkable achievements from private companies and governments alike. From groundbreaking missions to advancements in space tourism, the industry has continued to push the boundaries of what is possible.
SpaceX catches Starship rocket coming back down
Companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic have revolutionized the landscape with their ambitious projects and innovative technologies. The year 2024 has been filled with remarkable events, from catching building sized rockets to classical music in space. There were 255 total launches this year, many of which were space tourism related. Blue Origin had three successful launches taking 18 passengers to sub-orbit. Virgin Galactic also launched their sub-orbital VSS Unity twice on 26th January and 8th June for the final time before retiring the spaceplane. SpaceX in the Polaris Dawn mission launched on 10th and returning on the 15th of September featured the crew of Polaris Dawn splashing down off NASA’s Cape Canaveral. The crew was returning from a 5 day mission where they performed the first private spacewalk and also featured the astronaut Sara Gillis playing the violin in space for the first time. Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin also used 2024 to perform suborbital testing to push commercial spaceflight closer next year. On 22nd February, Intuitive Machines made history by becoming the first private company to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, targeting its south pole hoping to find clues to the Moon’s ice reserves.
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity
The GCC has also had a great year for space exploration, with global agreements being signed and key infrastructure developments. The UAE Space Agency was among the first to sign NASA’s Artemis Accords to send humans to the moon and plans to execute an ambitious 7 stop mission to the asteroid belt has been started. Another notable event was the opening of Oman’s Duqm Space Port, from where Duqm-1 was launched for its maiden test flight reaching an altitude of 140km. The Duqm Spaceport is positioned at the ideal location to send satellites to space and is the result of a region-wide collaboration between emerging space agencies, building a promising future for the region in space exploration.
Duqm-1 Test Launch from Etlaq Spaceport
Finally, on 30th December, ISRO successfully launched the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDex) mission. The launch sent two satellites into low Earth orbit with the hope of being able to dock them together in space. The process of docking is very complex and is essential to achieve ISRO’s plans for the Indian space station, Bharatiya Antariksh Station.
As 2024 comes to a close, the trajectory of commercial spaceflight promises a future filled with unparalleled possibilities. The collaboration between governments, private companies, and emerging spacefaring nations is driving humanity toward a new frontier. From lunar exploration to interplanetary ambitions, the advancements of the past few years are laying the groundwork for a spacefaring civilization.