Incredible Space Achievements that Marked 2024: Number 7 will Astound You!
In the year 2024, the realm of space exploration witnessed significant advancements, with lunar missions, Europe's return to space, and SpaceX's achievements taking centre stage.
**Lunar Missions:**
The Artemis program, a collaborative effort between NASA and private companies such as SpaceX, continued to progress. One of the key components is SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System (Starship HLS), selected by NASA for crewed lunar landings as part of Artemis. The Starship HLS is a lunar-optimized variant of SpaceX’s Starship, designed to land on and launch from the Moon without atmospheric re-entry. This system, capable of delivering up to 200 tons to the lunar surface, is planned to be part of future Artemis missions involving crew transport from Earth orbit to the Moon's surface.
Another notable lunar event was China's Chang'e 6 mission, which successfully brought back nearly four pounds of lunar samples from the Moon's far side, marking a historic first. Additionally, Japan's Slim probe attempted a precision landing on the Moon, with an error margin of just 180 feet, although the probe ended up upside down upon landing.
**Europe's Return to Space:**
Europe's return to space in 2024 involved increased launch activity and collaborations. The European Juice spacecraft, for instance, skimmed Earth and the Moon, utilizing a gravitational assist maneuver heading towards Jovian moon Ganymede. Europe's independent access to space was restored with the successful launch of Ariane 6 on July 9th. However, issues with Ariane 6's second-stage engine prevented optional phases but did not jeopardize deployment into orbit. Extensive data analysis identified problems leading to updates for Ariane 6's next launch scheduled mid-February 2025.
**SpaceX Achievements:**
SpaceX set new records in 2024 with a record number of Falcon rocket launches. In November 2024, SpaceX achieved the record for most launches in a calendar month with 16 launches, a record later matched in May 2025. Throughout 2024, SpaceX's Falcon rockets maintained the highest launch cadence worldwide, with their launches accounting for a majority of global payload mass sent to space.
Financially, SpaceX’s revenue reached approximately USD 13.1 billion in 2024, up significantly from 2023, fueled by increased launch revenue and Starlink satellite internet service sales. This growth positioned SpaceX as a dominant commercial space company, with projections to further expand revenue substantially in subsequent years.
Despite these successes, SpaceX’s Starship program faced challenges in early 2025 with failures and delays, but in 2024 the groundwork for Starship HLS’s lunar role was firmly established.
**Other Notable Events:**
Over 2,800 satellites were launched into orbit in 2024, coming close to last year's record of 2,940. Two-thirds of the active satellites in Earth's orbit belong to SpaceX in 2024. Japan's Astroscale unveiled satellite inspector Adras-J, targeting a fifteen-meter proximity former Japanese rocket upper stage orbiting low Earth-orbit, demonstrating pioneering efforts in cleaning terrestrial orbit.
The Europa Clipper, launched from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, embarked upon a six-year journey towards Jupiter's moon Europa to study habitability potential. European-Japanese spacecraft Bepicolombo made its fourth flyby past Mercury, marking one more step before orbiting the solar system's innermost planet.
In summary, 2024 was marked by SpaceX’s continued dominance in launch cadence and commercial space revenue, progress on NASA’s Artemis lunar ambitions involving the Starship HLS, and ongoing international cooperation in orbit. Europe's return to space was part of broader collaborative efforts, although specific 2024 events were not highlighted in the available data.
- The Starship HLS, a lunar-optimized variant of SpaceX’s Starship, was selected by NASA for crewed lunar landings as part of the Artemis program, marking an essential contribution to scientific research and innovation in lunar exploration.
- The European Juice spacecraft, a significant achievement in the field of environmental-science and space-and-astronomy, utilized a gravitational assist maneuver to skim Earth and the Moon, demonstrating Europe's advancements in space technology and access to space.
- Amidst numerous technological milestones, SpaceX’s Starship program faced challenges, yet managed to establish groundwork for its role in lunar missions within the Artemis program, moving forward towards the goal of furthering humanity's understanding of the environment and the universe.
