2024: A Pivotal Year for Space Exploration and Tourism

From NASA's Artemis II mission to SpaceX's Starship development and the rise of space tourism, the year ahead promises significant advancements in space exploration.

• NASA's Artemis II mission, set to launch in November, will carry four astronauts on a trip around the moon, marking the first human venture beyond Earth's immediate orbit since the Cold War-era space race.
• SpaceX is developing Starship, the largest rocket and spacecraft system ever, with plans for significant progress in 2024 through additional test flights.
• NASA's Europa Clipper, set to launch in October, will carry instruments to determine whether Jupiter’s moon Europa can support life within its ocean beneath the icy crust.
• Several nations and companies are racing to soft-land a spacecraft on the moon, with NASA planning to send as many as four spacecraft to land on the moon in 2024 as part of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.
• Space tourism is expected to reach new heights in 2024, with private missions to space planned by SpaceX and other companies, including the first spacewalk carried out by a private citizen.

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