Cosmic 2024: A Review of the Most Significant Space Events of the Year

2024 will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the most important years in recent memory for the space industry. This year, we witnessed several world records, including the first spacewalk by an entirely private crew as part of the Polaris Down mission, the demonstration of the “Mechazilla” robotic arm catching the Super Heavy booster during Flight 5, and the return of lunar samples by China’s Chang’e 6 unmanned probe. Furthermore, a new record was set for the number of space launches in a single year: 261, of which 253 were successful.  

Today, we’ll revisit some of the most significant space events of the year and discuss the new trends that have emerged in space exploration in 2024.

Vulcan Centaur: methane goes to orbit 

January 8, 2024, saw one particularly fascinating debut: the first orbital launch of the Vulcan Centaur, developed by United Launch Alliance (ULA). This was the first American rocket powered by methane fuel. It’s worth noting that the liquid oxygen and methane (LOX/CH4) fuel mixture powers only the first stage of the rocket, Vulcan, which is equipped with two BE-4 rocket engines. The second stage, Centaur, meanwhile, is propelled by a fuel mixture based on liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen (LOX/LH2).  

After releasing its payloads, Centaur reignited its RL-10 engines and ascended to a heliocentric orbit. This maneuver was performed to test the new rocket’s capability to place payloads into a high geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO).  

The rocket completed another successful launch in October 2024. Initially, the plan was for this mission to deploy the Sierra Space Dream Chaser spaceplane into orbit. However, delays in the Dream Chaser’s delivery meant that a substitute was necessary: a 1.5-ton simulator was placed aboard instead. Despite the absence of an actual spacecraft onboard, the Vulcan Centaur launch proceeded because of contractual obligations between ULA and the U.S. Air Force. According to the agreement, the rocket was required to complete two certified flights to demonstrate its reliability to the U.S. military, which plans to use the launch vehicle for national security purposes.  

Unlike the first launch, the October 4th launch encountered some challenges. At 37 seconds into the flight, the nozzle of one of the GEM-63XL solid rocket boosters, which help lift the rocket off the ground, detached. As a result, the rocket partially lost thrust and began an unplanned tilt in the vertical plane. However, Vulcan Centaur adjusted by compensating with the other boosters and extended their burn time by 20 seconds to counteract the deviation and power loss. Amazingly, this backup maneuver enabled the rocket to reach the required altitude and velocity for its intended orbit.  

This anomaly, however, brought an unexpected benefit, since it showcased the rocket’s ability to overcome emergencies and still deliver payloads to orbit.

Currently, the methane-powered Vulcan Centaur rocket is available in four main configurations, primarily differing in the number of GEM-63XL solid rocket boosters equipped: 0, 2, 4, and 6 (designated as VC0, VC2, VC4, and VC6, respectively). ULA is expected to unveil an upgraded version of the VC6 soon, possibly featuring new, even more powerful solid rocket boosters.  

The debut of Vulcan Centaur came at a crucial time for the U.S. rocket sector, since April 2024 marked the final flight of the Delta IV Heavy, the reliable workhorse of American space exploration that boasted a 20-year history of orbital missions. Throughout its lifetime, the rocket completed 16 launches, 15 of which were successful. Alongside the Delta IV Heavy, the Atlas V, developed by Lockheed Martin and ULA, also ended production. The Atlas V also boasted an impressive record: 101 launches with 100 successful missions. Despite ending production, the Atlas V will continue to fly, with 15 more launches planned for 2025-2026.

2024 made clear that the global demand for launch vehicles powered by methane-based (CH4) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel mixtures is only growing. China now has its own methane-fueled rockets, including the Zhuque-2 from LandSpace Technology, which debuted in 2023. The European Space Agency (ESA) also plans to incorporate the methane-powered M-10 engine into its upcoming Vega E rocket, which is set to debut soon. It is also worth noting that 33 Raptor engines, which also run on methane, powered SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster as it achieved new records this year.

Catch me if you can: “Mechazilla’s” first capture

One event, which took place on October 13, 2024, at the Starbase spaceport in Brownsville, Texas, unambiguously made aerospace history. The Super Heavy booster, which is the first stage of SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy launch vehicle, successfully performed a controlled landing during its fifth demonstration launch on a specialized vertical rocket-catching platform known as “Mechazilla.”

The 140-meter-tall steel tower, dubbed “Mechazilla,” is one of the key infrastructure elements required to implement the Starship/Super Heavy concept. “Mechazilla” faced a truly monumental task, as the Super Heavy weighs approximately 250 tons and falls to Earth from space at a speed of 27,000 km/h. At an altitude of approximately one kilometer, Super Heavy activated 13 of its Raptor engines to perform braking and steering maneuvers, leaving only three active in the final seconds before approaching the platform.  

This new method of catching the rocket directly on the launch pad will allow SpaceX to significantly reduce the time needed for preparing the next rocket launch. The ultimate goal, as envisioned by Elon Musk, is “ensuring the possibility of the next launch just an hour after catching the rocket in this way.” While this scenario may seem overly optimistic, it would still represent a breakthrough in rocket engineering even if SpaceX takes a full day to prepare for the next launch. Moreover, it is a development that could truly make passenger space travel a reality in the 21st century.  

The success of the October 13 demonstration also extended to the second stage of the Starship/Super Heavy tandem: the Starship spacecraft itself. Starship successfully performed a controlled splashdown in the designated area of the Indian Ocean after separating from Super Heavy. Despite starting with failure in April 2023, by the end of 2024, Starship/Super Heavy achieved all its planned objectives, demonstrating significant technical progress for SpaceX. By 2026, moreover, we are expected to see the first lunar missions using the new Starship spacecraft modification under NASA’s Artemis lunar program.  

However, while SpaceX remains in low Earth orbit (LEO), Chinese vehicles fly to the Moon and return with fascinating artifacts.

Your order has been delivered: The return of Chang’e 6 and the partial success of IM-1 and SLIM

In May of this year, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) pushed forward with its lunar exploration program (CLEP), known as Chang’e. The goal of the sixth Chang’e mission was to demonstrate technology that is used to return lunar samples to Earth. This concept is not new, as the previous Chang’e 5 mission successfully returned to Earth with 1,731 grams of lunar soil. However, CNSA took it a step further and tasked Chang’e 6 with collecting samples from the far side of the Moon, the side that is never visible from Earth. It is worth noting that as of the end of 2024, no space agency other than China has ever visited the far side of the Moon.  

The mission began on May 3, 2024, with a launch from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on Hainan Island. Using the Chinese Long March 5 rocket, the launch proceeded as planned. Five days later, on May 8, the spacecraft entered a 12-hour lunar orbit and began approaching the landing site.

The soft landing on the far side of the Moon took place on June 1, and the final stage of the landing was filmed by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, leaving no doubt that CNSA had repeated the success of its previous missions.

Chang’e 6 consisted of four main modules: the Orbiter served as a transporter for the Lander (the landing platform for the soft landing) and the Ascender, which collected lunar dust. After storing the lunar samples in a designated compartment, the Ascender ignited its engines and ascended to orbit, where it performed rendezvous and docking procedures with the awaiting Orbiter. Afterward, the Orbiter activated its engines and began the return journey to Earth. Once the Orbiter re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, it released the Returner capsule, which contained nearly 2 kg of lunar regolith.  

In addition to the Chinese payload, Chang’e 6 also carried additional instruments from official mission partners. Among them was the French DORN instrument for studying lunar dust and volatile particles that were raised during the Lander’s landing. The Italian INRRI retroreflector focused on measuring distances, while Sweden’s NILS instrument was tasked with searching for and recording negative ions on the Moon’s surface. All of these instruments were placed on the Lander’s landing platform. The Orbiter module also carried a Pakistani CubeSat, ICUBE-Q, which collected data on the Moon’s magnetic field and was equipped with a miniature camera for surface imaging.  

Chang’e 6 lasted 53 days, slightly longer than Chang’e 5; however, Chang’e 6’s lunar transit and return trajectory was more complex compared to the 2020 mission. 2025 will not see any new CLEP missions, but China plans to launch Chang’e 7 in 2026. This will be the penultimate mission in its robotic lunar program, with the final mission, Chang’e 8, scheduled for 2028.  

China thus holds the 2024 record for lunar mission achievements. Neither the American IM-1 lander (Odysseus) from Intuitive Machines nor the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)’s SLIM lander successfully completed their lunar landings, both having overturned in the final stages.  

During its February landing, IM-1 broke one or more of its support legs, causing the spacecraft to tilt 30°, which led to a loss of communication a week later, despite the platform being expected to function for at least a month. Nevertheless, Intuitive Machines declared the Odysseus mission a success, noting that the commercial payload installed on it partially worked and was able to receive and transmit signals, albeit with much lower bandwidth than expected.  

SLIM also landed on its side (tilting more than 90° from the norm), preventing it from deploying its solar panels and thus receiving the necessary power for continuous operation. JAXA engineers managed to programmatically adjust the probe’s operations using its batteries, but this was only a temporary fix. To conserve energy, SLIM had to be constantly powered down. However, during the final stage of its landing, SLIM did release two miniature autonomous modules: LEV-1 and Sora-Q. The latter was equipped with a camera that filmed the condition of the mother spacecraft after landing.

Intuitive Machines will soon have a chance to redeem itself after its unfortunate failure: the next launch of the IM-2 lander, scheduled for February 2025, will be part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. Intuitive Machines has also already announced the future launches of IM-3 and IM-4.

In addition to ambitious flights to the Moon, 2024 also witnessed numerous commercial crewed space missions, the pinnacle of which was the Polaris Dawn mission, led by American entrepreneur, astronaut, and philanthropist Jared Isaacman.

Orbit by request: the success of Polaris Dawn and Axiom Mission 3

The victorious march of commercial space missions this year had a clear start date: January 18 at 17:49:11 (EST). It was at this moment that the crew of the commercial Axiom Mission 3 departed on a three-week mission aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from launch pad LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Four astronauts were placed in the Crew Dragon (Freedom) spacecraft manufactured by SpaceX. After separation from the launch vehicle, the capsule headed towards the ISS, where the group, under the leadership of Michael López-Alegría, was scheduled to conduct planned research for 21 days. Thus, after the arrival of the Axiom 3 crew at the ISS, the station’s crew grew to 11 people (the maximum occupancy on the ISS is 13 people).

Once the three-week stay on the station concluded, the Axiom 3 crew took their seats in the Crew Dragon, undocked from the station, and headed back to Earth. They eventually splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, near the Florida coastline.  

2024 also saw four consecutive successful missions from billionaire Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin. On May 19, the NS-25 space mission launched, followed by NS-26 on August 29. The latter flight was notable for having an American of Ukrainian descent, Yevhen Hrin, on his first space tourism trip. The NS-27 mission took place on October 23 without a crew — its main goal was to test the new NS5 rocket booster and launch 12 types of payloads into orbit. The final Blue Origin crewed mission in 2024 was NS-28.  

All the NS missions were suborbital flights and, except for NS-27, were largely aimed at the tourism market: 18 non-professional astronauts were able to see space firsthand, and for 16 of them, this was their first space journey. As before, the company used its flagship rocket, New Shepard, for the missions.

Given the world records set, however, the most important commercial space launch of 2024 was Polaris Dawn. Its profile was very similar to Axiom Mission 3: four crew members, the Crew Dragon spacecraft (Resilience), and an orbital flight. 

However, there was one thing that made this year’s Polaris Dawn experience truly unique. First, the spacecraft carried its crew to a record height of 1,400 km above Earth (for comparison, the ISS orbits from between 390 and 420 km above sea level). The second unique aspect of the mission was that, for the first time, a team of commercial astronauts conducted an EVA (Extravehicular Activity) in SpaceX-made spacesuits.

The Polaris Dawn crew consisted of: Jared Isaacman (commander), Scott Potit (pilot), Sarah Gillis (mission specialist), and Hanna Menon (mission specialist and medical officer). This was the first spaceflight for every crew member except Jared Isaacman, who was flying in space for the second time.

The launch took place on September 10 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. During the first hours of their journey, the Polaris Dawn passengers were busy with technical checks and preparing for operations in the vacuum of space. During the EVA, four people interacted in space at the same time, setting another new record: the previous record stood for nearly 50 years after three astronauts were in space simultaneously as part of the Apollo lunar program.

The historic EVA took place on the third day of the mission. When the 30-minute depressurization procedure ended, the Crew Dragon hatch opened. The mission commander, Isaacman, was the first to emerge. He partially extended out of the hatch, but full exit from the spacecraft was prevented by both the design of the EVA suits and the structural features of the Crew Dragon. Isaacman spent nearly 8 minutes outside the spacecraft. After him, Sarah Gillis came out, spending a little over 7 minutes in the same position. During this time, both tested the mobility of their suits, which was severely restricted due to the significant pressure difference.

The fourth operational day was the last that the Polaris Dawn crew spent in orbit. The spacecraft performed a planned reentry maneuver, which lasted a little over 7 minutes, and safely splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. With the successful completion of this mission, SpaceX once again confirmed its status as a full-cycle space developer, as the company could now boast spacesuits of its own design in addition to its infrastructure for space launches, rockets, and spacecraft. Even communication with Earth is conducted via Starlink satellites, which were also developed by Elon Musk’s team. Furthermore, during the Polaris Dawn mission, the crew was the first to test a new laser communication system, which is now being installed on the latest modifications of the Starlink satellites.

Jared Isaacman’s courage and remarkable luck caught the attention of those in high political circles as well. In December 2024, newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump nominated the billionaire astronaut for the position of NASA Administrator. If Isaacman accepts the new appointment, we may soon see a commercial astronaut become the first to head the world’s most influential space agency. 

A truly remarkable end to a year that saw no shortage of unquestionably phenomenal space news.