We are at the dawn of the space age. If you doubt it, just look back at the last year: from SpaceX's historic Super Heavy booster capture to a record number of lunar landing attempts. This year is full of historic and ambitious missions and demonstrations.
We're taking a look back at five of the most significant moments or trends in the aerospace industry this year. Naysayers may think SpaceX is overrepresented on this list, but it goes to show how far ahead the space behemoth is relative to its competitors.
No Special Program:
1. Boeing's botched Starliner mission turns into a triumph for SpaceX.
When NASA and Boeing lift off the Starliner spacecraft for its first test mission in June, there will no doubt be high hopes. But Technical glitches keep happening. The problems occurred on its final approach to the International Space Station, which began a months-long investigation, with the main concern being whether the two astronauts on board could safely use the Starliner to return home. The concern is that there is no.
cautiously; NASA officials decided. The two astronauts will remain on the ISS for several months longer than originally planned, and will return in the spring using the SpaceX Dragon capsule. The decision was a major blow to Boeing. It cost about $1.6 billion. Starliner is under development and may require other crewed test flights before it is signed off for regular flight for NASA. (For what it's worth, the capsule does). A flawless touchdown.)
2. SpaceX catches a Super Heavy for the first time.
SpaceX has made incredible progress in its Starship test program, and the company has launched the massive rocket four times by 2024, bringing its total to six launches. During the fifth flight in October; The Super Heavy booster flew back to the launch site. He was “captured” by two large weapons that came out of the launch tower.
The space company has successfully recovered boosters with its partner Falcon 9 rocket, and the company has successfully recovered 367 boosters to date. These boosters hit large ships on land or at sea using four legs that deploy automatically before impact. But using similar technology to recover the Super Heavy was impractical for several reasons — chiefly its massive size — leading SpaceX engineers to develop a booster catch method.
During the most recent launch test in November, SpaceX decided to scrub the second capture attempt; So there is still clearly work to be done to make the launch and recovery model the company is aiming for effective. But the capture marked a historic day in spaceflight – not to mention, Arguably one of the most incredible engineering feats of the century so far.
3. The Polaris Dawn crew performs the first personal spacewalk.
The news comes as Jared Isaacman was recently nominated by US President Donald Trump to serve as NASA administrator. But the billionaire founder of payments processing company Shift4 Payments also made headlines this year when he led the Polaris Dawn mission and performed the first commercial spacewalk.
Spacewalks are incredibly dangerous: leaving their craft exposes them to hazards like micrometeoroids and radiation, not to mention relying on the integrity of their spacesuits to provide essentials like oxygen and cooling. The crew of Polaris Dawn, along with their mission partner SpaceX; It was precisely these challenges that accompanied the mission. Two of the four crew members, Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, spun out of the top of their vehicle, a specially equipped Dragon, for ten minutes. The pair performed several tests on the spacesuits made by SpaceX while connected to the vehicle via an umbilical cord.
4. Many companies are aiming for the moon.
This year, two private companies and two countries attempted to land on the moon. The total number of attempts is not a record, but the breadth of players certainly is: Japan; Two Chinese and American companies have achieved success.
The results are mixed. Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic The landing attempt was aborted. Ten days later, the mission. Intuitive Machines and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency both arrived on the surface at the same time. It failed to land. in upright position. China's Chiang'e 6 mission, which landed and returned remote samples of the moon, appears to be the only straightforward success.
5. Produced by Space Force.
We beg to differ with one of the aerospace industry's single largest customers—not to mention the Department of Defense—whose priorities and spending shape the entire ecosystem. This year, the Space Force has awarded several major contracts to commercial service providers, signaling its willingness to pay big dollars for businesses that can deliver.
$733 million in certain outstanding contracts; Eighth launch contract with SpaceX; $515 million contract for 18 satellites to Rocket Lab; Many contracts Defense startup Anduril for intelligence and other work; and a series of smaller but notable contracts for “rapid response” capabilities A real anomaly, Impulse Space and Rocket Lab.