SpaceX Plans Five Uncrewed Mars Missions Soon

Why in the news?

SpaceX aims to launch five uncrewed Starship missions to Mars in the next two years, with potential crewed missions following based on the success of initial flights.

About the Crewed Missions Contingency:

  • Dependence on Uncrewed Success: The timeline for crewed missions will depend on the success of the uncrewed flights.
  • Potential Schedule: If the uncrewed missions land safely, crewed missions could be launched in four years; however, challenges could delay these by an additional two years.

Previous Statements and Achievements:

  • Musk’s Past Timelines: Musk previously stated that the first uncrewed Starship would land on Mars within five years, with crewed landings occurring within seven years.
  • Recent Developments: In June, SpaceX’s Starship rocket achieved a significant milestone by surviving a hypersonic return from space and successfully landing in the Indian Ocean during a global test mission on its fourth attempt.

Key Space Missions Planned for 2024:

NASA Missions:

  • Europa Clipper:
  • Launching to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa.
  • Investigates potential for extraterrestrial life beneath its icy surface.
  • Plans nearly 50 flybys to study geology and subsurface ocean.
  • Artemis II:
  • A crewed lunar mission to orbit the Moon.
  • Validates systems for sustained lunar presence; includes first woman and person of colour.
  • Follows Artemis I’s uncrewed success.
  • VIPER Rover:
  • A robotic rover to explore the Moon’s south pole for water and volatiles.
  • Operates for 100 days under extreme temperature variations.
  • Lunar Trailblazer:
  • Orbital mission measuring surface temperatures and mapping water on the Moon.
  • Scheduled to launch with the PRIME-1 mission in mid-2024.
  • JAXA’s MMX Mission:
  • Studying Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos.
  • Will land on Phobos and collect samples.
  • ESA’s Hera Mission:
  • Return to Didymos-Dimorphous asteroid system post-DART collision.
  • Launching in October 2024 to study asteroid properties.

ISRO Missions:

  • PSLV-C58 with XPoSat:
  • India’s first X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite launched in January 2023.
  • NISAR:
  • Collaborative satellite with NASA for Earth system insights.
  • Gaganyaan 1:
    First crewed spaceflight mission in India’s Human Spaceflight Programme.
  • Mangalyaan-2 (MOM 2):
  • Second Mars Orbiter Mission to study Martian conditions with advanced instruments.
  • Shukrayaan-1:
  • Mission to orbit Venus for atmospheric studies.

Sources Referred:

PIB, The Hindu, Indian Express, Hindustan Times