Overview

• 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.