5 Space Missions to Watch In November 2024: ESA’s Artificial Solar Eclipse, Blue Origin and More

It’s been an action-packed month in space. Earlier in October, SpaceX hit a major milestone when the fifth Starship test flight successfully retrieved its booster on a launch pad for the first time. SpaceX also launched NASA’s Europa Clipper on Oct. 14 using a Falcon Heavy rocket, sending a probe to explore Europa, the fourth largest moon of Jupiter. On Oct. 7, a Falcon 9 rocket launched the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera mission to examine the impact of a 2022 NASA mission that intentionally destroyed an asteroid and provide guidance on future projects protecting Earth from asteroids.

October additionally saw the return of NASA’s Crew-8 mission, with three NASA astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut returning to Earth on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on Oct. 25 after nearly eight months conducting scientific research at the International Space Station. Their trip home was delayed in part by issues with Boeing’s Starliner mission, which launched NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to space in June but was forced to return uncrewed due to spacecraft leaks, stalling other ISS missions.

November, meanwhile, is expected to bring exciting government and commercial missions from the likes of SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, ESA and Roscosmos.

Here are five space missions to watch in November 2024:

• Nov. 4: SpaceX’s 31st commercial resupply services mission to the ISS. From the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a Falcon 9 rocket will launch a cargo mission to the ISS, carrying critical supplies, food and scientific research to the orbital station for the 31st time. Specifically, the mission will bring scientific experiments and equipment from NASA and ESA that range from examinations of solar wind to how materials age when exposed to space.
• Nov. 4: Roscosmos takes to the ionosphere. On the same day, Russia’s federal space agency Roscosmos will embark on its Ionosfera mission, sending four satellites using a Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat rocket from Amur Oblast, Russia. The constellation of satellites is set to examine the Earth’s ionosphere, a region of its upper atmosphere.
• Nov. 29: ESA’s man-made solar eclipse. Later this month, the ESA will launch its Proba-3 mission with a PSLV-XL rocket operated by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and launched from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh, India. The mission consists of two satellites, which will maintain a precise formation in space to create an artificial solar eclipse allowing the agency to observe the sun’s corona.
• TBD: The first launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn. Blue Origin is expected to soon launch the maiden voyage of its New Glenn rocket from a launch complex leased by the company in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The next-generation orbital rocket will carry a prototype of the company’s Blue Ring spacecraft into space.
• TBD: Rocket Lab’s 54th mission. Rocket Lab, an emerging SpaceX challenger, is preparing for its “Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitudes” mission that will use an Electron rocket to launch a satellite for a confidential commercial customer to low Earth orbit. Rocket Lab describes this mission as its “fastest turnaround to date.” The launch was originally scheduled for Oct. 19 but has since been delayed to allow for extra checks, meaning it could take place in November.