Aurélien Fleurot // Photo credit: Bill INGALLS / NASA / AFP 07:52, 05 January 2024

2024 will be a space year. Over the next 12 months, many rockets will blast off from Earth: heading for the Moon. Since the mid-70s, the satellite had been somewhat neglected, but its conquest is once again becoming a matter of course for the countries of the world.

Rockets, probes, launchers, space planes, private tourism... Space news will be busy in 2024! Many events will revolve around the Moon, especially with the continuation of NASA's Artemis mission. After the success of Artemis 1, NASA will take the second step by sending a manned flight to the Moon. Four astronauts will be on board for this first test. "It's really the major event" of the year, says specialist Vincent Heidelberg.

Ariane 6 will finally take to the skies

"Astronauts going back to the moon is something we haven't seen since 1972. It's absolutely historic. Here, we can still expect to have HD images, astronauts filming themselves and filming the moon at a fairly close distance," he told Europe 1 radio.

To see the project succeed, we will have to be patient and wait until the end of the year. Before that, there should be, this time it is promised, the launch of the Ariane 6 rocket. Delayed for months, it will finally take off this summer. This is great news for the European Space Agency.

The Moon is particularly coveted

Next October, the Hera probe will closely observe the asteroid Dimorphos and the consequences of the impact received in 2022. Two years ago, NASA launched Operation DART, which used a probe to deflect the asteroid from its trajectory.

Finally, the Moon objective does not only concern NASA: China and Japan have projects for the Earth satellite. And as early as next week, the Peregrine mission of the American company Astrobotic is due to land a robotic probe. This would be a 1st for a private company.