Download our cut-out-and-keep guide to all things space in 2020. Crewed spaceflight is set to get a boost with the planned launches of astronauts from US soil for the first time in 2011. Mars will also get unusually busy with three rovers set to make their way to the Red Planet. There will also be a host of other missions, plus dazzling astronomical events to watch out for. Mark your calendars, and watch out for our expert reporting as the year unfolds.
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Your guide to space 2020
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February
5 – Launch of European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter
The ESA’s Solar Orbiter will take about three and a half years toÌýreach the sun, where it will snap our first detailed pictures of theÌýtop and bottom of our star and measure its magnetic field.
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March
Q1 (date TBD) – First crewed launch of Boeing’s Starliner capsule and first crewed test of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule
Both of the new capsules built by US-based private companies will fly with crew for the first time, heading to the International Space Station (ISS). The last time astronauts were launched from USÌýsoil was in 2011.
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April
13 – BepiColombo passes Earth for a gravity assist
The BepiColombo spacecraft, a joint mission between the ESA and Japan, is headed towards Mercury, but it will have to use theÌýgravity of Earth and Venus to sling it into orbit.
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May
Second ISS mission for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule
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June
First half of 2020 (date TBD) Launch of Chang’e 5
Chang’e 5 will be China’s first mission to return samples of rocks and dust from the moon back to Earth. If successful, itÌýwould become the thirdÌýcountry to achieve this feat.
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21 – Solar eclipse visible throughout most of eastern Africa, the Middle East and southern Asia
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July
Launch of Moon Express’s Lunar Scout lander
US firm Moon Express will attempt the first successful private landing on the moon.
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Launch of Emirates Mars mission
The United Arab Emirates is sending its first orbiter toÌýMarsÌýtoÌýstudy the Red Planet’s atmosphere.
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OSIRIS-REx takes a sample of Bennu
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will collect dust from the asteroid Bennu for eventual return to Earth.
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17 – Mars 2020 launch
NASA’s Mars 2020 rover will look for signs of whether Mars was once habitable, or even had life.
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23 – China’s first Mars rover launches aboard orbiter
The small rover will, like Mars 2020, search for traces of currentÌýor past life.
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25 – Launch of ExoMars 2020 lander and rover
A Russian lander called Kazachok will carry ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover to the surface of Mars, where it will also look forÌýevidence of life.
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August
12-13 – Peak of Perseids meteor shower
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November
Second ISS mission for Boeing’s Starliner capsule
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December
First uncrewed orbital test flight of India’s Gaganyaan crewed spacecraft
If all goes well with this and subsequent test flights, theÌýspacecraft will fly with crew in late 2021.
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Japan’s Hayabusa 2 returns to Earth
The JAXA spacecraft will return samples from asteroid Ryugu.
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13-14 – Peak of Geminids meteor shower
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14 – Total solar eclipse visible in parts of southern Chile and Argentina, but it will mostly pass over ocean
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21 – Great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn
The two largest planets will appear close to each other in the sky, which last occurred in the year 2000.
