Milestone NASA Lunar Missions Scheduled for 2024 Launches

Several NASA projects scheduled in 2024, led by the Artemis II lunar fly-by mission, are geared to create new space exploration milestones, according to a CNN report. Programmed for a November mission, Artemis II’s four astronauts will include the first woman on a lunar voyage. They will circumnavigate the moon preparatory to Artemis III’s planned repeat of the historic moon landings in 1972, CNN noted.

NASA plans to launch Artemis III as early as 2025, with plans to use SpaceX’s Starship rockets to complement the agency’s SLS and Orion booster systems. In 2024, SpaceX will advance Starship tests for its NASA rocket support, according to CNN. 

As many as four unmanned spacecraft are also planned for a moon landing in 2024 under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services groomed to develop lunar landers, CNN reported.

CLPS is scheduled to debut in January with the launch of Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lander aboard the Vulcan Centaur rocket developed by the United Launch Alliance joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Similar lunar spacecraft from Firefly and Intuitive Machines are also expected to take off for the moon in 2024, CNN said.

NASA’s other major 2024 projects include the October launch of the spacecraft Europa Clipper to probe whether life is sustainable in the ocean under the icy crust of Jupiter’s moon Europa.