THE SPACE CLASSIC OF 2025

2025 promises to be a year moved in space novelties and that will intensify the competition between the technomillonarios who want to conquer the universe. Through Spacex, Elon Musk It has dominated in recent years the flights around the planet. But the extraplanetary ambitions of the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, could soon represent a challenge for the owner of the social network X.

The space company founded by Bezos, Blue Origin, has a powerful rocket called New Glenn which took off on January 16. Like the Falcon 9 of Spacex, the reinforcement stage was conceived to be completely reusable, so that it can be used to fly again and again and thus reduce the cost of the releases.

However, the first stage of the rocket failed to return. In different missions, New Glenn will transport National Security Satellites for the US armed forces and NASA spacecraftincluding orbiting vehicles towards Mars and landing modules on the moon.

Another thing that will move are satellites for Amazon, a company that Bezos remains executive president. Its Kuiper project implies building a mega constellation of satellites that emit internet from space, such as the Spacex Starlink constellation.

Astronomers located at the top of a mountain near the center of Chile are finishing the construction of the Vera C. Rubin Observatorywhich could capture his first views of the night sky this year, as of July 4.

Before known as the great Synoptic Exploration Telescope (LSST, according to its acronym in English), the Observatory changed its name in 2020 to honor researcher Vera Rubin, who died in 2016 at 88.

Rubin’s work convinced astronomers of the existence of dark matter, which constitutes the vast majority of the mass of the universe, although no one knows what it is. The name is very appropriate. With the world’s largest digital camera, scientists will use the Rubin Observatory to create images in motion of the southern sky with time intervals.

These images would help researchers understand the nature of dark matter, as well as dark energy, the unknown force that disintegrates the cosmos. The data set will also help reveal The history of the birth of our galaxy I already catalog the asteroids and comets of our solar system, including those who could someday collide against the earth.

The terrestrial satellite is still fashionable. At the end of this month, Intuitive Machines will try to place another robotic landing module on the moon After its previous landing module, Odysseus, reached the intact, but inclined surface, just a year ago.

This second landing module of the firm, called Athena, also will carry instruments financed by NASAincluding a drilling man who will try to find ice samples. Athena will share a Spacex rocket launcher with Trailblazer Lunar, NASA’s orbiting ship that is going to study the water on the moon.

The Twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft, which inspired a generation of cosmic curious, were launched in 1977. After decades to explore the exterior solar system and before crossing the unknown border of the interstellar space, Both galactic vehicles are showing signs of aging.

At the beginning of their trip, the two passed over Jupiter and Saturn, and later Voyager 2 visited Uranus and Neptune. But perhaps the gift to the most emblematic world of that mission is A photograph taken from Eartha tiny pixel against the immensity of space, which led to the famous astronomer Carl Sagan nicking the image “Pale Blue Point.”

In recent years, these robotic explorers have been in contact with NASA and several times have lost contact with her. Communication with the Voyager 2 was deliberately interrupted in 2020 for months and then was lost by accident for a couple of weeks in 2023 before re -established.

The Voyager 1, on the other hand, gave a scare to the team of mission specialists when in 2024 he stopped sending data to the Earth. The instruments of both spacecraft have turned off to conserve energy. But NASA does not give up with them yet.

India’s space program has achieved a robot lands on the moon and a spacecraft orbite around Mars. The most immediate priorities are much closer to Earth now, but that does not mean that they are less ambitious.

India is concentrating on manned space flights. Next spring in the northern hemisphere, Shubhanshu shuklaMember of the Asian country astronaut body, will pass up to 14 days aboard the International Space Station during a mission with the Axiom Space company.

Shukla and his colleagues expect to be the first to launch at the low orbit of the Earth in national manufacturing rockets. India reported in December that he was preparing an orbital vehicle within the program, known as Gaganyaan, for a test launch without astronauts on board. If successful, the flight could open the way to a launch manned with Indian astronauts in 2026

Spacex surprised the world in November during Starship’s fifth flight, the most powerful rocket that has ever been built. The company can be expected to repeat the impressive capture with “Chinese sticks” of its huge super heavy rocket.

Spacex could also try to catch the upper stage of its Starship vehicle after it completes an orbit around the earth and returns for the first time to the launch site in southern Texas. The company reported that it aimed to carry out 25 Starship launches in 2025while preparing the spacecraft so that astronauts terrify on the moon in compliance with their contract with NASA.

Translation: Román G. Azcárate