| Date/Time (UTC) |
Mission/Event |
Description |
Launch Vehicle |
Agency |
May 25, 2008
23:36 |
Phoenix Mars Lander |
Phoenix Mars Lander landing. |
NASA |
| May 28, 2008 |
Cassini |
Close flyby (altitude = 1,360 km, 845 mi) of Saturn's moon Titan. |
NASA |
June 3, 2008 (NET)
15:45-17:40 |
GLAST |
With Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), astronomers will study how black holes, notorious for pulling matter in, can accelerate jets of gas outward at fantastic speeds. Physicists will be able to study subatomic particles at energies far greater than those seen in ground-based particle accelerators. And cosmologists will gain valuable information about the birth and early evolution of the Universe.
Expendable Launch Vehicle Status Report - May 9, 2008
NASA management currently is targeting no earlier than June 3 for the liftoff of GLAST atop a Delta II rocket.
At Pad 17-B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a cryogenic test of the Delta II first stage was conducted May 7. This test included a countdown and the loading aboard of liquid oxygen as a leak check of the first stage. Yesterday a Simulated Flight Test was performed exercising the onboard vehicle systems of the Delta II from liftoff through spacecraft separation. At Astrotech, the spacecraft is in the hazardous processing facility and fueling is scheduled for this weekend.
|
Delta-7920 Heavy |
NASA |
June 15, 2008
08:47-08:56 |
Ocean Surface Topography Mission (Jason-2) |
The Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM) will measure sea surface height to an accuracy of less than 4 cm every ten days and will be a follow-on to the Jason mission.
Expendable Launch Vehicle Status Report - May 9, 2008
At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, testing of OSTM/Jason-2 is under way and will continue during the next week. Closeouts of the thermal blankets are beginning. Fueling of the satellite with its hydrazine control propellant is planned for May 17. The spacecraft is currently scheduled to go to the launch pad on June 2.
At Space Launch Complex 2, the Delta II is powered on for electrical testing. Cryogenic testing is scheduled for May 19.
|
Delta II 7320 |
NASA |
| Summer, 2008 |
GOCE |
The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mission will measure high-accuracy gravity gradients and provide global models of the Earth's gravity field and of the geoid. |
Rockot |
ESA |
| August 9, 2008 (NET) |
IBEX |
IBEX's science objective is to discover the global interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium and will achieve this objective by taking a set of global energetic neutral atom images that will answer four fundamental science questions. |
Pegasus XL |
NASA |
| September 5, 2008 |
Rosetta |
Asteroid Steins flyby.
Rosetta Status Report - April 18, 2008
Report for Period 15 March to 11 April 2008
Rosetta is continuing its 4th orbit around the Sun as part of its interplanetary journey. The spacecraft distance from the Sun is increasing and will reach a maximum of about 2.26 AU in December 2008. Read more.
|
ESA |
October 6, 2008
11:39 |
MESSENGER |
Second MESSENGER Mercury flyby. 200 km altitude. |
NASA |
| October 8, 2008 (NET) |
HST SM-04 |
Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4. |
STS 125 |
NASA |
| October 31, 2008 |
Planck Surveyor
and
Herschel Space Observatory |
Planck is the first European mission to study the birth of the Universe. Herschel Space Observatory will be the first space observatory covering the full far infrared and sub-millimetre waveband, and its telescope will have the largest mirror ever deployed in space. Both spacecraft will be launched at the same time.
Planck Status Report - April 25, 2008
Having completed the fine balancing tests inside the Large Space Simulator, the Planck spacecraft has left the ESTEC test facilities on a transport truck to Centre Spatial Liege (CSL). Read more.
Herschel Status Report - April 18, 2008
The large 3.5-metre diameter Herschel telescope has been mechanically integrated onto the interface structure on the cryostat. The successful integration of the telescope on Wednesday, 16 April 2008, comes just under a week after the integration of Herschel's solar array and sunshade on 11 April. Read more.
|
Ariane 5 ECA |
ESA |
| October, 2008 |
SMOS |
The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission will, for the first time, provide global maps of soil moisture and ocean salinity. |
Rockot |
ESA |
| October, 2008 |
Proba-2 |
Seventeen new technological developments will be flown on Proba-2. Eight items form part of the spacecraft infrastructure, while the other nine are being carried as passenger technologies to gain flight heritage and experience before committing them to the infrastructure of other missions. Proba-2 will carry four experiments: two for solar observations and two for space weather measurements. |
Rockot (Secondary payload) |
ESA |
| November 5, 2008 |
GOES-O |
NASA and NOAA are actively engaged in a cooperative program, the multimission Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series N-P. This series will be a vital contributor to weather, solar and space operations, and science. |
Delta IV Medium+ (4,2) |
NASA / NOAA |
| November 24, 2008 (NET) |
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter |
The LRO mission emphasizes the overall objective of obtaining data that will facilitate returning men safely to the Moon where testing and preparations for an eventual manned mission to Mars will be undertaken.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Status Report - May 1, 2008
We completed testing with the Deep Space Network last week, and this week we are testing with our primary ground station, White Sands 1. These tests ensure that we can properly communicate with our spacecraft during flight. During the evening shifts, the blanket technicians have been designing the thermal blankets that will protect the orbiter from the temperature extremes in lunar orbit. Read more.
|
Atlas V 401 |
NASA |
| November 24, 2008 (NET) |
LCROSS |
Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite. Shares launch vehicle with LRO. Comprises Shepherding Spacecraft (S-S/C) and Earth Departure Upper Stage (EDUS). Read more. |
Atlas V 401
(Secondary payload) |
NASA |
| End of 2008 |
RadioAstron |
RadioAstron project is an international collaborative mission to launch a free flying satellite carrying a 10-meter radio telescope in high apogee orbit around the Earth. The aim of the mission is to use the space telescope to conduct interferometer observations in conjunction with the global ground radio telescope network in order to obtain images, coordinates, motions and evolution of angular structure of different radio emitting objects in the Universe with the extraordinary high angular resolution. |
Zenit 2 Fregat-SB |
ASC / Roscosmos |
| December 1, 2008 (NET) |
Solar Dynamics Observatory |
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) will study and help us understand the source of the Sun's energy, the solar interior, as well as the many manifestations of the storage and release of energy in the Sun's atmospheric layers. As such, SDO will provide us with the tools and scientific understanding that will enable us to improve the quality of forecasts of solar activity. |
Atlas V 401 |
NASA |
| December 15, 2008 |
Orbiting Carbon Observatory |
OCO provides space-based observations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal human-initiated driver of climate change. |
Taurus 3110 |
NASA |
| December, 2008 (NET) |
Chandrayaan-1 |
Chandrayaan-1 is the first Indian Mission to the Moon devoted to high-resolution remote sensing of the lunar surface features in visible, near infrared, X-ray and low energy gamma ray regions. This will be accomplished using several payloads already selected for the mission. In addition a total of about 10 kg payload weight and 10 W power are earmarked for proposals, which are now solicited. The mission is proposed to be a lunar polar orbiter at an altitude of about 100 km. The mission is expected to have an operational life of about 2 years.
|
PSLV |
ISRO |
| January 27, 2009 |
NOAA-N' |
NOAA-N Prime is the latest polar-orbiting satellite developed by NASA/Goddard Spaceflight Center for NOAA. NOAA uses two satellites, a morning and afternoon satellite, to ensure every part of the Earth is observed at least twice every 12 hours. NOAA-N will collect information about Earth's atmosphere and environment to improve weather prediction and climate research across the globe. |
Delta II 7320-10C |
NASA / NOAA |
| February 16, 2009 |
Kepler |
The scientific goal of the Kepler Mission is to explore the structure and diversity of planetary systems, with a special emphasis on the detection of Earth-size planets. It will survey the extended solar neighborhood to detect and characterize hundreds of terrestrial and larger planets in or near the "habitable zone," defined by scientists as the distance from a star where liquid water can exist on a planet's surface. The results will yield a broad understanding of planetary formation, the frequency of formation, the structure of individual planetary systems, and the generic characteristics of stars with terrestrial planets. |
Delta II 2925-10 |
NASA |
| February, 2009 |
Space Technology 8 |
The satellite consists of four payload experiments: a large flexible solar array; a 40-meter (131-foot) deployable boom; high radiation environment electronics; and a spacecraft thermal control device. |
Pegasus XL |
NASA |
| March, 2009 |
Dawn |
Mars gravity assist. |
NASA |
| March, 2009 |
CryoSat-2 |
CryoSat-2 will monitor the thickness of land ice and sea ice and help explain the connection between the melting of the polar ice and the rise in sea levels and how this is contributing to climate change. |
Rockot |
ESA |
| June 15, 2009 |
Glory |
Glory is a remote-sensing Earth-orbiting observatory designed to achieve two separate mission objectives. One is to collect data on the chemical, microphysical, and optical properties, and spatial and temporal distributions of aerosols. The other is to continue collection of total solar irradiance data for the long-term climate record. |
Taurus XL |
NASA |
| June, 2009 |
ADM-Aeolus |
The Atmospheric Dynamics Mission (ADM-Aeolus) will provide global observations of three-dimensional wind fields. |
TBD |
ESA |
| September 15, 2009 |
Mars Science Laboratory |
Twice as long and three times as heavy as the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, the Mars Science Laboratory would collect martian soil samples and rock cores and analyze them for organic compounds and environmental conditions that could have supported microbial life now or in the past. Read more about the payload. |
Atlas V 541 |
NASA |
September 29, 2009
23:59 |
MESSENGER |
Third MESSENGER Mercury flyby. 200 km altitude. |
NASA |
| October, 2009 |
Phobos-Grunt |
This mission's objectives are to collect soil samples from Phobos, a satellite of Mars and to bring the samples back to Earth for comprehensive scientific research into Phobos, Mars and Martian space. |
Soyuz Fregat |
Roscosmos |
| November 1, 2009 |
WISE |
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) will survey the entire sky in a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum called the mid-infrared with far greater sensitivity than any previous mission or program ever has. The WISE survey will consist of over a million images, from which hundreds of millions of astronomical objects will be catalogued, providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the Solar System, the Milky Way, and the Universe. |
Delta II 7320-10 |
NASA |
| 2009 |
Picard |
Picard is an investigation dedicated to the simultaneous measurement of the absolute total and spectral solar irradiance, the diameter and solar shape, and to the Sun's interior probing by the helioseismology method. These measurements obtained all along the mission will allow to study their variations as a function of the solar activity. |
TBD |
CNES |
| 2009 |
Luna-Glob |
Consists of orbiter, lander and 2 penetrators |
Soyuz Fregat |
Roscosmos / CNSA |
| March 1, 2010 |
LISA Pathfinder / Space Technology 7 |
LISA Pathfinder will test the technology needed to develop more-ambitious ESA missions such as LISA. Used to be known as SMART-2. Space Technology 7 (ST7) will flight test the Disturbance Reduction System (DRS), system-level technology designed to demonstrate improved measurement capabilities, trajectory control, and formation-flying spacecraft position control. |
Vega |
ESA / NASA |
| April 1, 2010 |
GOES-P |
NASA and NOAA are actively engaged in a cooperative program, the multimission Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series N-P. This series will be a vital contributor to weather, solar and space operations, and science. |
Delta IV Medium+ (4,2) |
NASA / NOAA |
| May 22, 2010 |
Aquarius |
Aquarius is a focused satellite mission to measure global sea surface salinity (SSS). |
Delta II 7320-10 |
NASA |
| May, 2010 |
Planet-C (Venus Climate Orbiter) |
Japanese Venus orbiter. It will make observations of the planet's meteorological phenomena and of its surface, as well as observations of the atmospheric particles escaping from Venus into space. PLANET-C will also take close-up photos of Venus, and to observe the storm winds that blow on the Venusian surface, at speeds that reach 100 km a second - 60 times the speed at which Venus rotates. In addition, it will confirm the presence of active volcanoes and thunder. |
M-V |
JAXA |
| June, 2010 |
HAYABUSA (MUSES-C) |
HAYABUSA Sample Return Capsule with fragments of asteroid Itokawa landing. The planned landing site is Woomera, Australia. |
JAXA |
| July 10, 2010 |
Rosetta |
Asteroid Lutetia flyby. |
ESA |
| July, 2010 |
Microscope |
Microscope (MICRO-Satellite a trainee Compensee pour l'Observation du Principe d'Equivalence) is the third microsatellite of the CNES Myriade series. The main scientific objective is testing of the Equivalence Principle with a 100 times better accuracy than realised with experiments on Earth. |
Dnepr |
CNES |
| October 11, 2010 |
EPOXI |
The Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization and Deep Impact Extended Investigation (EPOXI) will do a flyby of comet Hartley 2, which has never been explored.
EPOXI Mission Status Report - April 28, 2008
Cooling Down
The spacecraft's signal strength has returned to expected performance after losing about 8dB during perihelion (closest point to the sun). At the end of last week, as the spacecraft cooled (a combination of moving further from the sun and all instruments being turned off), telemetry strength returned. Observations for EPOCh are scheduled to be resumed at the end of this week.
|
NASA |
| October, 2010 |
Swarm |
Swarm is a constellation of three magnetometry satellites that will provide the best ever survey of the geomagnetic field and its temporal evolution. |
TBD |
ESA |
| Late 2010 |
World Space Observatory (Spektr-UF) |
The World Space Observatory Project is a new space mission concept, grown out of the needs of the Astronomical community to have access to the part of the electromagnetic spectrum where all known physics can be studied on all possible time scales: the Ultraviolet range. |
Zenit 2 Fregat-SB |
Roscosmos |
| 2010 (NET) |
Mars Gravity Biosatellite |
The Mars Gravity Biosatellite Program is the first ever mission to study the effects of Martian gravity on mammals, a key step in the human exploration of space. |
TBD |
MIT / UoQ |
| February 14, 2011 |
Stardust-NExT |
New Exploration of Tempel 1 (NExT) mission will reuse NASA's Stardust spacecraft to revisit comet Tempel 1. This investigation will provide the first look at the changes to a comet nucleus produced after its close approach to the sun. |
NASA |
March 18, 2011
11:31 |
MESSENGER |
MESSENGER Mercury orbit insertion. |
NASA |
| August, 2011 |
Juno |
The mission proposes to place a spacecraft in a polar orbit around Jupiter to investigate the existence of an ice-rock core; determine the amount of global water and ammonia present in the atmosphere; study convection and deep wind profiles in the atmosphere; investigate the origin of the jovian magnetic field; and explore the polar magnetosphere. |
Atlas V 551 |
NASA |
| August, 2011 |
NuSTAR |
NuSTAR will be the first focusing hard X-ray telescope in orbit. Its design eliminates high detector backgrounds, allows true imaging, and permits the use of compact high performance detectors. |
Pegasus XL |
NASA |
| September 6, 2011 |
GRAIL |
The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) will fly twin spacecraft in tandem orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field in unprecedented detail. The mission also will answer longstanding questions about Earth's moon and provide scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed. |
TBD |
NASA |
| September 6, 2011 |
LADEE |
The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) will study the tenuous atmosphere of the Moon. |
TBD (Secondary payload) |
NASA |
| September, 2011 |
Dawn |
Vesta arrival. |
NASA |
| December, 2011 |
Gaia |
Gaia is a global space astrometry mission. Its goal is to make the largest, most precise map of our Galaxy by surveying an unprecedented number of stars - more than a thousand million. |
Soyuz Fregat |
ESA |
| December, 2011 |
Taranis |
The general objective of the Taranis mission is to study magnetosphere-ionosphere-atmosphere coupling via transient processes. At the beginning of the project proposal, the transient processes considered were essentially sprites and their associated phenomena, hence the name Taranis (Tool for the Analysis of RAdiation from lightNIng and Sprites). |
TBD |
CNES |
| 2011 |
Don Quijote |
Don Quijote is an asteroid investigation, geophysical characterisation and deflection technological experiment mission. |
Soyuz Fregat |
ESA |
| 2011 |
Sentinel-1 |
Earth observation satellite for Europe's Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme. It will ensure the continuity of C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data with ESA's ERS and Envisat satellites. |
TBD |
ESA |
| 2011 |
Spektr-RG |
"Spektr-Rentgen-Gamma" (Spectrum-X-Gamma) will help scientists to discover 100 thousands of various galaxies and help solve the mystery of the dark matter. |
Soyuz Fregat |
Roscosmos |
| 2011 |
Sentinel-2 and 3 |
Earth observation satellite for Europe's Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme. They will support land and ocean monitoring. |
TBD |
ESA |
| 2011 |
European Student Moon Orbiter |
The European Student Moon Orbiter (ESMO) is planned to be the first European student mission to the Moon. |
TBD |
ESA |
| 2011 (NET) |
Chandrayaan-2 |
The Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission involves a lunar orbiting spacecraft and a lander/rover on the Moon's surface. |
GSLV |
ISRO / Roscosmos |
| March, 2012 |
Radiation Belt Storm Probes |
The Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission will determine how varying inputs of solar energy form or change populations of relativistic electrons and ions in the Earth's radiation belts. |
TBD |
NASA |
| April, 2012 |
Dawn |
Vesta departure. |
NASA |
| August, 2012 |
SMEX-12 |
Explorers Program mission #12 (TBD) |
TBD |
NASA |
| 2012 |
ASTRO-G |
The mission will focus on observations in the millimeter wave-band that enables the imaging of objects directly with the best resolution. This will allow studies of fields where extreme space physical conditions are encountered, including the elucidation of "the scale of the accretion disk and jet generation and acceleration region surrounding the active galactic nuclei black holes." |
TBD |
JAXA |
| 2012 |
SMAP |
The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission will enable global soil moisture mapping with unprecedented resolution, sensitivity, area coverage, and revisit. SMAP draws heavily upon the heritage of the Hydrosphere State (Hydros) mission which was cancelled due to budget constraints in late 2005. |
TBD |
NASA |
| June, 2013 |
GPM Core |
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) will measure global precipitation, a key climate factor. Its science objectives are: to improve ongoing efforts to predict climate by providing near-global measurement of precipitation, its distribution, and physical processes; to improve the accuracy of weather and precipitation forecasts through more accurate measurement of rain rates and latent heating; and to provide more frequent and complete sampling of the Earth's precipitation. |
H-IIA |
NASA / JAXA |
| August, 2013 |
BepiColombo |
ESA's Cornerstone mission to Mercury, it will endure extreme temperatures to bring us new images and data about composition and history of the least explored planet in the inner Solar System. BepiColombo consists of two orbiters. Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) will observe the surface and interior, built by ESA. Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) will observe the magnetic field and the magnetosphere, built by JAXA. |
Soyuz Fregat |
ESA / JAXA |
| October, 2013 |
Competed Mars Scout-2 |
NASA selects proposals for future Mars missions and studies. |
TBD |
NASA |
| November, 2013 |
SMEX-13 |
Explorers Program mission #13 (TBD) |
TBD |
NASA |
| 2013 |
Mars Science Orbiter |
Mission Phase: Study. Report from the 2013 Mars Science Orbiter (MSO) Second Science Analysis Group, W. Calvin, et al., May 2007. PDF (3.4 MB) |
TBD |
NASA |
| 2013 |
ExoMars |
ExoMars is the first Aurora Flagship mission to be assessed. Its aim is to further characterise the biological environment on Mars in preparation for robotic missions and then human exploration. |
Soyuz Fregat 2B |
ESA |
| 2013 |
EarthCARE |
EarthCARE (Earth, Clouds, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer) is a joint European-Japanese mission, which is to address the need for a better understanding of the interactions between cloud, radiative and aerosol processes that play a role in climate regulation. |
TBD |
ESA / JAXA |
| 2013 (NET) |
James Webb Space Telescope |
JWST is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope. It will have an 18-segment, 6.5-meter primary mirror and will reside in an L2 Lissajous orbit. |
Ariane 5 ECA |
NASA / ESA / CSA |
| 2013-2014 |
ILN Mini-Landers (Nodes I & II) |
International Lunar (Geophysical) Network -- Surface geophysical network mini-lander nodes launched in pairs. |
TBD |
NASA |
| May, 2014 |
Rosetta |
Rosetta arrival at Comet 67 P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. |
ESA |
| October, 2014 |
Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission |
5 spacecraft flying in formation studying the Solar Magnetosphere. |
Delta II |
NASA |
| November, 2014 |
Rosetta |
Philae landing on Comet 67 P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. |
ESA |
| November, 2014 |
GPM Constellation |
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) will measure global precipitation, a key climate factor. Its science objectives are: to improve ongoing efforts to predict climate by providing near-global measurement of precipitation, its distribution, and physical processes; to improve the accuracy of weather and precipitation forecasts through more accurate measurement of rain rates and latent heating; and to provide more frequent and complete sampling of the Earth's precipitation. |
Taurus
(multiple launches) |
NASA |
| February, 2015 |
Dawn |
Ceres arrival. |
NASA |
| May, 2015 |
Solar Orbiter |
Making close-up high-resolution studies of our Sun and inner heliosphere, Solar Orbiter is intended to brave the fierce heat and carry its telescopes to just one-fifth of the Earth's distance from our nearest star. |
Atlas V 401 |
ESA |
July 14, 2015
11:59 |
New Horizons |
New Horizons Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission arrival at Pluto. |
NASA |
| September, 2015 |
SMEX-14 |
Explorers Program mission #14 (TBD) |
TBD |
NASA |
| 2015 |
Solar Probe+ |
Solar Probe+ will fly into one of the last unexplored regions of the solar system, the Sun's atmosphere or corona, for the first time. Approaching as close as 3 RS above the Sun's surface, Solar Probe+ will employ a combination of in-situ measurements and imaging to achieve the mission's primary scientific goal: to understand how the Sun's corona is heated and how the solar wind is accelerated. |
TBD |
NASA |
| 2015 |
ICESat-II |
The ICESat-II mission is to deploy an ICESat follow-on satellite to continue the assessment of polar ice changes. ICESat-II is also expected to measure vegetation canopy heights, allowing estimates of biomass and carbon in aboveground vegetation in conjunction with related missions. |
TBD |
NASA |
| 2015 (NET) |
Darwin |
Finding Earth-like planets is Darwin's main objective, the most likely places for life to develop - at least as we know it! Darwin will survey 1000 of the closest stars, looking for small, rocky planets. |
Ariane 5 |
ESA / NASA |
| 2015 (NET) |
SAFIR |
The Single Aperture Far-Infrared Observatory (SAFIR) is a large cryogenic space-based telescope optimized for observations in the mid-infrared to submillimeter wavelength range. |
TBD |
NASA |
| 2015 (NET) |
SIM-PlanetQuest |
Space Interferometry Mission, will determine the positions and distances of stars several hundred times more accurately than any previous program. This accuracy will allow SIM to determine the distances to stars throughout the galaxy and to probe nearby stars for Earth-sized planets. |
Atlas V 421 |
NASA |
| 2016 |
Millimetron |
The goal of the project is to construct space observatory operating in millimeter, sub-millimeter and infrared wavelength ranges using 12-m cryogenic telescope in a single-dish mode and as an interferometer with the space-ground and space-space baselines (the later after the launch of the second identical space telescope). The observatory will provide possibility to conduct astronomical observations with super high sensitivity (down to nanoJansky level) in a single dish mode, and observations with super high angular resolution in an interferometric mode. |
TBD |
ASC / Roscosmos |
| 2016 |
Venera-D |
Venus lander planned to survive from 2 months to 1 year on the surface. |
Soyuz Fregat |
Roscosmos |
| June, 2017 |
Outer Planets Flagship |
TBD |
TBD |
NASA |
| 2016-2017 |
ILN Mini-Landers (Nodes III & IV) |
International Lunar (Geophysical) Network -- Surface geophysical network mini-lander nodes launched in pairs. |
TBD |
NASA |
| 2018 |
Solar Sentinels / Inner Heliospheric |
Four identical probes stationed inside the orbits of Venus and Mercury. These spacecraft would sample freshly accelerated solar energetic particles close to the Sun. |
Atlas V |
NASA |
| 2018 |
Constellation-X |
The Constellation-X Observatory is a combination of several X-ray satellites orbiting in close proximity to each other and working in unison to generate the observing power of one giant telescope. |
Atlas V 551 |
NASA |
| 2018 (NET) |
LISA |
Detecting gravitational waves is the goal of ESA's future LISA mission. LISA will search for gravitational radiation from astronomical sources, testing the fundamental theories of gravitation. |
Atlas V |
ESA / NASA |
| Late 2018 (NET) |
XEUS |
X-ray Evolving Universe Spectroscopy (XEUS) will be a permanent space-borne X-ray observatory, 200 times more sensitive than XMM-Newton, studying black holes, galaxy groups, clusters and the interstellar medium. |
Ariane 5 |
ESA / JAXA |
| January, 2020 |
Hyper |
Hyper is a mission that will investigate two of the fundamental forces of nature: gravity and electromagnetism. For its investigation into gravity, Hyper will precisely map the fabric of space around the Earth, strictly testing Albert Einstein's theory of gravity: General Relativity. |
Rockot |
ESA |
| September, 2020 |
GM-ITSP |
Two Ionosphere-Thermosphere Storm Probes will investigate the middle and low latitude distributions of ionospheric and thermospheric densities, ionospheric irregularities, and geomagnetic disturbances as a function of varying solar and geospace conditions. |
Taurus |
NASA |
| 2021 |
Geospace Electrodynamic Connections |
The Geospace Electrodynamic Connections (GEC) mission, consisting of a cluster of 4 satellites, combined with ground-based observations will make systematic multi-point measurements to delineate and bring to closure our understanding of key roles the IT plays in the Sun-Earth connection. |
Delta II |
NASA |
or use the 