This page covers the agencies and missions that keep expanding our exploration of space and development of earth-based support facilities. There's exciting new activities in space exploration!
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On this page: Astra's Astronomy Pages >In Orbit - Active Missions In Orbit - Active Missions > Upcoming Missions > Launch Facilities > Grass Roots > Space Agencies > Private Sector > Commercial Space Program > Other Organizations > Journals > Astronomy and Space Education Resources
International Space Station - Astra's home page of ISS orbiting Earth over 20 years!
Astra's ISS-2 page includes Utilization, Commercialization, Assembly continues
Astra's Guide to Lunar Exploration - Learn about current and past missions
Apollo Missions | Completed Missions | On the Moon | Under development | Commercial | Early Space Probes
Artemis - NASA sends the first woman, next man to the Moon
Mars Exploration - NEW! - Learn about current and past missions to Mars. Working on launching a human mission to the red planet.
Perseverance Rover - on Mars since February 2021
Curiosity Rover - on Mars since August 2012
Educator Resources - Astronomy and Space for Teachers and Students
Commercial Space Exploration Page | ISS Commercialization
Citizens in Space and Space Tourism
Astra's SpaceX Index - Find SpaceX Information at the Stargate
SpaceX and Reusable Rockets | Starship under development | Lunar Starship under Artemis | dearMoon
Astra submits her bid for a seat on the dearMoon mission.
- - Read about the exciting Polaris Dawn mission at Astra's!
#AstrasStargate #ImaRocketFan
Astra's Space Visionaries Page
Asteroid Dreams - Astra's story about asteroid exploration
+ + Check out current U.S.A. space activities on the Launches and Landings page at NASA
In Orbit - Active Space Missions
James Webb Telescope - Infrared telescope orbiting in Sun-Earth L2.
Hubble Space Telescope - Observing from orbit since 1990
Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter (LRO) - Orbiting the moon from NASA over 13 years!
Mars 2020 - NASA's Perseverance Rover
Parker Solar Probe - Launched on August 12, 2018
NuSTAR: The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array - X-Ray Orbitting Telescope
Mars Science Laboratory - NASA's Curiosity Rover
JUICE - ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer
Messenger - Juno at Jupiter
OSIRIS-REx - NASA mission to asteroid Bennu returning sample to Earth in 2023.
Mars Express - ESA's Mars Mission, built rapidly and performing well
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory mission (SOHO) - a NASA and ESA joint mission on orbit since 1995.
NASA's Links to Current Space Missions - A to Z or by topic
NASA's Scheduled Launches
On the Horizon - Space Missions under development
Lucy - mission to Jupiter's trojan asteroids
Lucy launched October 16, 2021, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 in Florida. In December 2024, Lucy will return from the Sun to swing back toward Earth for another gravity assist that will propel Lucy toward the asteroid (52246 Donaldjohanson in the main asteroid belt to be encountered in 2025. After visiting Donaldjohanson, Lucy will continue toward Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, will its first encounter with (3548) Eurybates in 2027.
- - Find out more about Lucy at Astra's Asteroid mission page.
Martian Moons eXploration mission (MMX) - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Mission to survey Mars' two moons: Phobos and Deimos. The spacecraft will collect a sample from Phobos and bring it back to Earth. Launch planned for 2024.
- - Find out more about MMX on Astra's Mars Exploration page.
Europa Clipper - mission Jupiter's moon Europa to be launch October 2024
Exo Mars Express - ESA's Mars Rosalind Rover to be launched?
Launch Facilites and Support
List of rocket launch sites - Wikipedia maintains a list of launch facilities.
Guess how many there are around the world.
Sea Launch - Will it be restarted?
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport - MARS
Spaceport Systems International
Alaska Aerospace Development Corp - Kodiak, AK
Spaceport America - New Mexico, USA
Orbital.com - Space Launch Systems
Space Rocket Launch sites around the World - from Space On-line
Deep Space Network - NASA's Communication Support for Space Missions
Automated Transfer Vehicle - ESA supplies the International Space Station (ISS) aka Jules Verne (animation)
#ImaRocketFan
Grass Roots
Students for the Exploration of Space (SEDS)
This link is in this section in honor of the many space enthusiasts who maintained since the 1960's that the Moon was the place we had to go first. After all, it is the closest.
Spacefleet Association - a UK-based company aiming to provide a space transport system
National Space Society - a non-profit organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization.
The Space Frontier Foundation is an organization of people dedicated to opening the Space Frontier to human settlement as rapidly as possible.
- - Find out more about CSA on Astra's space page dedicated to the Canadian space program
China National Space Administration (CNSA)
CNSA's Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope (LUT) has operated from the lunar surface since 2014
- - Find out more about CNSA on Astra's space page dedicated to the China space program
Europe united in space
Indian Space Research Organisation
As of February 2022, ISRO has launched 129 satellites of Indian-origin and 342 foreign satellites from 36 countries since 1975
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Current chair of the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG)
RosCosmos - Russian Space Program trusts in Space
Continuing from the USSR space program, Russia celebrated the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gargarin's flight in 2021. Their robust space program has produced the most reliable rocket (Soyuz) to date.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
NASA is sending humans back to the moon under the Artemis mission.
+ + United Nations of Earth National Space Law Collection - Office for Outer Space Affairs
Astra's Citizens in Space page proclaiming the space frontier now open as "regular people" launch to Space!
Virgin Galactic - Dedicated to Space Tourism
Space Exploration Technologoies Corporation- SpaceX developing launch vehicles
United Launch Alliance (ULA) - 50-50 joint venture owned by Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Company
The Commercial Crew Program is a human spaceflight program operated by NASA. Two American aerospace manufacturers, Boeing and SpaceX, are the main corporations involved. This program is allows private enterprises to transport crews to and from the International Space Station (ISS). The two spacecraft that have been developed are SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner. SpaceX has successfully launched NASA astronauts to the station. Boeing continues its development of the Starliner capsule with an intended launch second quarter 2023.
NASA's Commercial Crew Program
Commercial Crew Press Kit PDF - Download for detailed information
Building a second system for taking NASA astronauts to the ISS.
As of the update of this page, Crew Dragon has been launched 23 times with 22 visits to the ISS for resupply. The Crew Dragons launch of astronauts Behnken and Hurley in May of 2020 was a major milestone for commercial space flight.
Other Organizations
International Lunar Exploratioins Working Group (ILEWG) - International Cooperation
Deep Space Network - NASA's communication system for continuous coverage around the world
Journals and on-line Resources
Spaceflight Now - Launch Schedule
NASA Spaceflight - Non-NASA
Space News - from SpaceDaily.com
Check out Astra's Starlink page - for additional astronomy and space links
Last Modified: 02/06/2024
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