Looks as though the two big space exploration events of 2019 have already happened in the first week…

Jan 1, Ultima Thule flyby. Hopefully we’ll continue to get dribs and drabs of information to sate us in the coming months.

Jan 3, Chang’e 4 far side lunar lander and rover. Again, there’s some data to come.

December (?), Chang’e 5, lunar lander and sample return. The launch date is a bit fuzzy, don’t fall off your chair if it slips to next year. If successful, this will be the first lunar sample return mission for more than 40 years so that could be cool.

Ongoing: OSIRIS-REx will continue to make observations and prepare for sample acquisition of Bennu, with a departure date in 2021. Similarly, Hayabusa will begin its sample acquisition phase this year, departing Ryugu in December 2019, on its way to a landing at Woomera test range next year.

Juno will also continue to make close passes above the Jovian surface, with 6 planned in this year.

Parker Solar probe will have two more perihelions, one in April, the other in September, each of them about 0.15 AU from the Sun’s surface. Late in the year it will have another encounter with Venus, which it will use to lower its perihelion even further. It will have further Venus flybys over the coming years, eventually lowering it to a 0.05 AU perihelion.

dv said:

Looks as though the two big space exploration events of 2019 have already happened in the first week…

Jan 1, Ultima Thule flyby. Hopefully we’ll continue to get dribs and drabs of information to sate us in the coming months.

Jan 3, Chang’e 4 far side lunar lander and rover. Again, there’s some data to come.

December (?), Chang’e 5, lunar lander and sample return. The launch date is a bit fuzzy, don’t fall off your chair if it slips to next year. If successful, this will be the first lunar sample return mission for more than 40 years so that could be cool.

Ongoing: OSIRIS-REx will continue to make observations and prepare for sample acquisition of Bennu, with a departure date in 2021. Similarly, Hayabusa will begin its sample acquisition phase this year, departing Ryugu in December 2019, on its way to a landing at Woomera test range next year.

Juno will also continue to make close passes above the Jovian surface, with 6 planned in this year.

Parker Solar probe will have two more perihelions, one in April, the other in September, each of them about 0.15 AU from the Sun’s surface. Late in the year it will have another encounter with Venus, which it will use to lower its perihelion even further. It will have further Venus flybys over the coming years, eventually lowering it to a 0.05 AU perihelion.

I wonder if we will get privately funded space probes, Kickstarter even

Cymek said:

dv said:

Looks as though the two big space exploration events of 2019 have already happened in the first week…

Jan 1, Ultima Thule flyby. Hopefully we’ll continue to get dribs and drabs of information to sate us in the coming months.

Jan 3, Chang’e 4 far side lunar lander and rover. Again, there’s some data to come.

December (?), Chang’e 5, lunar lander and sample return. The launch date is a bit fuzzy, don’t fall off your chair if it slips to next year. If successful, this will be the first lunar sample return mission for more than 40 years so that could be cool.

Ongoing: OSIRIS-REx will continue to make observations and prepare for sample acquisition of Bennu, with a departure date in 2021. Similarly, Hayabusa will begin its sample acquisition phase this year, departing Ryugu in December 2019, on its way to a landing at Woomera test range next year.

Juno will also continue to make close passes above the Jovian surface, with 6 planned in this year.

Parker Solar probe will have two more perihelions, one in April, the other in September, each of them about 0.15 AU from the Sun’s surface. Late in the year it will have another encounter with Venus, which it will use to lower its perihelion even further. It will have further Venus flybys over the coming years, eventually lowering it to a 0.05 AU perihelion.

I wonder if we will get privately funded space probes, Kickstarter even

Well hush my grits, I forgot to say that SpaceIL, a private non-profit, is hoping to launch its craft to the Moon in February. This originally was part of the Google X prize, but that prize has lapsed with no winners. SpaceIL pressed on regardless.

Chandrayaan-2, India’s second lunar mission, will also be launching this year.

dv said:

Cymek said:

dv said:

Looks as though the two big space exploration events of 2019 have already happened in the first week…

Jan 1, Ultima Thule flyby. Hopefully we’ll continue to get dribs and drabs of information to sate us in the coming months.

Jan 3, Chang’e 4 far side lunar lander and rover. Again, there’s some data to come.

December (?), Chang’e 5, lunar lander and sample return. The launch date is a bit fuzzy, don’t fall off your chair if it slips to next year. If successful, this will be the first lunar sample return mission for more than 40 years so that could be cool.

Ongoing: OSIRIS-REx will continue to make observations and prepare for sample acquisition of Bennu, with a departure date in 2021. Similarly, Hayabusa will begin its sample acquisition phase this year, departing Ryugu in December 2019, on its way to a landing at Woomera test range next year.

Juno will also continue to make close passes above the Jovian surface, with 6 planned in this year.

Parker Solar probe will have two more perihelions, one in April, the other in September, each of them about 0.15 AU from the Sun’s surface. Late in the year it will have another encounter with Venus, which it will use to lower its perihelion even further. It will have further Venus flybys over the coming years, eventually lowering it to a 0.05 AU perihelion.

I wonder if we will get privately funded space probes, Kickstarter even

Well hush my grits, I forgot to say that SpaceIL, a private non-profit, is hoping to launch its craft to the Moon in February. This originally was part of the Google X prize, but that prize has lapsed with no winners. SpaceIL pressed on regardless.

Chandrayaan-2, India’s second lunar mission, will also be launching this year.

Hey, good summary.

As for privately funded spacecraft/satellites, there are a lot of them.

Australia’s Electro-Optical Systems (EOS) put up a privately funded spacecraft in, I think it was 1983, but perhaps it was 1998. If 1983 then that would have been one of the earliest, there have been a lot since then. Optus launched its first 100% privately funded satellite in 1992.

Privately funded space probes beyond Earth orbit, and privately funded space telescopes looking outward – a bit more difficult.

Cymek said:

dv said:

Looks as though the two big space exploration events of 2019 have already happened in the first week…

Jan 1, Ultima Thule flyby. Hopefully we’ll continue to get dribs and drabs of information to sate us in the coming months.

Jan 3, Chang’e 4 far side lunar lander and rover. Again, there’s some data to come.

December (?), Chang’e 5, lunar lander and sample return. The launch date is a bit fuzzy, don’t fall off your chair if it slips to next year. If successful, this will be the first lunar sample return mission for more than 40 years so that could be cool.

Ongoing: OSIRIS-REx will continue to make observations and prepare for sample acquisition of Bennu, with a departure date in 2021. Similarly, Hayabusa will begin its sample acquisition phase this year, departing Ryugu in December 2019, on its way to a landing at Woomera test range next year.

Juno will also continue to make close passes above the Jovian surface, with 6 planned in this year.

Parker Solar probe will have two more perihelions, one in April, the other in September, each of them about 0.15 AU from the Sun’s surface. Late in the year it will have another encounter with Venus, which it will use to lower its perihelion even further. It will have further Venus flybys over the coming years, eventually lowering it to a 0.05 AU perihelion.

I wonder if we will get privately funded space probes, Kickstarter even

“The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program has started to incorporate private investment from individuals and enterprises for the first time, a move aimed at accelerating aerospace innovation, cutting production costs, and promoting military–civilian relationships.”

From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang’e_4