The human race has always been curious about the cosmos. As a result, space explorations and research has been proliferating with time. 2021 was a great year for the field as we witnessed vegetables being grown in space, billionaires flying in space promoting space tourism, and the latest and grandest launch of the year, the James Webb Telescope. Following suit, 2022 also has some exciting missions and projects lined up. And now as we just enter the new year, let’s look at some amazing space missions that the world will witness in 2022:

Artemis-1 Moon Mission: NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is all set to launch their uncrewed test flight around the moon. The test flight will be the first launch in the Artemis program, the mission to return humans to the moon. The launch is scheduled for March 12, 2022.

Psyche Mission: NASA

The Psyche Mission is an exploration mission targeted at a unique asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter called ‘Psyche.’ The asteroid is special because of the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet. The mission is aimed at exploring and understanding the building block of planet formation. The mission is set to launch on August 1, 2022.

Gaganyaan-1: ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organization is all set to launch the first uncrewed test flight to pave the way forward for the first Indian manned mission to space, expected to launch in 2023. Gaganyaan 1 is expected to launch in mid-2022, followed by Gaganyaan 2 at the end of the year.

JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer): ESA

The European Space Agency is planning to launch its first large-class mission under the ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme. The mission will explore the three largest moons of the gas giant – Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa – and bring samples back to Earth for further research. The mission is expected to launch in May 2022.

ExoMars: ESA, ROSCOSMOS

The ExoMars mission consists of launching a rover and a surface platform on the red planet to know more about the history and composition of the planet. The mission is a joint venture between European Space Agency and ROSCOSMOS, the Russian space agency. The mission is expected to launch on September 20, 2022.