Return from the International Space Station (ISS) and The The International Space Rocket after a adventure on space with Katy Perry in April on the Blue Blue New Shepard Rocket Launch several missions From NASA, SpaceX and United Punch Alliance (ULA), perhaps the same busy space mission months.
SpaceX will be underway for a busy launch schedule in early May, with four back-to-back missions deploying Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, adding to the company's mega-building of more than 8,000 satellites. China plans to launch a historic asteroid sample return mission. The new Ula rocket may eventually have its first space force mission. Houston-based Axiom Space plans to use SpaceX rockets to send four astronauts to ISS.
Here are six space missions to watch in May 2025:
May 1-May 4: SpaceX launches four Starlink tasks. On May 1, Falcon 9 will withdraw from Cape Canaveral's Starlink 6-75 mission. The next day, another Falcon 9 will be launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base for Starlink 15-3 missions. Then, on May 4, SpaceX will pitch for the rare double in Florida: Starlink 6-84 from the Kennedy Passion Center and then the Starlink 6-93 Mission, which will add satellites to the sixth-orbit shell, designed to reduce collision risk by placing the satellite at altitude and leaning.
May 11: SpaceX launches NASA's tracer mission. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry a dual-synchronous spacecraft to orbit, part of NASA's research on the impact of solar activity on Earth. Tracers will specifically study magnetic reconnection to the Earth's atmosphere caused by interactions in solar activity.
May 29: SpaceX and Axiom launch four astronauts to ISS. The mission, called the AX-4, will be the fourth SpaceX Lauches of Houston-based space company Axiom Space. one Falcon 9 Rocket will launch four astronauts to the International Space Station for scientific research. cREW members include: former NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla, Esa Astronaut Sławomir Uznański and Tibor Kapu. Shukla will be the first Indian astronaut ever to visit ISS.
TBA: China launches Tianwen-2 mission. China is preparing to launch the country's first asteroid sample return mission. The mission, launched from the Xichang satellite launch center, will target 2016 HO3s of near-Earth asteroids to collect materials and then send them back to Earth. After that, it will return to deep space to study comets.
TBA: Ula's Vulcan Centaur rocket flew its first U.S. Space Force mission. The mission will be the first of more than twenty space force missions planned under the National Security Contract Program. The Vulcan Centaur rocket will replace Ula's Atlas V, which has been flying since 2002. Ula was certified as one of two certification providers for NSSL tasks in late March.
TBA: Rocket Lab launches DART AE mission. Rocket Lab plans to launch a Rapid (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electronics) rocket that will carry Dart AE, a 3D-printed treble drone developed under the hypersonic and high vibration onboard test program of the Pentagon Defense Innovation Unit.
