5 Space Missions to Watch in April 2025: Polar Orbits, Space Weather and NASA’s Lucy

March Highlights in the Space Industry

The month of March was eventful for the space sector, featuring a range of significant events. On March 2, Firefly Aerospace, a company based in Texas, achieved a milestone by landing on the Moon successfully without any mishaps. Just a few days later, another Texas firm, Intuitive Machines, attempted a lunar landing, but the mission was cut short when their spacecraft tipped over and lost power.

Additionally, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who had spent nine months aboard the International Space Station (ISS), finally returned to Earth in a SpaceX Dragon capsule. Meanwhile, SpaceX conducted its eighth test flight of the Starship prototype, which, unfortunately, ended with another mid-air explosion. Looking ahead, April promises to continue the momentum with numerous launches planned by NASA, SpaceX, Roscosmos, and ULA.

Upcoming Space Missions in April 2025

April kicks off with an exciting mission. On April 1, SpaceX is set to launch its Fram2 mission, sending a crew of four to investigate Earth’s polar regions. This mission, launching either on March 31 or in the early hours of April 1 from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, will utilize a Falcon 9 rocket. The Crew Dragon capsule, piloted by Chun Wang—an entrepreneur in cryptocurrency—will also carry civilian astronauts Jannicke Mikklesen, Eric Philips, and Rabea Rogge. Along with observing the polar environments, Fram2 will examine the effects of space travel on the human body and will record the first x-ray images taken by humans in space.

International Collaboration on the ISS

On April 8, a Soyuz rocket will take off from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome with a crew of three astronauts headed to the ISS. NASA’s Jonathan Kim will join Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Aleksey Zubritsky for an eight-month mission focused on conducting scientific research and maintaining the space station.

Nasa’s Awareness of Space Weather

Later in the month, on April 13, NASA is set to launch its TRACERS mission using a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This mission involves a pair of twin satellites designed to investigate magnetic reconnection—an occurrence when solar activity interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field, leading to space weather phenomena. The insights gained from TRACERS are anticipated to enhance understanding of how such solar activity can affect Earth.

Exciting Flyby with Lucy Spacecraft

On April 20, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will fly past the asteroid Donaldjohanson after initially being launched in 2021. During its 12-year voyage, Lucy is expected to study a total of 11 asteroids, ultimately aiming to explore the Trojan asteroids of Jupiter. The upcoming encounter with the 3-mile wide asteroid on April 20 will serve as a critical test of the spacecraft’s capabilities in interacting with celestial bodies.