Upcoming Planetary Events and Missions

2021 April 18 - CAPSTONE - NASA lunar halo orbiter, precursor for lunar Gateway
2021 June/July - Peregrine Mission 1 - Launch of NASA CLPS lunar lander
2021 July 22 - Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) - Launch of NASA impactor to asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos
2021 August 8 - Solar Orbiter - ESA solar mission makes second Venus flyby
2021 October 11 - IM-1 - Launch of NASA CLPS lunar lander
2021 October 16 - Lucy - Launch of NASA flyby mission to multiple Trojan asteroids
2021 October 16 - Parker Solar Probe - NASA solar mission makes fifth Venus flyby
2021 Late - LunaH-Map - Launch of NASA CubeSat mission to map lunar polar hydrogen
2021 Late - Lunar Flashlight - Launch of NASA CubeSat mission to find lunar water ice
2021 Late - Lunar Ice Cube - Launch of NASA CubeSat mission to find lunar water and volatiles
2021 Late - NEA Scout - Launch of NASA CubeSat mission to fly by a Near-Earth Asteroid
2021 Late - OMOTENASHI - Launch of JAXA CubeSat lunar lander mission
2021 Late - EQUULEUS - Launch of JAXA CubeSat L2 orbiter lunar mission

2022 January - Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) - Launch of JAXA lunar lander mission
2022 June - JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) - Launch of ESA mission to the Jupiter system
2022 July - Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) - Launch of South Korean mission to the Moon
2022 August - Psyche - Launch of orbiter mission to main belt asteroid 16 Psyche
2022 August - Janus - Launch (with Psyche) of dual smallsats to binary asteroids
2022 September 3 - Solar Orbiter - ESA solar mission makes third Venus flyby
2022 August-October - ExoMars 2022 - Launch of ESA Mars rover and Russian surface platform
2022 December - XL-1 Lander - Launch of NASA CLPS lunar lander
2022 December - Prime 1 - Launch of NASA CLPS lunar lander
TBD - EscaPADE - Dual smallsat Mars orbiters

2023 August 21 - Parker Solar Probe - NASA solar mission makes sixth Venus flyby
2023 September - OSIRIS-Rex - Returns to Earth with sample of asteroid Bennu
2023-2024 - Chang'e 6 - Launch of Chinese lunar sample return mission
2023-2025 - Europa Clipper - Launch of NASA Jupiter Orbiter to study Europa
2024 September - Martian Moon eXploration (MMX) - Launch of JAXA mission to return sample from Phobos
2024 Fall - Lunar Trailblazer - Launch of NASA SmallSat mission to study lunar water
2024 - Hera - Launch of ESA mission to asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos
2026 - Dragonfly - Launch of NASA quadcopter drone mission to Titan
TBD - Chang'e 7 - Launch of Chinese lunar survey mission
TBD - Chang'e 8 - Launch of Chinese lunar technology test

2029 April 13 - Asteroid Apophis passes Earth at an altitude of 32,000 km

2231 April 5 - Pluto - is passed by Neptune in distance from the Sun for the next 20 years

4,000,000 - Pioneer 11 - NASA flyby of star Lambda Aquila

NSSDCA Planetary Home Page

NASA Official: Dr. David R. Williams, david.r.williams@nasa.gov
Last Updated: 24 February 2021, DRW