Upcoming Planetary Events and Missions

2020 October 20 - OSIRIS-Rex - First sample collection attempt from asteroid Bennu
2020 December 6 - Hayabusa2 - Japanese asteroid Ryugu sampling capsule returns to Earth
2020 December 26 - Solar Orbiter - ESA solar mission makes first Venus flyby
2020 December 31 - Q-PACE - Launch of NASA CubeSat mission to study particle collisions
2020 Late - Chang'e 5 - Launch of Chinese lunar sample return mission

2021 Early - CAPSTONE - NASA lunar halo orbiter, precursor for lunar Gateway
2021 February - Hope - United Arab Emirates mission goes into Mars orbit
2021 February - Tianwen 1 - Chinese orbiter, lander, and rover mission reaches Mars
2021 February 18 - Mars 2020 - NASA rover and rotorcraft land in Jezero crater on Mars
2021 February 20 - Parker Solar Probe - NASA solar mission makes fourth Venus flyby
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 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 November 1 - LunaH-Map - Launch of NASA CubeSat mission to map lunar polar hydrogen

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 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

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 - 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: 17 September 2020, DRW