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MILAN – Leaders of major space agencies unveiled big plans for the near future at a major conference here in northern Italy, expressing concerns about Earth and the space environment.
Representatives of the European Space Agency (ESA), NASAThe Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the China National Space Administration took turns on stage on Sunday (October 14) at the 2024 International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here.
ESA head Josef Aschbacher stated that his agency had gathered more than 100 signatories to the Zero Debris Charters, which set out principles for space junk softening.
Aschbacher also discussed the Hera spacecraft, which launched last week and is now headed to the asteroid Dimorphos, the target destroyed by NASA DART asteroid deflection test two years ago.
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“Our question is, in terms of planetary security and defense, what we should do to help our planet, to help humanity not to be struck by such a disaster. asteroid?” said Aschbacher.
Looking further, Aschbacher said ESA will also launch the Ramses mission as part of its mission planetary defense initiatives. This will be a stripped-down version of the Hera spacecraft that will be sent to study the near-Earth asteroid Apophiswhich will make a close approach to Earth on April 13, 2029.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson took his turn to highlight the successful SpaceX Spaceship flight and booster landing test a day earlier, while adding that the agency is preparing for its return to the moon.
‘We go to another part of the moon in a different way, with new partners, to learn how to live in that environment, how to create, how to invent, how to do all the things we need to do . do to go all the way to MarsNelson said.
He added that the crew was manned Artemis 2 The mission is scheduled for September next year, with Artemis 3 landing a year later, at the end of 2026. previous reports suggest that these timelines may shift.
Nelson also received applause for his reflection on his spaceship mission in 1986. “While in orbit around the EarthI saw no religious divisions, I saw no racial divisions, and I saw no political divisions. What I saw as I orbited the Earth was that we are all in this together. We are all citizens of planet Earth,” Nelson said.
JAXA’s Hiroshi Yamakawa followed, stating that the United Arab Emirates recently signed an agreement to launch the program ambitious asteroid mission on Japanese news H3 rocket. After noting the country’s success earlier this year with the SLIM lunar lander, Yamakawa said JAXA is working with ISRO on the LUPEX lunar south pole mission.
He also stated that the agency is considering its steps to follow the government’s retirement International Space Station. “We are thinking about how we can work with commercial partners to move on to the next phase,” Yamakawa said.
ISRO is also considering space stations, said agency chairman S. Somanath. He stated that the agency is planning an unmanned flight test of its Gaganyaan manned space flight system later this year. Two more unmanned tests will follow next year. These will “lead to the crore mission by 2026. That is our timeline now,” Somanath said.
India is also working on the Chandrayaan 4-moon sample return mission and a Venus mission, in which ISRO will also look at the surface of Venus. Besides Gaganyaan, ISRO also aims to launch the first space station module by 2028.
Back to North America, and Canada will send an astronaut on the Artemis 2 mission around the moon, CSA’s Lisa Campbell told the audience. But there were also more concerns about Earth that drove the space effort.
“In Canada we are fortunate to have a huge country with a relatively small population and a diverse landscape of coasts, mountains, plains, forests, thousands of lakes and rivers. But each of these has a fragile ecosystem and stunning biodiversity. we have to protect,” Campbell said.
“The emergency is real. And we recognize that satellites, with their unique perspective, are the best tools. If you want to deal seriously with climate changeyou need your eyes in the sky,” she added.
Echoing Aschbacher’s concerns about debris, she also spoke about protecting the space environment. “We will soon have a reckoning when it comes to the sustainability of space. We have created a huge problem for ourselves, and it will make it difficult to use the space infrastructure, and it is urgent,” Campbell said.
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Finally, Li Guoping, chief engineer at CNSA, took the stage with a small sample of material collected on the far side of the moon by China’s Chang’e 6 mission earlier this year. And the country’s moon plans don’t stop there.
Li stated through an interpreter that the next mission will be Chang’e Change 7 in 2026, heading to the moon’s south pole to look for water ice. The Change 8 The mission, partly to test resource use on the ground, will also head to the South Pole in 2028. China is also aiming for a manned mission to the moon’s surface by 2030. It also attracts partners for its activities International lunar research stationwhich is the Chinese answer to Artemis. “So far, about 15 countries and two international organizations have joined,” Li said.
Beyond the moon, China will… Tianwen 2 mission next year to sample a near-Earth asteroid. This was followed by a daring return mission to Mars, Tianwen 3is scheduled for launch in 2028. Li revealed that there is 25 kilograms of payload space on the mission orbiter for international cooperation, and another 11 pounds (5 kg) available on the surface spacecraft. This is followed by Tianwen 4, focusing on the Jupiter system, launched in 2030.
The IAC in Milan is the 75th edition of the annual conference, which brings together space organizations, astronauts, scientists, researchers, industry and the press. This year’s event attracted just under 11,000 participants, Clay Mowry, president of the International Astronautical Federation, said at the opening ceremony on Sunday.