Spacecraft In News 2025: Science And Tech CA

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Space is full of mysteries, and scientists are always sending new spacecraft to explore planets, stars, and beyond! In 2025, many important space missions will have made headlines. Some have landed on new planets, while others have discovered exciting things in space.

In this article, we will cover the latest spacecraft news of 2025, which is important for competitive exams like SSC, Banking, RRB NTPC, UPSC, and State PSCs. These updates will help you prepare for the General Awareness (GA), Science & Technology, and Current Affairs sections.

Let’s explore the most exciting space missions of 2025! 🚀

Table of Contents

Spacecraft in News 2025

January-May 2025

On April 14, 2025, Blue Origin successfully launched its 11th human spaceflight, NS-31, featuring an all-female crew comprising Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez.

Kosmos 482, a Soviet spacecraft launched in 1972 and originally designed to operate on the surface of Venus, has re-entered Earth’s atmosphere after more than five decades in space. The probe was part of the Soviet Union’s interplanetary exploration efforts during the Cold War era.

NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer orbiter, built by Lockheed Martin, was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to search for water on the Moon.

Russia successfully launched the Progress MS-30 cargo spacecraft to the ISS using a Soyuz-2.1a rocket.

ISRO achieved a milestone with the successful launch of PSLV-C60, carrying the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX), deploying two spacecraft, SDX01, and SDX02, also referred to as Chaser and Target, respectively.

Spacecraft in News 2024

September – December 2024

NASA launches Europa Clipper Spacecraft: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has launched the robotic, solar-powered Europa Clipper spacecraft. This mission aims to explore the possibility of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa by investigating its icy surface and subsurface ocean.

NASA Unveils Telescope Prototypes for LISA Mission: NASA has revealed the first prototype of six telescopes that will assist the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission in detecting gravitational waves in space. The LISA mission is a collaborative project between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission successfully crashed a spacecraft into Dimorphos, a moonlet asteroid that orbits the larger asteroid Didymos.

BepiColombo spacecraft made its closest pass to Mercury, providing the first clear view of Mercury’s south pole.

NASA is preparing for the launch of a spacecraft to explore Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons.

The Union Cabinet approved the development of the Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM), with ISRO set to develop and launch the spacecraft by 2028.

February to August 2024

China’s Chang’e-6 spacecraft has successfully brought samples from the far side of the moon back to Earth, marking the first-ever return of materials from this scarcely seen lunar region.

Sunita Williams has created history by becoming the first woman to pilot a spacecraft (Boeing Starliner) on its maiden mission.

Chang’e-6 Mission Launch: Recently, China is set to launch the Chang’e-6 mission, a robotic spacecraft aimed at collecting samples from the moon’s far side.

Starliner Spacecraft Pilot: Sunita Williams is set to pilot the Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station.

Financial Support for Dhruva Space: Recently, the Technology Development Board (TDB) announced financial support of Rs 14 crore to Dhruva Space for its ‘Space Grade Solar Array Fabrication and Test Facility’ for spacecraft applications.

NASA launched the “Message in a Bottle” campaign for its Europa Clipper spacecraft.

Intuitive Mission’s “Odysseus spacecraft” became the first private spacecraft to land on the lunar surface, part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative and Artemis campaign.

China launched the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft carrying a three-member crew to its orbiting Tiangong space station.

January 2024

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, Mumbai, have examined the existence of high-frequency plasma waves in the Martian plasma environment using data from NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft.

Japan has recently become the fifth country in the world to successfully land its SLIM spacecraft (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) on the lunar surface.