Sync Your Calendar With the Solar System
Never miss a rocket launch, meteor shower, eclipse, or any other extraordinary event that’s truly out of this world.
How to Use This Calendar
Since 2017, this calendar has served as your essential guide to noteworthy spaceflight and astronomy events, meticulously curated by our team of journalists.
We regularly update these entries to reflect the latest dates and information. New events will be added throughout the year, while concluded or indefinitely postponed events will be removed.
To make the most of this celestial planner, we recommend you bookmark this page in your web browser and revisit it often. You’ll find general bookmarking instructions for popular browsers below, along with answers to frequently asked questions.
Your Questions Answered
How do I bookmark this calendar on my browser?
Here are quick bookmarking instructions for four of the most popular browsers:
- Chrome
- Safari: Mac | iPhone | iPad
- Edge
- Firefox
What happened to the Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, and Outlook calendar feeds?
We’ve temporarily paused the calendar feed service that directly adds events to your personal digital calendar. Should this feature return, we will provide updated instructions right here.
How do I unsubscribe from the digital calendar feed?
You can refer to the instructions provided in last year’s edition of the calendar.
How do I submit feedback, or suggest another important space or astronomy event that I think we missed?
Feel free to email us at spacecalendar@nytimes.com. We value your input!
Sept. 7-8: Total Lunar Eclipse
Prepare for a stunning lunar spectacle as Earth’s shadow blankets the moon, creating what many call a “blood moon.” This dramatic total eclipse will be most prominent for viewers across Asia and parts of Australia, but also visible from Africa and Europe.
Sept. 22: Autumn Equinox
The autumnal equinox marks one of two annual moments when Earth’s tilt causes the sun to shine directly on the Equator, resulting in nearly equal periods of daytime and nighttime worldwide. Many consider this the official start of fall. Learn five facts about the autumnal equinox.
Sept. 23: NASA Mission to Map Solar System Boundaries
The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, or IMAP, will embark on a mission to study the heliosphere—the protective bubble formed by the solar wind that defines our solar system’s boundary with the rest of the Milky Way. Equipped with 10 scientific instruments, the spacecraft will orbit the sun, gathering vital data on the heliosphere, solar weather, and cosmic dust.
IMAP is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It will be accompanied by two smaller spacecraft: the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory and SWFO-L1, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite.
Sept. 29: Blue Origin’s Twin Mars Satellites Launch
ESCAPADE, a NASA-funded mission, features a pair of small orbiters, Blue and Gold, operated by the Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory. These spacecraft will circle Mars, meticulously studying the magnetic bubble surrounding the Red Planet.
Despite their compact size, these satellites will ride into space on New Glenn, the colossal rocket from Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s aerospace company. This launch will mark only the second flight for New Glenn, which made its debut in January.
Oct. 22-23: Orionids Meteor Shower Peak
Active from Oct. 2 to Nov. 12. Peak night: Oct. 22 to 23.
Beloved by meteor enthusiasts, the Orionids are known for their bright, fast streaks near Orion’s Belt. Like the Eta Aquarids, which peaked in May, this shower is caused by Earth passing through debris left behind by Halley’s Comet.
Visible from both hemispheres, this year’s viewing conditions promise to be excellent, with the moon only about 2 percent full.
Nov. 16-17: Leonids Meteor Shower Peak
Active from Nov. 3 to Dec. 2. Peak night: Nov. 16 to 17.
The Leonids are renowned for producing some of the fastest meteors each year, blazing across the sky at 44 miles per second with bright, long tails.
Look for these meteors near the constellation Leo, visible from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. With the moon only 9 percent full, this year offers favorable conditions for spotting the Leonids.
Dec. 12-13: Geminids Meteor Shower Peak
Active from Dec. 1 to Dec. 21. Peak night: Dec. 12 to 13.
Formed from asteroid debris, the Geminids are consistently one of the most intense and popular meteor showers each year. While best observed from the Northern Hemisphere, sky-gazers south of the Equator can also enjoy the spectacle.
The Geminids will peak when the moon is nearly 40 percent full.
Dec. 21: Winter Solstice
This day marks the scientific beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, as this half of our world tilts farthest away from the sun. Learn more about the solstice.
Dec. 21-22: Ursids Meteor Shower Peak
Active from Dec. 16 to Dec. 26. Peak night: Dec. 21 to 22.
Coinciding with the winter solstice, meteors from the Ursids shower will appear to radiate from near the Little Dipper, part of the constellation Ursa Minor.
Only skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere will have a chance to witness this shower, with the moon being only 3 percent full.
What to Expect in Space and Astronomy in 2025
Our journey around the sun in “2024” was packed with astronomical and spaceflight excitement. A solar eclipse graced North America, two robotic landers successfully reached the lunar surface (mostly intact), and the most powerful rocket booster ever built was dramatically caught by mechanical arms. A mission to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa began, and private astronauts even performed a daring spacewalk.
As we embark on “2025,” will this new revolution around the sun match the excitement? You be the judge as we preview the launches and sky-gazing opportunities that await.
For continuous updates on these and other events, bookmark The Times Space and Astronomy calendar.
Jeff Bezos Enters the Arena
While Elon Musk’s SpaceX has dominated recent spaceflight endeavors, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s ambitious extraplanetary plans with Blue Origin could soon challenge this dominance.
Blue Origin’s powerful New Glenn rocket is finally expected to launch in 2025. Designed for full reusability, much like SpaceX’s Falcon 9, New Glenn aims to significantly reduce launch costs. This rocket is slated to carry national security satellites for the U.S. military and various spacecraft for NASA, including Mars orbiters and moon landers.
New Glenn will also transport satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper, a colossal initiative to create a mega-constellation of internet-beaming satellites from space, directly competing with SpaceX’s Starlink. Interestingly, Amazon also plans to utilize rockets from other Blue Origin competitors, including United Launch Alliance, Arianespace of France, and even SpaceX, for its Kuiper satellite deployment.
Rubin’s First Light
High atop a mountain in central Chile, astronomers are finalizing construction of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. This year, as early as July 4, it is expected to capture its first breathtaking views of the night sky.
Renamed in 2020 to honor Vera Rubin, who passed away in 2016 at 88, the observatory carries a fitting name. Dr. Rubin’s pioneering work provided compelling evidence for the existence of dark matter, a mysterious substance comprising the vast majority of the universe’s mass.
Equipped with the world’s largest digital camera, the Rubin Observatory will create a time-lapse movie of the Southern sky. These images will be instrumental in unraveling the secrets of dark matter and dark energy—the enigmatic force accelerating the cosmos’ expansion. The wealth of data will also illuminate our galaxy’s origins and help catalog asteroids and comets within our solar system, including potential Earth-impacting objects.
The Moon, and Trump, Come Back Around
During Donald J. Trump’s first administration, American space policy shifted its focus to lunar exploration, a direction sustained by President Biden’s administration. However, with Mr. Trump’s return to the White House in January, existing space plans could face disruption. This might involve canceling NASA’s expensive, decade-long rocket development program or a more radical shift towards sending humans to Mars, a primary goal of Mr. Musk, who has been advising the president-elect.
Despite this potential uncertainty, several robotic missions to the moon are scheduled for early in the year. A pair of landers from American company Firefly Aerospace and Japanese company Ispace are set to launch on the same SpaceX rocket as early as mid-January. Firefly’s mission will be the maiden voyage of its Blue Ghost lander, carrying NASA-funded cargo. Ispace’s lunar trip marks its second attempt after its first lander crashed in 2023.
Later in the first quarter, Intuitive Machines may launch another robotic lander to the moon. Their previous Odysseus lander successfully reached the surface in February but landed tilted. The company’s second lander, Athena, will also carry NASA-financed instruments, including a drill designed to search for ice samples. Athena will share its SpaceX launcher with Lunar Trailblazer, a NASA orbiter tasked with studying lunar water.
Vigils for Voyagers 1 and 2
Voyagers 1 and 2, twin spacecraft that ignited a generation’s cosmic curiosity, were launched in 1977. After decades of exploring the outer solar system and venturing into the unknown frontier of interstellar space, both spacecraft are now showing signs of their age.
Early in their remarkable journey, the duo swooped past Jupiter and Saturn, with Voyager 2 later making visits to Uranus and Neptune. Perhaps the mission’s most enduring gift to the world was an iconic photograph of Earth—a tiny pixel against the vastness of space—prompting renowned astronomer Carl Sagan to famously coin the image “Pale Blue Dot.”
In recent years, these robotic explorers have intermittently lost and regained contact with NASA. Communication with Voyager 2 was intentionally halted in 2020 for several months, then accidentally lost for a couple of weeks in 2023 before being successfully restored.
Voyager 1, however, gave mission specialists a scare this year when it ceased sending data back to Earth. To conserve their dwindling power, instruments on both spacecraft have been gradually shut down.
Despite these challenges, NASA remains committed to the Voyagers. When they eventually fall silent and are interred in the space between the stars, it will be a fitting final resting place for a pair that ventured where no other spacecraft had gone before.
India’s Orbital Objective
India’s space program has achieved significant milestones, including landing a robot on the moon and placing a spacecraft in orbit around Mars. Currently, the nation’s most immediate priorities are closer to Earth but no less ambitious: human spaceflight.
Shubhanshu Shukla, a member of India’s astronaut corps, is scheduled to spend up to 14 days this spring aboard the International Space Station as part of a commercial mission with Axiom Space.
Mr. Shukla and his fellow Indian astronauts aspire to be the first to launch into low Earth orbit on India’s domestically developed rockets. In December, India announced that an orbital vehicle from its Gaganyaan program was being prepared for an uncrewed test launch. A successful flight could pave the way for a crewed Indian astronaut launch as early as 2026.
New Milestones and New Spacecraft
SpaceX captivated the world in November during Flight 5 of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built. Expect the company to attempt to replicate the stunning “chopsticks” catch of its enormous Super Heavy booster. SpaceX may also strive to catch the upper-stage Starship vehicle after it completes its first orbital flight around Earth and returns to the South Texas launch site. SpaceX has set an ambitious target of 25 Starship launches in 2025 as it prepares the spacecraft to land astronauts on the moon under its contract with NASA.
Beyond Starship, other new rockets and spacecraft are slated for their inaugural flights in 2025.
One such vehicle is Neutron, a reusable rocket under development by Rocket Lab, a company founded in New Zealand. Known for regularly launching satellites into orbit with its smaller Electron rocket, Rocket Lab could conduct Neutron’s first flight from its Virginia launch site.
Another exciting development is Dream Chaser, a space plane designed by Sierra Space. After experiencing delays in 2024, the company is hopeful that this year will see Dream Chaser transport cargo to the International Space Station for the very first time.
March 20: Spring Equinox
The vernal equinox signifies one of two annual points in Earth’s orbit when the sun shines directly on the Equator, resulting in equal periods of daytime and nighttime across the globe. For many, this day marks the scientific beginning of spring. See what it looks like from space.
Jan. 4: Earth’s Closest Approach to the Sun (Perihelion)
Even as the Northern Hemisphere endures winter’s chill, our planet reaches perihelion on January 4th, its closest point to the sun during its elliptical orbit. Learn more about planetary orbits and the ongoing search for life throughout the galaxy.