The nations with the most developed space programs are once again turning their attention to manned missions to the Moon and also to the exploration of Mars. spacebut also for the return to the Moon, seems to be getting bigger and bigger. Now there are private companies active in this area, such as SpaceX, his company Elon Musk. At the same time, however, space travel is an important goal for the most powerful states on the planet.

US and China are competing for the Moon

NASA wants to send astronauts to the moon again with a manned mission under the ‘Artemis’ program – but it is delayed due to technical problems. In April 2026 the “Artemis 2” mission, with three men and one woman, is expected to travel to the Moon. In mid-2027, at least according to planning, the first landing on the moon in more than half a century is to take place as part of the “Artemis 3” mission. For the first time, a woman and a non-white man will set foot on the Moon.

After several unmanned flights to the Moon, China has also set as its main goal a manned lunar landing by 2030. For now, however, the Chinese space agencies are engaged in the development of the necessary technologies and components for such a demanding mission, such as and by planning the next unmanned mission to the Moon, which is expected to launch in 2026. By 2025, China intends to send the Tianwen-2 mission into space to collect and analyze rock samples from a near-Earth asteroid.

Russia invests billions despite the war

Despite the costly war it is waging in Ukraine and the resulting economic sanctions, Russia plans to spend three billion euros on space programs.

The state-owned company Roskosmos wants to further advance its programs for the Moon, but also for the creation of a new space station, which will succeed the International Space Station. Russia aims to remain among the leading powers in space exploration and to strengthen its cooperation primarily with China, India and Iran.

50 years European Space Agency

Next year the European Space Agency (ESA) will not only be celebrating its 50th anniversary, but is also planning a series of new missions, such as the ‘Biomass’ mission, which will help collect data on the state and the development of forests or the “Smile” mission, during which the magnetic environment of our planet will be investigated in depth.

EOD also participates in NASA’s “Artemis” program. “EOD has three flights as part of the Artemis partnership,” says a representative of the organization. Two of these will take place during the “Artemis 4” and “Artemis 5” missions, while the third flight has not yet been decided on which mission it will take place. “Our estimate is that the flights will take place before 2030.”

India’s vision for 2047

The country’s government aims to have transformed the country into a fully industrialized state by 2047, the year in which India will celebrate its 100th anniversary of independence. By 2040, the government has set a target to send Indian astronauts to the Moon as well.

In the coming years, the first manned space flight will take place, while in 2028 the Chandrayaan-4 mission is to bring samples from the Moon to Earth. At the same time the Indian space agencies are planning to send an unmanned spacecraft to Mars and an orbiter to Venus.

What plans do Japan and N. Korea;

Japan has similar ambitions for space – and is already collaborating with India on the ‘Lupex’ (Lunar Polar Exploration) project, which starts in 2025 and concerns the exploration of the Moon. The data collected during the mission will also be used in the “Artemis” program. Like the ESA, Japan also wants to send its own astronauts into space.

Japan is also planning a research mission to Mars, the “Martian Moons Exploration” (MMX) project, in hopes of finding clues about the planet’s origins, as well as whether there is life there.

Equally ambitious are the plans of South Korea, which wants to send a spacecraft to the Moon by 2032 and to Mars by 2045. By then South Korea aims to enter the list of the top five powers in terms of space programs – however, it has not yet been decided exactly how these programs will be financed. So whether South Korea’s “space project” succeeds will ultimately depend to a large extent on the willingness of private investors to provide money.

UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar follow

The Arab states also have grandiose plans for space. The UAE, for example, is planning an unmanned flight to the asteroid belt between the planets Mars and Jupiter by 2028, while Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman are also investing in space programs. The plans of the Arab states, however, are not so much related to scientific progress, but to strengthening their military capabilities and being able to follow the strongest states in terms of technological development.

Edited by: Giorgos Passas