Last year, to keep all of you in the know, CNET launched the SPACE CALENDAR (all caps for dramatic cosmic effect), covering all the big rocket launches, mesmerizing meteor showers, epic eclipses and even an assortment of scientific milestones. In 2021, we’re back at it again. You can find all the key dates for space missions below, with meteor showers and events without a date toward the end of the piece.
Our always-updating Google calendar can be synced with your own calendar so you never miss a thing. That big button below? That’s how you add it.
You can also use another calendar with this link, which will allow you to download our calendar file and add it to a provider of your choice, like Outlook.
There are many more rocket launches each year than those listed below, but they’re so often subject to change that we’ve decided to leave them off this big list. The best advice is to always keep an eye on CNET’s Science page and sign up for our space and science newsletter if you want to ensure you’re getting launch updates from the likes of SpaceX, Rocket Lab and Blue Origin. We’ll also endeavor to shift things around on the Google calendar as soon as we have information, so keep your eyes peeled.
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Are we missing anything? You can email or tweet me with any glaring omissions.
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[Feb. 2] Starship SN9 test explodes on landing
SN9 goes BANG.
SpaceX
Remember the incredible explosion of SpaceX’s SN8 prototype in December? SpaceX considers that a success on its way to a fully fledged spacecraft that can get to orbit and — eventually — to Mars. In late 2020 or early 2021, Elon Musk’s spaceflight company expects to send the next numbered prototype on its way. Its three powerful Raptor engines are attached and it has been wheeled onto the launchpad, so the prototype is likely to fly early in 2021.
The Hope probe (Al Amal) will circle Mars on a 55 day orbit, analyzing its atmosphere.
MBRSC
The United Arab Emirates’ Hope (Al Amal) probe, which was launched in July 2020, performed a Mars Orbital Insertion (MOI) on Feb. 9, slipping into the clutches of the red planet’s gravity. The maneuver makes the UAE just the fifth nation to reach Mars, following the US, Russia, China and India.
The rover has a lifespan of around 92 days and Li Zhencai, deputy commander of the project, told CCTV the mission will be completed around “the end of August.”
[Feb. 18] NASA’s Perseverance rover lands on Mars
NASA’s mission trailer shows the Perseverance rover making a dramatic landing on Mars.
NASA JPL
Perseverance will touch down on Mars on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, at approximately 12:30 p.m. PT (3:30 p.m. ET). It will have to go through the famous Seven Minutes of Terror, slowing down from an extreme speed of around 12,000 miles per hour to a full stop on the surface in just 420 seconds. It’s set to be a huge year for Martian robots and specifically, the quest to find signs of ancient life on the red planet. Along with Perseverance, China’s Tianwen-1 lander and rover will also be putting Mars dirt under the microscope — however, it’s not expected to touch down until later in the year.
The CST-100 Starliner lands back on US soil, airbags full.
NASA/Bill Ingalls
The CST-100 Starliner, a cone-shaped spacecraft designed to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, has had its fair share of ups and downs. The first Orbital Flight Test in December 2019 (wow, it was that long ago?) experienced an “anomaly” with the spacecraft’s clock which meant it didn’t reach the ISS as it had intended and, instead, safely landed back in the desert two days later.
[March 2021] The Large Hadron Collider powers up again
The Large Hadron Collider will recommence operations in 2021.
Peter Macdiarmid, Getty Images
The Large Hadron Collider, the highest-energy particle collider on the planet, has been powered down since Dec. 10, 2018. In March, scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) flick it back on again.
The collider has been instrumental in testing predictions of theories in particle physics, including discovery of the Higgs boson, or the “God particle” (just don’t call it that in front of any particle physicists).
Its third observational run or “Run 3” should kick off in 2022, with a period of commissioning and magnet training to get things up to scratch for examining the atomic world in March. It will then be shut down in 2025 and upgraded again, for its fourth run in 2027. I’m putting this in a space calendar, because, physics is everywhere. Let me have this one. It’s cool.
[April/May] China’s Tianwen-1 rover lands on Mars
An artist’s impression of the three spacecraft China will send to Mars in the coming weeks.
Nature Astronomy
Tianwen-1, China’s triple threat mission to Mars, left Earth in July and is scheduled to insert itself into Mars orbit in February. However, the Chinese space program will not attempt a touchdown for a few months, with most estimates suggesting late April or early May for the historic event.
China is going big here — an orbiter will continue to circle the red planet, and two spacecraft, a lander and a rover, will be steered to the surface. Mars is typically a very mean-spirited planet: It kills around half of all spacecraft that try to land there, so it’s a huge and daring mission for China’s space agency. It will be able to build on a strong heritage of moon exploration however, with its Chang’e probes achieving incredible feats of space exploration in the last three years.
The fantastically named “super blood wolf moon” of Jan. 20 and 21 was a stunner combining a total lunar eclipse (blood) with January timing (wolf) and a particularly large appearance due to being closer to the Earth (super).
Richard Bell/Kalamazoo Astronomical Society
When the Earth’s shadow covers the moon, you get a lunar eclipse. When the entire moon is shadowed, that’s a total lunar eclipse. And when there’s a full moon in May, it’s known as a “Flower Moon.” That’s how you get a total lunar eclipse of the flower moon… and that’s the first big celestial event of 2021. We have a handy guide for viewing eclipses here. We’ll provide a bigger update as it gets closer to May.
[June 10] Ring of Fire eclipse
Millions of people across eastern Asia and the western US had a great view of the annular eclipse in 2020.
James Martin/CNET
The Johnny Cash eclipse, as it’s affectionately known by nobody except myself, will occur over parts of the Northern Hemisphere on June 10. A ring of fire eclipse occurs when the moon only partially blocks sunlight, leaving a dazzling ring of fire in the sky. The most recent eclipse (an “annular” eclipse, in scientific parlance) occurred in 2020 and it was spectacular. The best places to watch will be across Russia, Canada and Greenland, but there will be plenty of livestreams and places to watch this one, we assume. We’ll bring you all the details as it gets closer.
[June] Boeing Crewed Flight Test
The first crewed Starliner mission could occur as early as June.
Boeing
Provided everything works out exactly as hoped in March, the first crewed test flight of the Starliner could head to the International Space Station in June. Similar to SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission in 2020, this would be the final check for Boeing’s spacecraft before it becomes operational. A big achievement, should it get there.
[July 22] NASA launches DART mission to crash into an asteroid
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NASA’s mission to crash into an asteroid will say “armageddon outta here” on July 22 as it heads toward space rock 68503 Didymos. The rock also has a smaller twin, known as Dimorphos, which orbits it as its personal moon. The “Double Asteroid Redirection Test” will crash into this smaller asteroid (which is about as big as Egypt’s Great Pyramid), and then another mission, led by the European Space Agency for launch in 2024, will study the impact crater and how it changed Dimorphos’ orbit and properties.
If it works, NASA thinks the spacecraft could shift the orbit of Dimorphos by around half a millimeter per second. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but over time, that could dramatically alter its orbital period.
[Oct. 2] BepiColombo flys past Mercury
BepiColombo will release an orbiter to zip around Mercury in 2025.
CNET
BepiColombo, a joint mission between the ESA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), had a pretty big 2020. It was called into action as it performed a flyby of Venus to check for signs of life in the upper atmosphere. In 2021, it performs its first flyby of its intended destination — the planet Mercury. It will be the first in a series of six flybys and culminate in the release of an orbiting craft that will monitor Mercury from 2025.
[Oct. 16] NASA’s Lucy launches on asteroid hunt
NASA’s Lucy will explore six asteroids over the coming decade.
NASA
One of the most ambitious missions on NASA’s slate is known as Lucy, which will attempt to visit eight asteroids over the next decade. It will be the first mission to study the Trojans, a group of asteroids that trail and lead Jupiter in orbit around the sun.
The mission is named after the fossilized remains of an ancestral human discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, which rewrote the history books on human evolution. NASA’s Lucy might end up rewriting the history of the solar system. The Trojans likely harbor clues to the origin of our solar system and operate as time capsules, allowing scientists to understand the environment of the solar system’s earliest eons.
[Oct. 31] NASA’s James Webb Telescope launches
NASA engineer Ernie Wright prepares the first six flight-ready primary mirror segments of the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
NASA/MSFC/David Higginbotham
A particularly spooky launch date for NASA’s long-delayed next- generation space telescope. The planned successor to NASA’s workhorse Hubble, James Webb is a major upgrade to our capabilities in studying the early universe. Granted things go well, it should be able to see some of the earliest galaxies that ever formed.
But it has been a struggle for the telescope to get into space. It’s now coming up to its 25th birthday and it hasn’t even got off the ground — with the pandemic setting it back even further. Granted this launch date holds, it will be a big (and spooky) day for NASA. Another fingers crossed mission.
[Dec. 4] Darkness descends on Antarctica
The only total eclipse of 2021 will occur over Antarctica.
Jonathan Ordonez/Getty
If you’re some of the scattered wildlife that spends time in Antarctica (or perhaps some lucky researchers), then you’ll be able to catch the only total solar eclipse of 2021, when the moon blocks light from the sun over the icy continent.
The next total solar eclipse after that won’t be until 2023 and it will only be visible in parts of Southeast Asia and Australia. The US will experience a total solar eclipse in 2024.
Artemis I is coming (perhaps)
“Earth blue, rocket red and lunar silver” is how NASA describes the colors used in the logo for the Artemis program. The logo pulls from the history of the Apollo program.
NASA
NASA’s plan to return humans to the moon in 2024 involves a series of missions under the Artemis banner. The very first Artemis mission, Artemis I, is scheduled to launch in 2021. The missions will use a huge, new rocket known as the Space Launch System, or SLS, which will carry an uncrewed spacecraft known as Orion to lunar orbit.
NASA has discussed this one for November, but there’s every chance it will slip later than that and potentially to 2022. If the mission succeeds, we might see Artemis II — with a human crew — launch in 2023.
Will Chandrayaan-3 launch in 2021?
India launched Chandrayaan-2 to the moon in 2019, but a software glitch caused a “hard landing.”
ISRO
In 2019, the Indian space agency, ISRO, attempted to make history by becoming the fourth nation to soft-land on the surface of the moon. Unfortunately, things went awry. A software glitch caused the spacecraft, Chandrayaan-2, to careen into the moon’s surface. The mission was designed to land at the lunar south pole, which would have been a historic first. Almost as soon as Chandrayaan-2’s unfortunate ending came to light, India announced it would try again,with Chandrayaan-3.
The mission was slated to launch in 2020, but pandemic. Will it launch in 2021? That’s what ISRO is shooting for.
Steve Brown grabbed this magnificent time-lapse of star trails during the Perseid meteor shower.
Steve Brown
Throughout the year, CNET will have bespoke coverage of when and how to catch each meteor shower listed below. If you bookmark this page, you can just return here at your leisure — or, remember to check CNET for the latest on how to spot meteors!
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
