The year 2024 was a year of extraordinary advancements and challenges in the space industry, marking a key chapter in humanity’s journey to becoming a spacefaring civilization.

With plans to return to the Moon in 2027 and missions to Mars in about a decade, the industry’s ambitions and capabilities are growing at an impressive pace.

These five milestones ranged from groundbreaking engineering feats to solving environmental problems and even some memorable accidents.

1. Catch Booster SpaceX’s booster is making history

On October 13, SpaceX stunned the world with its successful “wand maneuver” that intercepted a Super Heavy booster from a Starship rocket mid-descent using the launch tower’s mechanical arms.

The dramatic act occurred just a few minutes after takeoff from the star base in South Texas. The precise engineering behind the maneuver is hailed as a transformative step in reusable rocket technology.

“This is absolutely crazy! We successfully captured a superheavy booster back on the launch tower on the first attempt ever,” said Kate Tice, SpaceX’s quality systems engineering manager, during live commentary for the event.

2. Polaris Dawn record mission

The privately funded Polaris Dawn mission launched on September 10 and ushered in a new direction in space exploration.

A SpaceX mission led by tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman has set an altitude record for orbital flights and made the first commercial spacewalk. Using upgraded extravehicular activity suits designed by SpaceX, Isaacman spent 10 minutes outside the Crew Dragon capsule as it orbited at altitudes between 118 and 460 miles.

3. Chang’e-6 returns lunar samples from the far side of the Moon

China cemented its status as a leader in lunar exploration with the successful Chang’e-6 mission, which returned samples from the far side of the moon on June 25.

This groundbreaking effort marked the first time scientists were able to analyze material from this mysterious region. Earlier studies revealed that the samples are looser and more porous than the near-side samples, offering new insights into lunar geology.

In addition to the scientific and technical success of the mission, it secures China’s place as a competitor to the US in the race to return humans to the moon before the end of the decade.

4. Japan launches first wooden satellite

Japan took a creative approach to space sustainability by launching LignoSat, the world’s first wooden satellite, on November 5.

Designed by Kyoto University researchers, the 4-inch cube is made from magnolia wood using traditional techniques. It offers a new solution to the growing problem of space debris. By ensuring that satellites burn up completely during reentry, this innovation reduces the build-up of harmful metallic particles in Earth’s upper atmosphere.

5. ISS astronauts remain stranded in space after Boeing Starliner problems

A challenging year for astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, as well as Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, showed the unpredictable nature of space travel.

The mission was originally planned for just over a week to test the Boeing Starliner spacecraft in June, but technical issues have extended their stay on the International Space Station to six months and counting.

A recent NASA announcement said the Space X Crew-10 mission, which will replace Williams, Wilmore and other members of Crew-9, will not launch until late March at the earliest.