Forthcoming space-related events include the following. Some are definite, some planned, some possible and some merely speculative. They suggest opportunities for public comment by our associates.
| 14 January 2005 | Scheduled entry of Huygens into Titan's atmosphere, to return 2.5 hours of data while descending, and hopefully a further half hour of transmissions from Titan's surface. |
| March 2005 | Scheduled launch of Cosmos 1, the first solar sail, from a submerged ex-Soviet submarine, on a Volna rocket. |
| 14 May--3 June 2005 | First launch window for return to flight of the surviving NASA Space Shuttles, with launch of STS-114 Discovery. ("Could be delayed into early 2006" -- Spaceflight, May 2004, p.183.) |
| 13 July--1 August 2005 | Second Shuttle RTF launch window. |
| 9-12 September 2005 | Third Shuttle RTF launch window. |
| 7 November 2005 | Fourth Shuttle RTF launch window. |
| Summer 2005 | Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft to arrive at and orbit near-Earth asteroid Itokawa (named for the father of Japanese rocketry). Lander Minerva to hop around on the surface. |
| Second half of 2005 | Shen Zhou 6 with second manned Chinese spaceflight (2 astronauts, 5-day flight). |
| September 2005 | Tenth anniversary of the first discovery of an extrasolar planet orbiting a sunlike star (51 Pegasi). |
| Late 2005 or 2006 | ESA ministerial-level Council meeting to define next stage in Aurora programme. |
| 2005 ?? | First UK manned rocket flight by Starchaser Industries anticipated. (note a) |
| ?? | Possible accident to the International Space Station, forcing the withdrawal of its crew? |
| 10 June 2007 | Hayabusa sample capsule to return to Earth (Australia). |
| 2007 ?? | Virgin Galactic to begin first space tourism services. |
| 10 January 2010 | Expiry date for America's Space Prize, offered by Robert Bigelow for spacecraft to fly 5 people at least 2 orbits at 400km, twice in 60 days. |
| May 2014 | Rosetta due to arrive at comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and go into orbit. Lander Philae to be deployed in November 2014. (Report: Spaceflight, May 2004, p.188-191.) |
| 26 October 2028 (6:30 pm GMT) | Asteroid 1997 XF11 expected to pass by the Earth at 30,000 miles (+/-180,000 miles). Diameter of the asteroid about one mile. |
Note a: Nova 2 capsule on Starchaser 5 reusable rocket, from Woomera (?), to a planned altitude of 10 km. (Back)
Note: 20 July 2005 will be the 36th anniversary of the first Moon landing. 17 December 2003 was the centenary of the Wright brothers' Flyer 1 -- the first powered flight of a manned heavier-than-air craft. To put these flights into some historical perspective, 21 Nov. 2003 was the 220th anniversary of the first unpowered lighter-than-air manned flight (de Rozier and d'Arlandes, in a Montgolfier hot-air balloon, Versailles, 1783). 24 Sept. 2003 was the 151st anniversary of the first powered lighter-than-air manned flight (Henri Giffard, in a hydrogen airship, Paris, 1852).
Last revised 1 Jan. 2005 / 36th Apollo Anniversary Year