2025 promises to be a thrilling year for space exploration. Several countries and companies have big plans. Let's dive in!

First stop: the moon. NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program is backing three private missions. Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost and ispace's Resilience lander and Tenacious rover are both set to launch this month. Blue Ghost aims to explore Mare Crisium, while Resilience and Tenacious are headed to Mare Frigoris. Last year, ispace’s attempt to land on the moon didn't go as planned, but they're trying again.

NASA isn't just focusing on the moon. Their SPHEREx mission, launching in late February, will map the whole sky in optical and near-infrared light. This two-year mission hopes to find signs of life and learn more about galaxy formation.

Speaking of NASA, two astronauts who've been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) since June are finally coming home in March. They'll spend nearly a year in space when they return in a SpaceX capsule.

India is also making waves. An astronaut from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to visit the ISS on a commercial mission this spring. And India is working on its own crewed spacecraft for a 2026 launch.

A new private space station, Haven-1, is expected to launch this August. It's designed for astronauts and will be the first of its kind.

China isn't sitting this year out. They plan to launch a mission to collect samples from an asteroid called Kamo’oalewa this spring. If successful, this will be another big win for China's space program.

Space Adventures Await in 2025: From Moon Missions to Asteroid Chases

Actions