2024 In Spaceflight
2024 saw new world records for orbital launch attempts and successful orbital launches for the fourth consecutive year. Notable milestones included the successful maiden launches of the American Vulcan Centaur and China's Gravity-1, and Long March 12 rockets. The European Ariane 6 rocket also conducted its inaugural flight, though it experienced a partial failure. SpaceX advanced its Starship development, with flight test 5 achieving the first landing of its first stage. Additionally, the final launch of a Delta family rocket, a Delta IV Heavy variant, occurred in April. In September, the private Polaris Dawn mission made history by performing the first commercial spacewalk, during which two crew members exited their Crew Dragon spacecraft. This mission set a new record for the number of individuals—four—simultaneously exposed to the vacuum of space. Two significant scientific missions were launched in October: NASA's Europa Clipper to Jupiter's moon Europa to l ...
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