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TL;DW / Spoiler for awards:
Honourable mentions:
- IM-1: Soft lunar landing, but tipped over
- Ariane 6: Maiden launch, achieved orbit, failed third burn
- SLIM: Soft lunar landing, but upside down
General Awards:
- ADRAS-J: Space debris rendezvous (Astroscale / Rocket Lab)
- PACE: Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem earth-observing satellite (NASA / SpaceX)
- Chang’e 6: First sample return from the far side of the moon (CSNA)
- ACS3: Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (NASA / Rocket Lab)
- H3 flight 2: First successful flight (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries)
- Vulcan successful maiden launch (United Launch Alliance)
- Europa Clipper successful launch (NASA / JPL / SpaceX)
Most Important: Parker Solar Probe (NASA / JHUAPL)
Most Innovative: W-1 in-space crystallization of ritonavir (Varda / Rocket Lab)
Most Inspirational: Starship flight 5 booster catch (SpaceX)
Most Important, Innovative, and Inspiring Mission: Polaris Dawn (SpaceX / Polaris Program)
This is an awesome list of firsts. The booster catch is definitely a defining moment. I’m also here for all the new rockets, Lunar landers, RPOs, in space manufacturing, sample returns… Even with all the missions that slipped into 2025 (New Glenn, Escapade, more landers, Dreamchaser?) there was a ton of success in '24 and plenty more to look forward to.