Science & Technology · Space · UPSC GS-III
Important Space Missions by World Agencies 🌍🚀
Comprehensive UPSC Notes — NASA, ESA, JAXA, China, and international missions. Covering Artemis (launched Apr 2026!), JUICE, Europa Clipper, BepiColombo, Xuntian, Tiangong, Hayabusa, Dragonfly, SKA, EHT, and more. With current affairs updated to April 2026.
🔴 LIVE: Artemis 2 — Crew Returning from Moon (Apr 10, 2026)
JUICE Venus Flyby Done (Aug 2025)
Europa Clipper En Route (Oct 2024)
Xuntian Telescope Launch Late 2026
BepiColombo Mercury Orbit Nov 2026
Section 01 — Breaking Current Affairs 🔴
🚀 Artemis Programme — Humans Return to the Moon
🔴 LIVE UPDATE (Apr 10, 2026): Artemis II launched on April 1, 2026 — the first crewed mission beyond Low Earth Orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. Four astronauts (NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch + CSA's Jeremy Hansen) flew past the Moon on April 6, reaching 252,760 miles from Earth — surpassing the Apollo 13 record. Splashdown expected April 10 off San Diego.
| Mission | Date | Type | Key Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artemis I | Nov 2022 | Uncrewed test | SLS rocket + Orion capsule; flew around Moon and back; tested heat shield |
| Artemis II | Apr 1, 2026 | Crewed flyby | First crewed lunar flight since 1972. 4 astronauts. ~10 days. Broke Apollo 13 distance record. Splashdown Apr 10. |
| Artemis III | ~2028 | Crewed landing | First humans on Moon since 1972. Will use SpaceX Starship HLS as lander. First woman + first person of colour on Moon. |
| Artemis IV+ | 2029+ | Sustained presence | Establishing "Moon Base" for long-term habitation. Building toward crewed Mars missions. |
📌 Exam Note: Artemis uses NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) — the most powerful rocket ever built — and the Orion spacecraft (with European Service Module built by ESA). The programme involves NASA, ESA, JAXA, CSA (Canada), and commercial partners (SpaceX, Blue Origin). Lunar Gateway — the planned lunar-orbiting station — was cancelled in March 2026. The programme now focuses directly on "Moon Base" surface operations.
Section 02 — NASA (USA)
🇺🇸 Key NASA Missions
| Mission | Target | Type | Key Facts | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artemis II | Moon | Crewed flyby | SLS + Orion. 4 astronauts. Broke Apollo 13 distance record. | Launched Apr 1, 2026 |
| Europa Clipper | Jupiter's moon Europa | Orbiter (49 flybys) | Launched Oct 2024 on Falcon Heavy. Mars flyby Mar 2025. Earth flyby Dec 2026. Studies subsurface ocean & habitability. | In transit → Apr 2030 |
| New Horizons | Pluto / Kuiper Belt | Flyby + heliophysics | Pluto (2015), Arrokoth (2019). First Lyman-alpha map (2025). First interstellar navigation (2025). Now ~62 AU from Sun. | Active (hibernation) |
| Juno | Jupiter | Orbiter | Studying Jupiter's interior, atmosphere, magnetosphere. Extended to flyby Io and Europa. | Active — extended |
| DART | Asteroid Dimorphos | Kinetic impactor | Successfully deflected asteroid Dimorphos (Sep 2022) — first planetary defence test. Part of AIDA with ESA's Hera. | Complete ✓ |
| Dragonfly | Saturn's moon Titan | Rotorcraft lander | Will fly through Titan's thick atmosphere. Explore surface chemistry & potential habitability. | Launch ~2028 |
| Nancy Grace Roman | Deep space survey | Space telescope | 2.4 m mirror. 100× wider FoV than Hubble. Dark energy, exoplanets, 288-megapixel camera. | Launch by May 2027 |
| SPHEREx | Entire sky | IR survey telescope | Launched Feb 2025. Mapping 450M galaxies + 100M stars in 96 colour bands. | Active ✓ |
| OSIRIS-REx / APEX | Asteroids Bennu / Apophis | Sample return + flyby | Returned Bennu samples Sep 2023. Now heading to asteroid Apophis (arrives Apr 2029). | In transit |
Section 03 — ESA (Europe)
🇪🇺 Key ESA Missions
| Mission | Target | Type | Key Facts | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JUICE | Jupiter's icy moons | Orbiter | Launched Apr 2023. Venus flyby Aug 2025 ✓. Imaged interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Will study Ganymede, Europa, Callisto. First non-American outer solar system mission. | In transit → Jul 2031 |
| BepiColombo | Mercury | Orbiter (2 craft) | Joint ESA + JAXA. 6th Mercury flyby Jan 2025 ✓. Will split into 2 orbiters at Mercury. | Mercury orbit Nov 2026 |
| Hera | Asteroid Dimorphos | Inspector | Launched Oct 2024. Mars flyby Mar 2025. Will inspect DART impact crater on Dimorphos. | In transit → Dec 2026 |
| Solar Orbiter | Sun | Probe | Perihelion just 42M km from Sun. Studies solar wind, magnetic fields, polar regions. | Active |
| Rosetta | Comet 67P | Orbiter + lander | First to orbit & land on a comet (2014). Lander: Philae. Ended 2016. | Complete ✓ |
| EnVision | Venus | Orbiter | Part of ESA Cosmic Vision. High-resolution surface mapping + subsurface radar. | Launch ~2031 |
| Comet Interceptor | Long-period comet | Flyby | Will park at Sun-Earth L2 and wait to intercept a pristine comet. | Launch ~2029 |
| ATHENA | Deep space | X-ray observatory | Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics. Next-gen X-ray space telescope. | ~2037 |
| LISA | Deep space | Gravitational wave detector | Three spacecraft in triangular formation. First space-based gravitational wave observatory. | ~2035 |
| Copernicus | Earth | Earth observation | 6 families of Sentinel satellites. Full, free, open data. India joined in 2018 — data exchange with ISRO. | Operational |
📌 ESA Cosmic Vision: ESA's long-term space exploration programme (similar to NASA's Discovery / New Frontiers). Includes missions like CHEOPS (exoplanet characterisation), JUICE, EnVision, ATHENA, LISA, and Comet Interceptor.
Section 04 — JAXA (Japan)
🇯🇵 Key JAXA Missions
| Mission | Target | Type | Key Facts | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hayabusa 2 | Asteroid Ryugu | Sample return | Launched 2014. Returned samples 2020. Found uracil (RNA molecule) & Vitamin B3 — ingredients of life! | Complete ✓ (samples analysed) |
| Akatsuki | Venus | Orbiter | Studies Venus atmosphere, super-rotation (300+ km/h winds), cloud structure. | Operational |
| SLIM | Moon | Precision lander | Landed Jan 2024 — Japan became 5th country on Moon. "Moon Sniper" — landed within 55m of target. | Complete ✓ |
| MMX | Mars moons (Phobos) | Sample return | Martian Moons eXploration. Will collect samples from Phobos and return to Earth. | Launch ~2026 |
| Kounotori | ISS / Space debris | Cargo + cleanup | "White Stork" — ISS cargo deliveries. Later versions designed for space debris removal. | Complete |
| BIRDS Project | Capacity building | Satellite training | Helps non-spacefaring nations build their first satellite. Participants include Ghana, Mongolia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Philippines, Malaysia. | Ongoing |
📌 HERACLES: A joint lunar mission of ESA, JAXA, and Canada — Human-Enhanced Robotic Architecture and Capability for Lunar Exploration and Science.
Section 05 — China (CNSA / CMSA)
🇨🇳 Key Chinese Missions
| Mission/Facility | Type | Key Facts | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiangong Space Station | Crewed station | 3 modules: Tianhe (core), Wentian, Mengtian. 77 tonnes. Permanently crewed (3 astronauts). One of only 2 operational stations (with ISS). One crew member to stay 1+ year in 2026. Hosts experiments from 17 countries incl. India. | Operational |
| Xuntian Telescope | Space telescope | "Surveying the Heavens." 2m mirror, 2.5B-pixel camera. Field of view 300× wider than Hubble. Will co-orbit with Tiangong — can dock for servicing. Near-UV to near-IR. Surveys 40% of sky. | Launch late 2026 / early 2027 |
| Chang'e 6 | Lunar sample return | Returned samples from far side of Moon (Jun 2024) — world first! From South Pole-Aitken Basin. | Complete ✓ |
| Tianwen-1 | Mars orbiter + rover | Zhurong rover landed May 2021. China's first Mars mission. Studied geology, ice deposits. | Complete (rover dormant) |
| Mengzhou | Next-gen crewed capsule | Larger than Shenzhou. Can carry 6–7 astronauts. Designed for Moon missions. Reusable. | Uncrewed test ~mid-2026 |
| FAST / Tianyan | Radio telescope | 500-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope. "Sky Eye" / "Eye of Heaven." World's largest filled-aperture radio telescope. | Operational |
📌 Earlier Chinese Stations: Tiangong-1 (launched 2011, retired 2018) → Tiangong-2 (launched 2016) → current modular Tiangong (2021–present). Cargo craft: Tianzhou series. China excluded from ISS by the US Wolf Amendment (2011), which prohibits NASA–China cooperation.
Section 06 — Major Telescopes & Observatories
🔭 Space & Ground Telescopes
| Telescope | Type | Key Facts | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hubble Space Telescope | Space (UV/Vis/IR) | NASA+ESA. 2.4m mirror. Launched 1990. One-gyro mode since Jun 2024. 22,000+ papers. Discovered Cloud-9 dark matter relic (Jan 2026). | Active (limited) |
| James Webb (JWST) | Space (Infrared) | NASA+ESA+CSA. 6.5m gold mirror. At Sun-Earth L2. Sees through dust/gas. Launched Dec 2021. | Active |
| Nancy Grace Roman | Space (Vis/NIR) | NASA. 2.4m mirror (same as Hubble). 100× wider FoV. Dark energy + exoplanets. Construction complete (Nov 2025). | Launch by May 2027 |
| Xuntian (CSST) | Space (UV/Vis/NIR) | China. 2m mirror. 300× wider FoV than Hubble. 2.5B-pixel camera. Can dock with Tiangong for servicing. | Launch late 2026 |
| Event Horizon Telescope | Ground (radio array) | Network of 8 radio telescopes worldwide. First-ever image of a black hole (M87*, 2019). Effectively Earth-sized telescope. | Operational |
| FAST / Tianyan | Ground (radio) | China. 500m dish. World's largest. Studies pulsars, fast radio bursts, galaxy mapping. | Operational |
| GMRT | Ground (radio) | Near Pune, India. 30 steerable dishes × 45m each. Studies pulsars, neutron stars, galaxies. | Operational |
| Thirty Meter Telescope | Ground (optical) | Multi-wavelength. Proposed sites: Mauna Kea (Hawaii), Hanle (India). Funded by Canada, China, Japan, India. | In development |
| Square Kilometre Array (SKA) | Ground (radio) | World's biggest radio facility. Arrays in Australia + South Africa. Combined area = 1 km². Can see cosmic dawn. India withdrew in 2020 (budget). | Under construction |
📌 SKA Significance: Will enable us to look at the cosmic dawn — when the first stars and galaxies formed (~400 million years after the Big Bang) — by mapping hydrogen formation. Will also study neutron stars, organic molecules around new planets, and the large-scale structure of the universe. India was initially a partner but withdrew in 2020 due to budgetary constraints.
Section 07 — Current Affairs 🆕
🆕 Key Updates (2024–2026)
Apr 2026Artemis II — Humans Fly Past Moon 🔴
First crewed flight beyond LEO since 1972. 4 astronauts launched Apr 1, 2026 on SLS rocket. Passed Moon on Apr 6 at 4,067 miles. Set new farthest-human-from-Earth record: 252,760 miles. Splashdown Apr 10. Canada's Jeremy Hansen = first non-American beyond LEO.
Oct 2024Europa Clipper Launched
NASA's mission to study Europa's subsurface ocean. Launched on SpaceX Falcon Heavy. Mars gravity assist Mar 2025 ✓. Earth flyby Dec 2026. Arrival at Jupiter Apr 2030. Will conduct 49 flybys of Europa.
Aug 2025JUICE Venus Flyby Complete
ESA's JUICE successfully flew past Venus on Aug 31, 2025 at 5,088 km altitude, gaining 5.1 km/s velocity. Also imaged interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in Nov 2025. Next: Earth flyby Sep 2026. Arrives Jupiter Jul 2031.
Nov 2026BepiColombo Arrives at Mercury
Joint ESA-JAXA mission. 6th Mercury flyby completed Jan 2025. Will enter Mercury orbit November 2026 — splitting into 2 separate orbiters to study Mercury's composition, atmosphere, and geology.
Late 2026Xuntian Space Telescope Launch
China's 2m space telescope with 300× Hubble's field of view. Launch on Long March 5B. Co-orbits with Tiangong for servicing. 2.5-billion-pixel camera. Will survey 40% of the sky over 10 years.
Jun 2024Chang'e 6 — Far Side Samples
China returned the first-ever samples from the Moon's far side (South Pole-Aitken Basin). A world first. Samples being analysed for lunar history and water ice potential.
Mar 2026Lunar Gateway Cancelled
NASA's planned lunar-orbiting space station was cancelled in March 2026. Artemis programme now focuses directly on "Moon Base" surface operations instead.
2025Tiangong: 1-Year Crew Trial
China plans to have one Shenzhou-22 crew member stay aboard Tiangong for over one year — testing long-duration space habitation. Plus Mengzhou (next-gen capsule) uncrewed test mid-2026.
Section 08
🇮🇳 India's Connection to Global Space Programmes
📌 Key India–World Links:
Copernicus–India (2018): India joined ESA's Earth observation programme. European Commission provides free access to Sentinel data. In return, ISRO shares data from Oceansat-2, Megha-Tropiques, Scatsat-1, SARAL, INSAT-3D, INSAT-3DR (excluding commercial high-res data).
GMRT (near Pune): India's Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope — 30 dishes × 45m. Studies pulsars, neutron stars, galaxies. Upgraded to uGMRT — one of the world's most sensitive low-frequency radio telescopes.
Thirty Meter Telescope: India is a funding partner alongside Canada, China, Japan. Proposed Indian site: Hanle, Ladakh.
SKA: India was initially a partner but withdrew from SKAO in 2020 due to budgetary constraints.
Tiangong: India is one of 17 countries with experiments hosted on China's Tiangong station.
Artemis Accords: India signed the Artemis Accords in June 2023 — a framework for cooperative lunar exploration led by NASA.
Section 09 — Practice
📝 UPSC-Style MCQs
Q1Artemis II, launched in April 2026, is significant because:
a) It landed humans on Mars for the first time
b) It is the first crewed mission beyond Low Earth Orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972
c) It deployed the Lunar Gateway space station in lunar orbit
d) It was the first uncrewed test of the SLS rocket
Artemis II is a crewed lunar flyby — the first crewed flight beyond LEO since Apollo 17 (1972). It did not land on the Moon (that's Artemis III). Lunar Gateway was cancelled. Artemis I was the uncrewed test. Answer: (b).
Q2Consider the following missions:
1. JUICE — ESA mission to Jupiter's icy moons
2. Europa Clipper — NASA mission to Jupiter's moon Europa
3. BepiColombo — NASA mission to Venus
Which of the above is/are correctly described?
1. JUICE — ESA mission to Jupiter's icy moons
2. Europa Clipper — NASA mission to Jupiter's moon Europa
3. BepiColombo — NASA mission to Venus
Which of the above is/are correctly described?
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
JUICE (ESA, Jupiter moons ✓) and Europa Clipper (NASA, Europa ✓) are correct. BepiColombo is a joint ESA–JAXA mission to Mercury, not NASA to Venus. Answer: (a).
Q3China's Xuntian space telescope is significant because:
a) It has the largest mirror of any space telescope at 6.5 metres
b) It is primarily designed to observe X-ray wavelengths
c) It has a field of view 300 times wider than Hubble and can dock with Tiangong for servicing
d) It will orbit the Sun at the L2 Lagrange point alongside JWST
Xuntian's 2m mirror is smaller than JWST's 6.5m (option a is wrong). It observes UV/Vis/NIR, not X-ray (b wrong). It orbits in LEO co-orbiting with Tiangong, not at L2 (d wrong). Its 300× wider field of view and docking capability for servicing are its key features. Answer: (c).
Q4The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) observatory:
1. Has arrays being built in Australia and South Africa.
2. Will be able to observe the cosmic dawn when the first stars formed.
3. India is a founding member and active participant.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1. Has arrays being built in Australia and South Africa.
2. Will be able to observe the cosmic dawn when the first stars formed.
3. India is a founding member and active participant.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1, 2 and 3
d) 1 only
Statements 1 (arrays in Australia and South Africa ✓) and 2 (can observe cosmic dawn ✓) are correct. India withdrew from SKAO in 2020 due to budgetary constraints, so statement 3 is incorrect. Answer: (a).
Section 10
🧠 Memory Aid — Quick Recall
🔑 Lock These In for Prelims Day
ARTEMIS
NASA Moon programme. SLS rocket + Orion capsule. I = uncrewed (2022). II = crewed flyby (Apr 2026 🔴). III = landing (~2028). Gateway cancelled Mar 2026 → Moon Base instead.
JUICE
ESA → Jupiter's icy moons (Ganymede, Europa, Callisto). Launched Apr 2023. Venus flyby Aug 2025. Arrival Jul 2031. First non-American outer solar system mission.
EUROPA CLIP
NASA → Europa (Jupiter's moon). Subsurface ocean + habitability. Launched Oct 2024. Arrives Apr 2030. 49 flybys of Europa.
BEPICOLOMBO
ESA + JAXA → Mercury. Mercury orbit Nov 2026. 2 orbiters will separate. Study composition, surface, magnetic field.
XUNTIAN
China's telescope. 2m mirror. 300× wider FoV than Hubble. Can dock with Tiangong. Launch late 2026. Surveys 40% of sky.
TIANGONG
China's space station. 3 modules (Tianhe + Wentian + Mengtian). 77 tonnes. Only 2 stations operational (with ISS). Wolf Amendment → China excluded from ISS.
HAYABUSA 2
JAXA → Asteroid Ryugu. Returned samples 2020. Found uracil (RNA) + Vitamin B3 → ingredients of life.
DART
NASA. First planetary defence test. Deflected asteroid Dimorphos (Sep 2022). ESA's Hera inspecting the impact (arrives Dec 2026).
EHT
Event Horizon Telescope. First image of a black hole (M87*, 2019). Network of 8 radio telescopes = Earth-sized virtual telescope.
SKA
World's biggest radio facility. Arrays in Australia + S. Africa. See cosmic dawn. India withdrew 2020 (budget).
COPERNICUS
ESA Earth observation. 6 Sentinel families. India joined 2018 — mutual data exchange with ISRO satellites.
FAST
China's 500m radio dish. "Sky Eye." World's largest filled-aperture radio telescope.
Section 11
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between JUICE and Europa Clipper?
Both go to Jupiter's moons but from different agencies with different focuses. JUICE (ESA) is a broader mission studying three moons — Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto — before entering Ganymede orbit. It arrives Jul 2031. Europa Clipper (NASA) is focused specifically on Europa, performing 49 close flybys to study its subsurface ocean and habitability. It arrives Apr 2030 — over a year before JUICE. The two missions will overlap at Jupiter, enabling unprecedented dual-spacecraft observations.
What is the Wolf Amendment and why does China have its own space station?
The Wolf Amendment (2011) is a US law that prohibits NASA from using federal funds to engage in bilateral cooperation with China's space agencies. This effectively excluded China from the International Space Station. As a result, China developed its own space station programme — first with Tiangong-1 (2011) and Tiangong-2 (2016), and now the permanent modular Tiangong station (2021–present), which hosts 17 countries' experiments. China is now also developing its own next-gen crewed capsule (Mengzhou) and the Xuntian space telescope.
Why was the Lunar Gateway cancelled?
NASA's Lunar Gateway — a planned small space station in lunar orbit — was cancelled in March 2026. Under NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (appointed early 2025), the Artemis programme was restructured to focus directly on "Moon Base" surface operations instead. The reasoning was that a surface presence would be more scientifically and strategically valuable than an orbiting station. The programme now targets a sustained human presence on the lunar surface.
What is AIDA and how does it relate to DART and Hera?
AIDA (Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment) is a joint NASA–ESA programme to test whether a spacecraft can deflect an asteroid. It has two components: (1) NASA's DART — which successfully crashed into asteroid Dimorphos in September 2022, altering its orbit by ~32 minutes. This was the first real-world planetary defence test. (2) ESA's Hera — launched October 2024, arriving at Dimorphos in December 2026 to inspect the impact crater and measure the deflection precisely. Together, they prove humanity can potentially defend against asteroid threats.
Section 12
🏁 Conclusion
🌍 A Golden Age of Space Exploration
We are living through an unprecedented period in space exploration. As you read this, four astronauts aboard Artemis II are returning from humanity's first trip past the Moon in over half a century. Europa Clipper is arcing toward Jupiter to search for life beneath Europa's ice. JUICE has already swung past Venus and photographed an interstellar comet. BepiColombo is months away from entering Mercury's orbit. And China is preparing to launch the Xuntian telescope — an observatory that will see the cosmos 300 times wider than Hubble — serviceable by astronauts from the neighbouring Tiangong station.
This is no longer the domain of one or two superpowers. ESA, JAXA, CNSA, ISRO, CSA, and commercial companies are all contributing to a multi-polar space ecosystem. India is embedded in this global fabric — through Copernicus data exchange, Artemis Accords membership, TMT funding, experiments aboard Tiangong, and its own ambitious programmes (Shukrayaan, Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan).
For UPSC aspirants, the key is not just knowing the missions — but understanding the interconnections between agencies, the scientific questions driving each mission, and how India fits into this global architecture.
