![rocket](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2019-12/01-space-china-change-4-lunar-lander_china-lunar-exploration-program-the-planetary-society.jpg?itok=4ejfZKeF)
China’s Chang’e 4 Moon Landing
Credit: China Lunar Exploration Program/The Planetary Society
China’s Chang’e 4 probe on Jan. 3 became the first spacecraft to soft-land on the far side of the Moon. The lander and its Yutu-2 rover were launched on Dec. 8, 2018, from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China on a Long March 3B.
![space](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2019-12/02-space-nasa_opportunity_nasa.jpg?itok=Rd40K2MK)
Opportunity’s Mars Mission Ends
Credit: NASA
Efforts to reestablish communication with NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity ended Feb. 13 after being out of contact with Earth since June 2018—its solar panels apparently blanketed by a global dust storm. Intended to operate for 90 days, the rover landed on Mars in January 2004, three weeks after its twin, Spirit.
![space](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2019-12/03-space-spacex-crew-dragon_nasa.jpg?itok=7176VmNI)
SpaceX Crew Dragon Docks with ISS
Credit: NASA
SpaceX’s unmanned Crew Dragon docked to the International Space Station on March 3, a key milestone in NASA’s quest to restore U.S. human transportation services to low Earth orbit. Progress toward the first crewed flight hit a major hurdle when a capsule exploded during static fire ground tests in April.
![aircraft](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2019-12/04-space-stratolaunch-first-flight_stratolaunch-systems.jpg?itok=9QLTN3Qe)
Stratolaunch Flies
Credit: Stratolaunch Systems
The Scaled Composites-built Stratolaunch air-launched rocket carrier made its first flight on April 13, becoming the largest aircraft by wingspan to fly. Stratolaunch Systems suspended work shortly after that flight, following the 2018 death of backer Paul Allen, but later resumed operations under new ownership.
![space](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2019-12/05-space-maxar_power_propulsion_element_spacecraft_nasa.jpg?itok=xTtwX1Rr)
Maxar Wins Gateway Contract
Credit: NASA
NASA in May awarded Maxar Technologies the hotly competed contract to build a high-power solar-electric satellite bus that will become the base module of the planned lunar-orbiting Gateway. At 50 kW, the spacecraft has three times more power than previous solar-electric propulsion systems.
![spaceplane](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2019-12/06-space-drop-test_virgin-orbit.jpg?itok=4RyHBcw-)
Virgin Orbit Drop Test
Credit: Virgin Orbit
Small-satellite launch startup Virgin Orbit in July completed an unpowered flight test of its two-stage, liquid-fueled LauncherOne expendable rocket, paving the way for a trial run to space early in 2020. The rocket was dropped from beneath the wing of the company’s customized Boeing 747-400, “Cosmic Girl”.
![aircraft](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2019-12/07-space-starhopper_spacex.jpg?itok=FTabXE_W)
SpaceX Flies Starhopper
Credit: SpaceX
In a key test of the powerful Raptor staged-combustion rocket engine for SpaceX’s next-generation Starship launch vehicle, the Starhopper vertical-takeoff-and-landing demonstrator completed a 57-sec. flight at its Boca Chica test site near Brownsville, Texas, on Aug. 27. Reaching a maximum altitude of around 500 ft., it translated horizontally to a vertical landing on a nearby landing pad.
![space](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2019-12/08-space-chndrayaan-liftoffimage11_isro.jpg?itok=Zxy2UI96)
India Lander Crashes on Moon
Credit: ISRO
India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission ended Sept. 6 when the Vikram lander, carrying the small Pragyan rover, crashed while attempting an automated soft landing at the Moon’s south pole. After separating from the orbiter on Sept. 2, it deviated from the planned trajectory and lost its signal during descent on Sept. 6.
![engine](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2019-12/09-space-reaction-precooler_reaction-engines.jpg?itok=K13n9I7Z)
Reaction Engines Precooler Succeeds
Credit: Reaction Engines
Reaction Engines’ precooler ran at Mach 5 temperatures in October. The tests validated for the first time the capability of the novel heat-exchanger design to enable the UK company’s SABRE air-breathing rocket engine to operate at hypersonic flight conditions for atmospheric and space access applications.
![space](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2019-12/10-space-starlink-satellites_spacex.jpg?itok=OPDKq2gV)
SpaceX Builds Starlink Constellation
Credit: SpaceX
![space](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2019-12/11-space-cst-100-starlinr-booster_nasa.jpg?itok=NcI6B4of)
Boeing Starliner Flight Glitch
Credit: NASA
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner crew capsule was launched into space for the first time on Dec. 20, but a timer issue prevented the unmanned spacecraft’s engine from firing as required to reach the International Space Station. A parachute landing on White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, is still planned for Dec. 22.
It was a year of successes and failures, of beginnings and endings, for the space community in 2019. Here are some highlights of an eventful 12 months.