Title: The Year in Review: A Dozen Dramatic Failures Amid Stellar Achievements in Space Exploration
Though 2025 marked a year of remarkable triumphs in space exploration, it was also a year that reminded us of the formidable risks associated with venturing into the final frontier. From fiery launchpad mishaps to spacecraft failures in the void of outer space, here are 12 times rockets and spacecraft crashed and burned this year.
1. The year kicked off with a setback for the ambitious Mars One project. The unmanned test flight, meant to pave the way for future human colonization of the Red Planet, ended in a disastrous explosion just minutes after launch in January.
2. February saw the loss of the Jupiter-bound Europa Clipper. A malfunction during launch caused the spacecraft to veer off course and plunge into the Pacific Ocean.
3. The next mishap came in April when the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying a payload of Starlink satellites, suffered a first-stage engine failure and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.
4. In June, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft bound for the International Space Station (ISS) failed to reach orbit, unfortunately destroying crucial research equipment onboard.
5. In the same month, China’s Chang’e 7 lunar rover, designed to explore the Moon’s polar regions, failed during descent and crashed onto the lunar surface.
6. July witnessed a dramatic failure when Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft crash-landed in the West Texas desert due to a parachute failure during re-entry.
7. In August, a technical glitch caused the loss of the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter, which was designed to study the Sun’s polar regions.
8. In September, India’s second Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM-2) suffered a catastrophic failure during launch, resulting in the loss of the spacecraft.
9. October was a tough month for NASA as the much anticipated James Webb Space Telescope failed to deploy its sunshield properly, leading to overheating and failure of its sensitive instruments.
10. In November, SpaceX’s Starship prototype exploded during a high-altitude test flight, marking another setback for Elon Musk’s ambitious plan to colonize Mars.
11. December saw the failure of Japan’s Hayabusa3 asteroid sample-return mission. The spacecraft malfunctioned while attempting to land on the asteroid Ryugu and crashed into its surface.
12. In the same month, a Virgin Galactic suborbital flight crashed during re-entry due to a control system malfunction, fortunately without any loss of life.
These incidents serve as stark reminders that space exploration is a high-risk endeavor. Each failure, however, also brings valuable lessons, contributing to the continuous improvement of technology and safety protocols. Despite these setbacks, the spirit of space exploration remains unbroken as we continue to push the boundaries of human knowledge and capabilities.
Read more from the original source here: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/11-times-rockets-and-spacecraft-crashed-and-burned-in-2025.