What 'breakthroughs' will the space industry have in 2018?

The GSLV-F09 rocket is on the launch pad. This time the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft will be launched on the GSLV-F10 rocket - Photo: ISRO

Here are some highlights from the BBC:

India visits "Mother Moon"

Chandrayaan-2 (India), the "successor" of the 2008 Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe, is responsible for exploring the moon.

While its predecessor only orbited the moon, Chandrayaan-2 was tasked with landing on the surface and visiting the home of the "Moon Sister". The craft was developed by the Indian National Space Agency (ISRO) based on the old craft.

The GSLV-F10 rocket will carry the Chandrayaan-2 mission into space from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra, possibly in March next year.

NASA's plan to conquer Mars - Photo: NASA

Leaving Earth for the "red planet"

In May, NASA will launch the InSight spacecraft to Mars, which is expected to arrive in November.InSight stands for "Interior exploration using seismic, geodetic, and heat transport methods."

InSight will use a complex set of instruments to probe deep below the surface of the "red planet" to explain the geological formation process here.

InSight will also listen for signals of earthquakes on Mars, helping to provide scientists with more information about its internal structure.

The H-IIA rocket launched in 2014 carrying the Hayabusa-2 spacecraft - Photo: AP

Japan, EU conquer asteroid

In July, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft will reach the asteroid 1162173 Ryugu.

Previously in 2014, the Hayabusa-2 spacecraft launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan using an H-IIA rocket.

The spacecraft's mission is to collect samples of rock and soil on the asteroid and return to Earth, expected in 2020.

The "predecessor" Hayabusa-1 captured incredible images while exploring the Itokawa asteroid. Despite some mishaps, Hayabusa-1 still returned to Earth with rich spoils for scientists.

Engineers have modified Hayabusa-1 to create this spacecraft with the mission of collecting more data and being able to send more mini robots to the surface of the asteroid Ryugu.

NASA's Osiris-Rex spacecraft launched in 2016 - Source: NASA

Japan isn't the only country launching an asteroid exploration mission in 2018. NASA's Osiris-Rex spacecraft, launched in 2016, will reach asteroid Bennu in August.

The Bennu asteroid was chosen by scientists because of its carbon-rich surface to learn more about the formation of the solar system.

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will not land but will use a probe that resembles a mosquito's proboscis to collect rock and soil samples to bring back to Earth for analysis.

BepiColombo spacecraft on a mission to explore Mercury - Photo: ESA

Start exploring Mercury

Finally, Europe and Japan will launch a mission to explore the solar system's first planet: Mercury.

The mission, carried out by the BepiColombo spacecraft, will seek further insights into Mercury following NASA's Messenger spacecraft.

The ship has an unusual design as it can accommodate two small ships - one European and one Japanese.

The two spacecraft will separate from the mothership upon arrival at Mercury and fly in two different but complementary orbits around Mercury with missions that include drawing detailed maps and exploring Mercury's magnetic field.

Billionaire Elon Musk revealed a "huge" spaceship model on Twitter - Photo: Twitter

Private Space Race

2018 will be the year billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX company launches one of the most powerful rockets ever produced in the Falcon Heavy line.

In December, Elon Musk released photos of the giant craft being tested at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

A 70m-long ship has been designed to carry 57 tonnes into space, allowing SpaceX to enter the new rocket launch market with the goal of sending astronauts into Earth orbit.

However, SpaceX and other private spaceflight companies will likely have to wait until 2019.

Soyuz rockets are currently responsible for taking American astronauts to the international space station after the country's space shuttle mission ended - Photo: NASA

SpaceX and Boeing are now working to launch the first spacecraft from US soil since NASA's last space shuttle retired in 2011. Since then, the US has relied on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to transport people to the ISS.

Both companies plan their strategy: first conduct unmanned test flights to gather technical information. Then they plan to try to send astronauts on their vehicles.

Because the lives of astronauts are involved, it is very likely that the process will be delayed.

But any progress by both SpaceX and Boeing next year will be noted and could start to yield contracts to transport astronauts to the space station later.