The Electro-Optical/Infrared Weather System (EWS) Operational Demonstration-1 (OD-1) is a weather satellite for the United States Space Force. It is a prototype satellite made by General Atomics that will be place in LEO for a three-year demonstration mission of new EO/IR sensor technologies to various US military branches, and to act as a stop-gap for Defense Department needs for weather data.
Sun-Synchronous OrbitTianwen-2 is a planned Chinese asteroid sample return and comet orbiter mission due for launch in May 2025. The spacecraft will visit the Near Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3), collecting samples from its surface using both touch-and-go and anchor-and-drill approaches. It will return the samples back to Earth around 2.5 years after launch, with the main spacecraft proceeding to visit the main-belt comet 311P/PANSTARRS in the mid-2030s.
Asteroid