Technicians lower a special fixture around an Orion spacecraft inside the high bay of the Operations & Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Tim Jacobs

In 2013, NASA will push ahead with an ambitious exploration program, continuing crew flights and commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station, and advancing the systems needed to send humans deeper into space. We'll also be launching a new mission to the Red Planet, learning about our own planet, understanding our place in the universe, and developing technologies that benefit us right here on Earth.

We'll be watching the skies with you when meteor showers, asteroid encounters and eclipses capture your attention, and we'll surely make scientific discoveries and technological advances we haven't even planned for yet. Meanwhile, we already have a busy launch schedule planned, with destinations from the International Space Station to Mars.

2013 Launches:

For current dates, visit: NASA's Consolidated Launch Schedule.

• The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRS) will update NASA's space communications network.

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRS) K/L single access antenna. Photo credit: Boeing

• The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) will gather valuable data and imagery of Earth to be used in agriculture, education, business, science, and government.

• Several International Space Station Expeditions head to the orbital outpost, beginning with Expedition 35 in March.

• The Orbital Sciences Corporation plans tests flight with the goal of sending its Cygnus capsule to the International Space Station.

• Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) plans the second and third contracted commercial resupply flights to the International Space Station.

• The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) looks to increase our understanding of energy transport into the Sun's corona and solar wind, and provide an archetype for all stellar atmospheres.

  Orbital Sciences Corporation's Antares rocket at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility launch pad. Photo credit: NASA

• The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) will gather detailed information about conditions near the lunar surface and environmental influences on lunar dust.

• The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission to Mars is the first devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere, with a goal of understanding how Mars changed through time.

Last Updated: 28 December 2012