2025 in SPACEFLIGHT: The incredible missions set to take off next year, revealed - from China's daring asteroid retrieval to the first private trip to Venus

From NASA's mission to study Jupiter's icy moon Europa to Elon Musk's SpaceX catching its Starship rocket mid-air, there's no doubt 2024 saw some incredible space feats. 'In 2024, NASA made leap after giant leap to explore, discover, and inspire – all while bringing real, tangible, and substantial benefits to the American people and to all of humanity,' said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. And 2025 is set to be an even more remarkable year for space agencies and companies around the world, who have an assortment of exciting missions lined up. Among them are NASA, which is sending two twin spacecraft to Mars – although its upcoming return to the moon has been delayed yet again. There's also the European Space Agency, which is set to launch its futuristic'Space Rider' spaceplane – described as a'robotic laboratory the size of two minivans'.