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'.

As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly evolves, it's helpful to take a moment and look closer at how this software has changed so much in a relatively short time frame. From caffeinated beverages crafted by robots to fuel delivery in space aboard an uncrewed spacecraft, AI is being used in new and exciting ways every day. Let's check in with five more experts to see where this emerging technology is heading, an update from this popular post two years ago. The Austin-based company Briggo is having a profound impact on its industry and culture through creativity, passion, and of course, robotics. With robots, the latest mobile technology and cloud computing, Briggo is enabling human progress at its core, says COO Marsha Osborn.

A test version of a'mini space shuttle' has soared over the Mojave Desert in a major step forward for the mini shuttle. Sierra Nevada Corp.'s Dream Chaser was carried to an altitude of 10,000 feet by the civilian version of the Army's CH-47 Chinook, and then dropped to glide to the ground and land on a runway at Edwards Air Force Base in a test of its autonomous landing systems. The uncrewed Dream Chaser made a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base during the free-flight test at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, NASA officials said in a statement Spot the shuttle: Sierra Nevada Corp.'s Dream Chaser was carried to an altitude of 10,000 feet by the civilian version of the Army's CH-47 Chinook, and then dropped to glide to the ground and land on a runway at Edwards Air Force Base in a test of its autonomous landing systems. The mini shuttle made a perfect lading at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The Dream Chaser is preparing to deliver cargo to the International Space Station beginning in 2019.

Instead of catching a ride into the upper atmosphere like SpaceShipTwo, its predecessor SpaceShipOne, or NASA's X-15 rocket place, China's space plane as intended will launch vertically from the ground, like the retired Space Shuttle and Buran, its Soviet clone. Two other spaceplanes, the Air Force's mysterious unmanned X-37B robot and the unmanned version of Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser both are designed to ride to space on the top of rockets, jettisoning the booster stages as they clear gravity. Unlike the Shuttle or the X037B, the smaller version of China's space plane will carry all its fuel internally, and the concept seems to lack booster rockets. The larger space plane will use a single booster add-on, carrying it farther into space. The most successful spaceplane currently flying is a military robot.

The Californian desert rushes up in front of me. I can see the runway at Edwards Air Force Base emerging clearly from the hills, and I try to keep the nose of my spacecraft pointed straight down the centre. I am flying the Dream Chaser space plane back from a stint at the International Space Station (ISS), and am keenly aware of my delicate cargo – and the craft's past failures. I'm seated in front of three computer monitors, which show my view out of the cockpit, and rear and side views of the spacecraft as it descends. To go easy on me, the Draper crew starts the simulation after the Dream Chaser has already entered Earth's atmosphere and headed down towards the ground, so all I have to do is aim it straight at the runway.