This page is dedicated to recording key dates relating to space research missions 2007 Launch of ESA Planck mission 2008 Launch of Tel Aviv University Ultraviolet Explorer (TAUVEX) 2008 Lauch of Herschel Space Observatory a joint ESA and NASA infrared observatory 2008 Launch of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)  to search for lunar water 2009 Launch of Astrosat, Indias first dedicated astronomical research satellite 2009 Launch of Kepler Mission, a space photometer being developed by NASA to search for extrasolar planets 2009 Launch of Space Interferometry Mission, also known as SIM PlanetQuest, a NASA space telescope to hunt for Earth-sized planets orbiting stars 2009 Launch of Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) a NASA infrared-sensitive telescope to provide an "all-sky" survey 2010 Launch of ESA Solar Orbiter Mission 2010 Launch of Spectrum-X-Gamma (SXG) an international high-energy astrophysics observatory 2011 Lauch of Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), NASA X-ray telescope 2011 Launch of Gaia Mission by ESA 2013 James Webb Space Telescope an international infrared telescope designed to replace the Hubble Space Telescope 2014 Rosetta mission lands on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenkonko 2015 Launch of Darwin Mission a European Space Agency (ESA) mission to directly detect Earth-like planets orbiting nearby stars TBA Constellation programme which includes NASA’s new manned lunar exploration vehicle Orion and the Ares launch vehicle TBA Constellation-X Observatory is a planned NASA X-ray space observatory TBA The Dark Universe Observatory (DUO) is a planned NASA space-based telescope to observe galaxy clusters in the X-ray range TBA Terrestrial Planet Finder NASA mission