Despite challenges here on Earth over the last several years, solar system exploration continues at a rapid pace. A new radioisotope-powered rover has landed on Mars and is exploring the Jezero crater region. Along for the ride was the first helicopter to fly on another planet, with another rotorcraft in the works to explore Titan. Missions are fanning out across the solar system, to explore a variety of different asteroids including Lucy and OSIRIS-Rex, with Psyche slated to launch later this year. NASA’s first planetary defense mission (DART) is now on its way to deflect the motion of an asteroid. The James Webb Space Telescope was successfully launched and deployed, which will allow observations of objects orders of magnitude fainter than its predecessor could detect. Looking toward the future, plans are underway to return to Earth the first samples collected from the surface of Mars. After a relatively slow period of Venus exploration for the last several decades, there are plans to return to this fascinating planet with missions such as DAVINCI+ and VERITAS. Even closer to home, an armada of landers and rovers is set to descend upon the lunar surface in the near future.

Some of them are being developed by commercial providers, to expand our knowledge of our closest neighbor and shed light on the permanently shadowed regions of the moon. There are even plans to follow these lunar robotic visitors with human explorers in the coming decade. In every single case, a reliable power system is critical to mission success.

Now in its third year, the 2022 Conference on Advanced Power Systems for Deep Space Exploration (APS⁴DS) will again include all topics related to power for deep space missions to the Moon and beyond.