Timeline of the near future

This is a timeline of the near future, covering predicted or calculated events from the present until the end of the 23rd century.

21st century

2010s

• 2017:
  • 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup to be held in Russia.
  • There will be a solar eclipse on August 21.
  • The Cassini spacecraft will lose gravitational grip of Saturn on September 15th, 2017. It will either be sling-shotted out of the Solar System or on a collision course with another planet.
  • India hopes to conduct its first human spaceflight.^[1]
• 2018:
  • The Juno spacecraft will collide with Jupiter on February 20th, 2018.
  • 2018 FIFA World Cup to be held in Russia.
  • 2018 Winter Olympics to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
  • The Jeddah Tower is expected to be completed and will become the world's tallest building.
  • The James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to launch in October.
• 2019:
  • 2019 Copa América to be held in Brazil.
  • 2019 Pan American Games to be held in Lima, Peru.
  • 2019 Rugby World Cup to be held in Japan.
  • 2019 Cricket World Cup to be held in England.
  • 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup to be held in China.
  • The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup will be held in France.
  • Commemorations for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

2020s

• 2020:
  • The Voyager program is expected to terminate.
  • 2020 Summer Olympics to be held in Tokyo, Japan.
  • China's first space station (Chinese space station) is scheduled to launch.
• 2021:
  • Brood X, the largest brood of North American seventeen-year cicadas, will emerge.
  • The Red Line of the Tel Aviv Light Rail is scheduled to be completed.
• 2022:
  • 2022 FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar.
  • European Space Agency plans to launch JUICE for exploration of Jupiter's icy moons by 2022.
  • 2022 Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing, China.
• 2023:
  • London's new "super sewer" will be finished.^[2]
  • The Compact of Free Association between the United States and the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands expires.
  • Copyright on the earliest Mickey Mouse cartoons expires in the United States under current copyright law.
• 2024:
  • Mars One's planned departure of 'Crew One' to Mars^[3]
  • The Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link between Denmark and Germany is expected to open.^[4]
  • SpaceX plans to launch a human mission to Mars, with arrival due in 2025.^[5]
• 2025:
  • The proposed Dubai City Tower is expected to be completed.
  • The Giant Magellan Telescope is scheduled to have been completed.^[6]
  • Planned completion of the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope.^[7]
• 2026:
  • Construction of Sagrada Familia to be completed.^[8]
  • A solar eclipse takes place on August 12.
• 2028: A total solar eclipse will be visible across Australia and New Zealand on July 22.
• 2029: The Message From Earth will reach Gliese 581.

2030s

• 2030: European Space Agency's spacecraft JUICE is expected to enter the Jovian system.
• 2032: Transit of Mercury
• 2038: Year 2038 problem, similar to the Year 2000 problem may occur on January 19 of this year.
• 2039: Transit of Mercury

2040s

• 2040: Median value for the advent of artificial general intelligence according to a 2012 study of predictions thereof.^[9] This could then quickly lead to the technological singularity.
• 2042: Global population reaches nine billion. European-Americans become a minority in the United States.
• 2045: On August 17, Indonesia will commemorate the 100th anniversary of its independence.
• 2047: On July 1, the People's Republic of China's obligation to run Hong Kong as a special administrative region per the Sino-British Joint Declaration expires, and with it the enforceability of the Hong Kong Basic Law.
• 2047: On August 14, Pakistan will commemorate the 100th anniversary of its independence.
• 2047: On August 15, India will commemorate the 100th anniversary of its independence.
• 2049: On December 20, the People's Republic of China's obligation to run Macau as a special administrative region per the Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau expires.

2050s

• 2050: Three-North Shelter Forest Program is expected to be completed.^[10] Nearly half of the Amazon rainforest has been deforested.
• 2051: Cosmic Call 1 will reach its destination, the star Gliese 777.
• 2057: Two solar eclipses will occur in this year.

2060s

• 2061: Halley's Comet returns to the inner Solar System. It reaches perihelion on July 28.
• 2065: Transit of Mercury and an occultation of Jupiter by Venus.
• 2067: Mercury occults Neptune.

2070s

• 2076: The planetoid 90377 Sedna reaches perihelion.
• 2077: Beginning of the 16th century in the Islamic calendar.

2080s

• 2084: Lease held by the Pitjantjatjara people on Uluru to Australian government set to expire.

22nd century

2100s

• 2100: On March 14 (which will be February 29 in the Julian calendar), the difference between the Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar reaches 14 days. Since 14 is divisible by 7, this will be the first time in history since its inception that the Gregorian calendar has the same day of the week for each day of the year as the Julian calendar. This will last until February 28, 2200 of the Gregorian Calendar.
• Polaris appears furthest North. Polaris's maximum apparent declination (taking account of nutation and aberration) will be 0.4526° from the celestial north pole, on 24 March 2100.^[11]
• 2103: Per an agreement between the National Archives and Caroline Kennedy, the jacket Jackie Kennedy wore on the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated cannot be displayed in public until this year.^[12]

2110s

• 2110: According to Extreme Engineering from Discovery Channel, proposed Japanese mega-project Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid could be completed at this time.
• 2113: August will be the first time Pluto reaches aphelion since its discovery.
• 2114: Sedna overtakes Eris as the farthest known spheroid orbiting the Sun.
• 2117: December 10–11: Transit of Venus.

2120s

• 2123: Triple conjunction Mars–Jupiter.
• 2123: June 9: Long-duration lunar eclipse of approximately 106.1 minutes.^[13]
• 2123: At 15:28 UTC, on September 14, Venus will eclipse Jupiter.
• 2125: December 8: Transit of Venus.
• 2126: At 16:08 UTC on July 29, Mercury will occult Mars.

2130s

• 2134: Halley's Comet returns to the inner Solar System

2140s

• 2148: Triple conjunction Mars–Saturn.

2150s

• 2150: June 25: Solar eclipse of 7 min 14 s, Solar Saros 139.^[14]
  Exceeding 7 minutes of totality, this will be the first time this has happened in 177 years; the last one occurred on June 30, 1973.^[15] when the Concorde prototype followed the totality spot during 73 minutes.

2160s

• 2160: March 17 – Unless changes are made as to when Easter can be observed, this particular March 17 will fall within Holy Week for the first time since 2008 and fall on the same day (Monday) as it did in that year, likely requiring the movement of the Feast of Saint Patrick's Day to another date.^[16]
• 2168: July 5: Solar eclipse of 7 min 26 s, saros 139.^[17]

2170s

• 2170: Triple conjunction Mars–Jupiter.
• 2174: The second full orbit of Neptune around the sun since its discovery in 1846.
• 2177: "First Plutonian anniversary" of the dwarf planet's discovery, given that Pluto's orbit is just under 248 Earth years.

2180s

• 2185: Triple conjunction Mars–Saturn.
• July 16, 2186 : Solar eclipse^[18] of 7 min 29 s (very close to the theoretical maximum), Saros 139,^[19] "crowning" this series.
  This is predicted to be the longest eclipse during the current 10,000 year period, from 4000 BC to AD 6000 (eclipse predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC.DEPP).^[20]
• 2187: Triple conjunction Mars–Saturn.

2190s

• 2197: September 2: Venus occults Spica (the previous occultation of Spica by Venus was on November 10, 1783). The Moon will occult Neptune on December 24.

23rd century

2200s

• 2209: Return of Halley's Comet.

2220s

• 2221: Triple conjunction of Mars and Saturn.
• 2223: On December 2 at 12:32 UTC, Mars will occult Jupiter.

2230s

• Triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.

2240s

• 2240: 7th millennium begins in the Hebrew calendar.
• 2243: On August 12 at 04:52 UTC, Venus will occult Saturn.
• 2247: Transit of Venus on June 11.

2250s

• 2251: On March 4 at 10:52 UTC, Venus will occult Uranus.
• 2253: On August 1, Mercury occults Regulus (last occultation of Regulus by Mercury was on August 13, 364 BC).
• 2255: Transit of Venus on June 9.

2260s

• 2265: Return to perihelion by the Great Comet of 1861.

2270s

• 2279: Triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.

2280s

• 2281, 2282: Grand trine of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. This last occurred in 1769 and 1770.

2290s

See also

• Timeline of world history

References