This article documents expected notable spaceflight events during the year 2026.
Overview
Astronomy and astrophysics
On 11 January, NASA launched the Pandora small space telescope to study exoplanet atmospheres. The same Falcon 9 flight also carried two CubeSat-type space telescopes by NASA: SPARCS and BlackCAT, alongside other payloads. In February, ESA's experimental heliophysics mission PROBA-3 suffered an anomaly which led to the loss of contact with one of the two spacecraft. Contact was re-established with the spacecraft in March. On 19 May, ESA and CAS launched their joint heliophysics mission SMILE to study the dynamic interaction between solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere. In mid-2026, ESA plans to launch the CubeSpec satellite for testing a low-cost small satellite platform for long-term spectroscopic monitoring of stars from space on the specific case of asteroseismology of massive stars. In mid-2026, NASA plans to launch the SunRISE mission consisting of six CubeSats for studying solar activity. In mid-2026, NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is planned to be boosted to a higher orbit by a private Arizona-based firm, Katalyst Space Technologies. Katalyst Space will use the LINK spacecraft launched on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL aircraft-borne rocket. In August, NASA plans to launch the small UV telescope Aspera designed to map hot gas in the circumgalactic and intergalactic medium of nearby galaxies. In September, NASA plans to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, an infrared space telescope for cosmology and search for exoplanets. China plans to launch Xuntian, a large space telescope that will co-orbit with the Tiangong space station, in late 2026 or in 2027. Taiwan plans to launch its first space telescope, the Gamma-ray Transients Monitor (GTM), as a secondary payload on the Formosat-8B satellite, in December.
Solar system exploration
On 15 May, NASA's Psyche spacecraft performed a gravity assist maneuver at Mars, flying 4,500 km from the planet's surface on its way to the asteroid Psyche. The year 2026 is expected to bring humanity's first close-up views of two Solar system objects, the near-Earth asteroids Kamoʻoalewa (Tianwen-2 orbit insertion in June; and subsequent sample collection in July) and Torifune (Hayabusa2 flyby in July). ESA's Hera spacecraft is expected to arrive at the double asteroid Didymos in November. The joint ESA-JAXA mission BepiColombo is expected to enter orbit around Mercury in late 2026. ESA plans to launch its first stand-alone deep space CubeSat, the space weather mission HENON, in late 2026. In November, NASA's twin ESCAPADE spacecraft are expected to perform a gravity assist maneuver at Earth that will send them towards Mars. In November or December, JAXA plans to launch the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission to Mars. On 24 December, ESA's Solar Orbiter is expected to perform its 5th Venus flyby, which will tilt its heliocentric orbit from 17° to 24°.
Lunar exploration
NASA and Blue Origin plan to launch Blue Moon Pathfinder Mission 1, the first uncrewed mission of the Blue Moon Mark 1 intended to test various technologies needed for future crewed Lunar landers. NASA and Intuitive Machines plan to launch IM-3 aiming to land at Reiner Gamma. NASA and Astrobotic plan to launch Griffin Mission One aiming to land near the Moon's south pole. In late 2026, NASA and Firefly Aerospace plan to launch Blue Ghost Mission 2 aiming to land on the far side of the Moon. The mission also aims to deliver the ESA's communication satellite Lunar Pathfinder to Lunar orbit. China plans to launch Chang'e 7 to explore the lunar south pole in late 2026. The mission will include an orbiter, a relay satellite, a lander, a rover, and a mini-flying probe.
Human spaceflight
On 8 January, Mike Fincke, one of Crew-11 astronauts on the ISS, suffered a serious medical issue, which included a loss of ability to speak for approximately 20 minutes. In response, NASA called off a spacewalk that was under preparation at that time and later decided to return the entire Crew-11 mission back to Earth earlier than planned in a "controlled medical evacuation". This marks the first time in U.S. history, as well as in the ISS program, that a space mission has been cut short due to a medical issue, although such cases happened before during Soviet space station missions. The Crew Dragon Endeavour with all 4 crew members of Crew-11 safely splashed down off California coast on 15 January. On 30 January, Blue Origin announced that it will pause the New Shepard suborbital space tourism program for "at least two years" in order to focus on crewed lunar exploration. On 9 February, SpaceX likewise announced a delay in its Mars ambitions for "about five to seven years" in order to focus on lunar missions. On 27 February, NASA announced a number of changes to the Artemis program with the stated purpose of increasing its cadence of missions, including changing the Artemis III mission to a LEO demonstration flight, moving the first Artemis Moon landing to Artemis IV, and replacing the Exploration Upper Stage with another stage, later identified as Centaur V. On 11 February, China performed a successful in-flight abort test of the new Mengzhou spacecraft, which verified the spacecraft's launch escape system performance, as well as the Long March 10A first stage ability of soft landing on water. Later in 2026, China plans to launch Mengzhou 1, the first uncrewed orbital flight of the spacecraft and the complete Long March 10A rocket, both intended for the country's crewed lunar program. On 13 February, NASA launched the first crewed spaceflight of the year, the Crew-12 mission carrying four NASA, ESA, and Roscosmos astronauts to ISS, returning the station to its normal crew complement of seven in a rare indirect handover caused by the early return of Crew-11. On 22 March, Roscosmos launched Progress MS-33 to ISS, the first space station uncrewed cargo flight of the year and the first launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31 after substantial repairs necessitated by the damage caused by the November 2025 launch of Soyuz MS-28. Further resupply missions to ISS were: Cygnus NG-24 on 11 April, Progress MS-34 on 25 April, and SpaceX CRS-34 on 15 May. On 30 March, China launched a prototype of the new cargo spacecraft Qingzhou on the first flight of the Kinetica 2 rocket. Once in orbit, the spacecraft conducted a series of rendezvous and proximity operations tests involving another satellite. On 11 May, China launched its first Tiangong space station resupply mission of the year, Tianzhou 10, followed by the first Chinese crewed spaceflight of the year, Shenzhou 23, on 24 May. On 1 April 2026, NASA launched the Artemis II mission on the Space Launch System, sending astronauts around the Moon on a ten-day lunar flyby. On 6 April, Artemis II became the farthest human spaceflight in history when it surpassed the previous distance record of Apollo 13. The mission's re-entry capsule Integrity safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean southwest of San Diego on 11 April 2026. NASA and Boeing plan to launch the uncrewed ISS cargo mission Starliner-1, the fourth orbital flight of the Starliner spacecraft. ISRO aims to launch Gaganyaan-1, India's first uncrewed orbital test flight to support human exploration missions. NASA and Sierra Space plan to launch Dream Chaser Demo-1, the first free flyer orbital demonstration flight of the uncrewed cargo spaceplane Dream Chaser.
Rocket innovation
On 12 February, Arianespace launched 32 Amazon Leo satellites on the first flight of Ariane 64, the 4-booster variant of Ariane 6, marking the first successful orbital maiden flight of the year. SpaceX continued testing the Starship system, with a partially successful suborbital Flight 12 in May. ESA plans first test flights of the Themis reusable rocket demonstrator in early 2026.
Satellite technology
In January, Hisdesat announced that the Spainsat NG II communications satellite launched in October 2025 for Spanish government and military use was struck by a “space particle" while on its way to Geostationary orbit and suffered non-recoverable damage. On 12 January, the Spanish space capsule company Orbital Paradigm, supported by ESA's FLPP, launched its first technology demonstration mission. The KID capsule was expected to re-enter Earth atmosphere after reaching orbit on the PSLV-C62 flight. The Indian PSLV rocket failed in flight but KID separated from the falling launch vehicle and managed to transmit flight data during its non-nominal suborbital flight, thus becoming the lone survivor of 2026's first launch failure. On 27 January, the EU announced that the EUSPA's GOVSATCOM program for encrypted communications is now operational, integrating eight satellites from five EU member states. The program serves as an operational bridge to the planned IRIS2 constellation. In March, Cyprus became the first country to use GOVSATCOM operationally, possibly in connection with the 2026 Iran war or the country's Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In March 2026, the Chinese company Sustain Space demonstrated on-orbit operations of a flexible robotic arm for satellite servicing and refuelling on its Xiyuan-0 satellite launched on a Kuaizhou-11 rocket on 16 March 2026. On 28 March, ESA launched the first two satellites of the GNSS augmentation constellation Celeste (LEO-PNT) on a Rocket Lab's Electron rocket. The mission delivered its first navigation signals on 8 April 2026. On 3 May, the German ICARUS Initiative launched its first operational satellite of the ICARUS 2.0 constellation, built by the Bulgarian company EnduroSat and named RAVEN, for tracking animal migrations. NASA plans to launch LOXSAT, a cryogenic fluid management demonstration satellite mission, no earlier than July 17. On 31 August and 1 September, ESA plans to send a small airplane to observe the destructive reentries of the last two satellites of the magnetospheric mission Cluster II. To better coordinate the aerial observation campaign, ESA commanded the satellites in late January 2026 to slightly alter their orbits so they reenter closer to each other. This initiative is part of ESA Space Safety Programme's efforts to reduce the risks of space debris and serves as precursor to the Draco mission planned for 2027. In September, ESA plans to launch the Earth observation satellites FLEX for monitoring terrestrial vegetation by measuring chlorophyll fluorescence together with the oceanography satellite Sentinel-3C for the EU's Copernicus Programme on a single flight of the Vega C rocket.
Orbital launches
Deep-space rendezvous
Extravehicular activities (EVAs)
Orbital launch statistics
By country
For the purposes of this section, the yearly tally of orbital launches by country assigns each flight to the country of origin of the rocket, not to the launch services provider or the spaceport.
By rocket
By family
By type
By configuration
By spaceport
By orbit
Suborbital launch statistics
By country
For the purposes of this section, the yearly tally of suborbital launches by country assigns each flight to the country of origin of the rocket, not to the launch services provider or the spaceport. Flights intended to fly below 80 km (50 mi) are omitted. This includes suborbital flights for all purposes, including scientific and military application.
Maiden flights
Notes
2026 in science 2026 in Antarctica
Before
Stahl, Asa: (The Planetary Society). "Calendar of space events 2026" Clark, Stephen: (Ars Technica). "Here are the launches and landings we’re most excited about in 2026" Marín, Daniel: "¿Qué nos deparará 2026 en el espacio?" (in Spanish) Rêves d'Espace: "Spatial 2026 : Artemis II, Sophie Adenot, nouveaux lanceurs et exploration" (in French) Boucher, Marc (SpaceQ): European Space Agency DG Aschbacher highlights 2026 milestones in annual address Smith, Martin (NASASpaceflight): Despite initial setbacks, Chinese spaceflight expected to see exciting 2026
Generic
Demo article adapted from 2026 in spaceflight on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License; additional terms may apply.
