Overview
Astronomy and astrophysics
On 11 January, NASA launched the Pandora small space telescope to study exoplanet atmospheres. [1] [2] The same Falcon 9 flight also carried two CubeSat-type space telescopes by NASA: SPARCS and BlackCAT, alongside other payloads. [3] [4] [5] [6]
In April or March, ESA and CAS plan to launch their joint heliophysics mission SMILE. [7]
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. [8]
In mid-2026, NASA plans to launch the SunRISE mission consisting of six CubeSats for studying solar activity. [9] [10]
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. [11] Katalyst Space announced that they would utilize a spacecraft launched on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL aircraft-borne rocket. [12]
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. [13]
In September, NASA plans to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, an infrared space telescope for cosmology and search for exoplanets. [14]
In December 2026 or January 2027, ESA plans to launch the PLATO space telescope for discovery and characterization of exoplanets. [15]
China plans to launch Xuntian, a large space telescope that will co-orbit with the Tiangong space station, in late 2026 [16] or in 2027. [17] [18]
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. [19]
Human spaceflight
On 8 January, one of Crew-11 astronauts on the ISS suffered a serious medical issue. 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, [39] [40] although such cases happened before during Soviet space station missions. [41] [42] [43] [44] The Crew Dragon Endeavour with all 4 crew members of Crew-11 safely splashed down off California coast on 15 January. [45] [46]
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 [47] [48] [49] 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. [50] [51] [52]
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. [53] [54] [55] [56] 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. [57] [58] [59]
NASA plans to launch the Artemis II mission on the Space Launch System sending astronauts around the Moon on a ten-day lunar flyby in March 2026, [60] the first crewed lunar flyby since the Apollo program. [61]
NASA and Boeing plan to launch the uncrewed ISS cargo mission Starliner-1, the fourth orbital flight of the Starliner spacecraft, no earlier than April 2026. [62]
ISRO aims to launch Gaganyaan-1, India's first uncrewed orbital test flight to support human exploration missions in late March 2026. [63]
In late 2026, 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. [64]
China plans to launch the new cargo spacecraft Qingzhou on its first flight to the Tiangong space station. [65] [66]
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. [72] [73]
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. [74] [75] [76]
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. [77] [78] [79]
In early 2026, ESA plans to launch the first satellites of the GNSS augmentation constellation Celeste (LEO-PNT) on a Rocket Lab's Electron rocket. [80]
The German ICARUS Initiative plans to launch first operational satellites of the ICARUS 2.0 constellation, built by the Bulgarian company EnduroSat, for tracking animal migrations. [81]
NASA plans to launch LOXSAT, a cryogenic fluid management demonstration satellite mission, in early 2026. [82]
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. [83] [84]
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. [85] [86] [87] [88]
The UK Space Agency plans to launch the first satellite of the ESA-supported Atlantic Constellation for Earth observation. [89]
