2026 in spaceflight

2026 in spaceflight

The Artemis 2 mission is scheduled to carry four astronauts on a flyby around the Moon in 2026.

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2026 in spaceflight

Timeline of spaceflight ←  2025 2027  →

This article documents expected notable spaceflight events during the year 2026.

NASA plans to launch the Artemis 2 mission on the Space Launch System, sending astronauts around the Moon on a ten-day lunar flyby.

Vast plans to launch the first ever commercial space station in 2026. ^[1]

China plans to launch Chang'e 7 to explore the lunar south pole in late 2026. ^[2] The mission will include an orbiter, a relay satellite, a lander, a rover, and a mini-flying probe. ^[3]

China also plans to launch Xuntian, a large space telescope that will co-orbit with the Tiangong space station, in 2026.

Orbital and Suborbital launches

Main articles: List of spaceflight launches in January–March 2026, List of spaceflight launches in April–June 2026, List of spaceflight launches in July–September 2026, and List of spaceflight launches in October–December 2026

Numbers of orbital launches

Month	Total	Successes	Failures	Partial failures
January	0	0	0	0
February	0	0	0	0
March	0	0	0	0
April	0	0	0	0
May	0	0	0	0
June	0	0	0	0
July	0	0	0	0
August	0	0	0	0
September	0	0	0	0
October	0	0	0	0
November	0	0	0	0
December	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0

Deep-space rendezvous

Date (UTC)	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
May	Psyche	Flyby of Mars [4]
7 June	Tianwen-2	469219 Kamoʻoalewa orbital insertion [5]
4 July	Tianwen-2	Rendezvous with 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and sample collection [5]
July	Hayabusa2	Flyby of 98943 Torifune [6]
29 September	JUICE	Second gravity assist at Earth
November	BepiColombo	Hermocentric orbit insertion at Mercury
3 December	Europa Clipper	Gravity assist at Earth
28 December	Hera	Arrival at binary asteroid 65803 Didymos

Extravehicular activities (EVAs)

Start Date/Time	Duration	End Time	Spacecraft	Crew	Remarks

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. For example, Soyuz launches by Arianespace in Kourou are counted under Russia because Soyuz-2 is a Russian rocket.

Country		Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures
World		0	0	0	0

By rocket

By family

Family	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks

By type

Rocket	Country	Family	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks

By configuration

Rocket	Country	Type	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks

By spaceport

Site	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks

By orbit

Orbital regime	Launches	Achieved	Not achieved	Accidentally achieved	Remarks
Transatmospheric	0	0	0	0
Low Earth	0	0	0	0
Geosynchronous / transfer	0	0	0	0
Medium Earth	0	0	0	0
High Earth	0	0	0	0
Heliocentric orbit	0	0	0	0	Including planetary transfer orbits

Expected maiden flights

Rocket	Origin	Organization	Reusable	Launch	Outcome	Ref.
Miura 5	Spain	PLD Space	First Stage	Early 2026	TBD
Nova	USA	Stoke Space	Fully	Early 2026	TBD	[7]
Eclipse	USA	Firefly Aerospace	First Stage	Second half of 2026	TBD
Daytona I	USA	Phantom Space Corporation	No	Late 2026	TBD	[8]
Pallas-2	China	Galactic Energy	First Stage	Late 2026	TBD	[9]
Antares 330	USA	Northrop Grumman	No	Late 2026	TBD
Long March 10A	China	CASC	First Stage	2026	TBD
Terran R	USA	Relativity Space	First Stage	2026	TBD
Dauntless	USA	Vaya Space	No	2026	TBD
Skyrora XL	UK	Skyrora	No	2026	TBD
Zephyr	France	Latitude	No	2026	TBD
Prime	UK	Orbex	First Stage	2026	TBD
Starship Block 3	USA	SpaceX	Fully	2026	TBD

References

1. Foust, Jeff (6 February 2025). "Vast begins Haven-1 testing and reschedules its launch". Space News. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
2. Jones, Andrew (19 September 2022). "UAE rover to fly on China's Chang'e-7 lunar south pole mission". SpaceNews . Retrieved 19 September 2022.
3. Jones, Andrew (29 March 2022). "Next China moon mission will need precision landing to target ice at south pole". Space.com . Retrieved 8 April 2022.
4. "Psyche - Mission". JPL. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
5. "@AJ_FI". X. 11 April 2025.
6. "はやぶさ２、次のミッションは小惑星「１９９８ＫＹ２６」...ＪＡＸＡ". The Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). 13 September 2020. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
7. "From Mercury to Nova: Launching the Future at Space Launch Complex 14". Stoke Space. 28 July 2025. operational by early 2026
8. Gorman, Douglas (17 April 2025). "Phantom Space and Ubotica Team Up to Bring AI to Orbit". Payload. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
9. Andrew Jones (22 August 2025). "New rocket plans continue to emerge to support China's growing space ambitions". SpaceNews. late 2026 for the launch of the larger Pallas-2

External links

• Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".
• Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".
• Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.
• Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches".
• Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report". Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
• McDowell, Jonathan. "GCAT Orbital Launch Log".
• Pietrobon, Steven. "Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive".
• Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia Astronautica".
• Webb, Brian. "Southwest Space Archive".
• Zak, Anatoly. "Russian Space Web".
• "ISS Calendar". Spaceflight 101.
• "NSSDCA Master Catalog". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
• "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).
• "Rocket Launch Manifest". Next Spaceflight.
• "Space Launch Plans". Novosti Kosmonavtiki.

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