6 Space Tales To Watch in 2026

For house historians, three years stand out as landmarks of human exploration: 1957, 1961, and 1969. It was in 1957 that the previous Soviet Union launched the beeping, beachball-sized Sputnik, changing into the primary nation to position a satellite tv for pc in orbit. In 1961, the Soviets went additional, when Yuri Gagarin made a one-orbit journey across the Earth, attaining the feat of being the primary particular person in house. In 1969, the U.S. topped the decade-long house race when Apollo 11 caught the primary crewed lunar touchdown. It’s not going that 2026 will be part of that celebrated trifecta, however the yr quick approaching goes to be a busy and historic one. Want the moon? There will probably be a lot happening there. Want a brand new house station? That’s teed up. Want to see a rising house energy take an enormous step towards launching people into house? India’s received you lined. Here’s what to search for because the calendar rolls over and the brand new yr arrives.

Pandora planet hunter, Jan. 5

Time was, we knew of solely eight planets in all the cosmos—the handful of native worlds that orbit our native solar. In 1992 that modified, when astronomers noticed two planets orbiting a pulsar 2,300 gentle years from Earth. Since then greater than 6,000 different so-called exoplanets have been discovered, main scientists to conclude that there’s a minimum of one planet orbiting all the trillions upon trillions of stars within the universe. With so many planetary laboratories on which a lot planetary chemistry may very well be enjoying out, who’s to say a minimum of a few of them wouldn’t be cooking up life? The little Pandora spacecraft goals to seek out out.

The flyweight ship, tipping the scales at a mere 716 lbs., measuring 17 inches throughout, and costing simply $20 million—a steal in comparison with the James Webb Space Telescope’s $10 billion price ticket—is budgeted to function for only a yr however it should do yeoman’s work in that brief time.

One of the methods astronomers use to detect exoplanets is named the transit technique. When an orbiting planet crosses the Earth-facing aspect of its guardian star, a little bit of the sunshine from the star is briefly blocked, decreasing total luminosity by a tiny however detectable quantity. The better the dimming, the better the diameter of the star. 

Many space- and ground-based telescopes hunt for exoplanets this fashion, however Pandora will take it a step additional, trying not simply on the depth of the starlight however on the chemical spectrum of that portion of it that passes by means of the ambiance of the planet. If organic elements like water or methane or carbon dioxide are current, the spectrum will change in methods specific to every compound. These chemical fingerprints could not present that life is current on the planet, however they might counsel that it could be. If life is on the market, Pandora may level the way in which.

Gaganyaan-1 crew capsule, Early Jan.

During the early a long time of house exploration, solely the U.S. and the previous Soviet Union had the capability to ship human beings into house. Both nations achieved that singular feat in 1961, and it might be 42 years earlier than one other nation—China—would be part of them. Now a fourth nationwide participant is making ready to affix the membership, with India poised to launch its three-person Gaganyaan-1 spacecraft atop a human-rated model of its highly effective HLVM3 rocket as early as January.

This first mission will probably be an uncrewed check flight—following the cautious steps the U.S. and the Soviet Union took once they have been initially test-launching their Mercury and Vostok craft. The U.S. sent up an instrument package to measure the vibration and g-loads and different forces that may have an effect on an astronaut. The Soviets famously despatched a mannequin, nicknamed Ivan Ivanovich, that examined the cosmonaut’s stress go well with. Gaganyaan-1 will probably be carrying an identical humanoid robot named Vyomitra. This flight would be the first of three uncrewed missions earlier than India launches a crew of vyomanauts, or sky travelers, as early as 2027. 

When that point comes, the crew of 4, who have already been selected from the nation’s elite fliers, will spend a minimal of three days in house, inside a Gaganyaan-1 crew compartment that can maintain them comfy however a bit cramped, with a liveable quantity about equal to an SUV. This first crewed flight—to say nothing of the uncrewed one that can come first—is modest in comparison with the intrepid missions the U.S., Russia, and China have flown in house stations and lunar ships. But Russia’s, China’s, and America’s first flights have been modest too. It’s sufficient, for now, that probably the most populous nation on Earth is ultimately changing into a significant house energy.

Artemis II moon mission, Feb. 5

Far and away, the largest house information of the yr would be the mission of NASA’s Artemis II. The fraternity of males to have visited the moon as soon as numbered 24, after Apollo 17, the ninth crewed lunar mission, returned to Earth and closed out the Apollo program. Only five of those men—all of their 90s—are nonetheless with us. In February, if all goes properly, their ranks will probably be joined by 4 extra folks: Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen. Together, they’re the crew of Artemis II.

Flying the model new Orion spacecraft—which cost more than $20 billion to develop—and launching atop the model new Space Launch System rocket, which cost more than $24 billion, the crew will embark on a 10-day translunar journey that can take them farther from Earth than any people have ever traveled. Artemis II is not going to land on the moon, and it received’t even orbit the moon. It will as a substitute make a looping swing round its far aspect earlier than lunar gravity takes hold of the ship and slingshots it again residence. In 1970, the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft flew an identical route, reaching 158 miles past the far aspect of the moon at its most distant take away. For 55 years, that crew held the gap file, however Artemis II will seize their crown, when the spacecraft travels a whopping 4,700 miles beyond the lunar bottom. From that distance the crew will have the ability to take dramatic pictures of the sphere of the Earth and the sphere of the moon in the identical body. 

Artemis II will make other forms of historical past too. During the Apollo period, flying to the moon was an all male, all white, all American sport. No extra. Koch will turn out to be the primary girl to make a lunar journey, Glover would be the first particular person of coloration, and Hansen would be the first non-U.S. citizen. Just when Artemis III will observe Artemis II on a mission to return people to the floor of the moon will not be sure, however NASA is aiming for no later than 2030. Artemis II is the primary large step to make that mission potential.

Haven-1 house station module, May

There has by no means been as inconceivable a machine because the International Space Station (ISS). Larger than a soccer subject, weighing in at a cool a million kilos, it was assembled in orbit—at a building web site 250 miles excessive, dashing across the planet at 17,500 miles per hour.  Over the course of the final 25 years, it has been constantly occupied by rotating groups of greater than 280 astronauts and cosmonauts from 26 nations. But the ISS is getting outdated, and the 15-country partnership that constructed, operates, and staffs it has determined that will probably be deorbited by the tip of this decade. That will go away a void within the sky—one which the Long Beach, Calif. aerospace firm Vast is poised to fill.

In 2021, NASA launched the Commercial Low Earth Development Program (CLD), partnering with trade to construct and launch non-public stations to take the place of the ISS. Multiple firms, together with Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, and Axiom Space have signed on to this system, however first out of the blocks is Vast. As early as May, the corporate plans to launch its Haven-1 station, which it hopes to have staffed by a crew of 4 barely a month later.

Haven-1 is designed to be a snug, livable ship—with non-public sleeping quarters for every astronaut, high-speed Internet, a fold-down eating desk for communal meals, and a big domed window to offer fixed views of the Earth under. But it’s also a modest ship in comparison with the ISS. Consisting of only a single bus-sized module, it gives about 45 cubic meters of liveable quantity—or greater than eight and a half occasions lower than the ISS. At first crews will spend simply two weeks aboard per rotation—barely time to unpack in comparison with the yr or extra some ISS astronauts are aloft. But Vast envisions greater issues to return. By 2030, it hopes to have launched five more interconnected modules that can increase the station’s lab and crew capacities, and supply a vacation spot for paying clients from each the federal government and the non-public sector. Space, more and more, is changing into a spot not simply to go to, however to reside.

Boeing Starliner, April

NASA paid Boeing prime greenback back in 2014 to construct a crew car to hold astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). The house company truly reduce two checks that day: one to Boeing for $4.2 billion and one to SpaceX for $2.6 billion. The SpaceX funding has paid off spectacularly. Since 2020, the corporate’s Crew Dragon spacecraft has carried 19 crews to house—most of them touring to the ISS. As for Boeing’s Starliner? Not a lot. 

It wasn’t until June 2024 that that spacecraft carried its first crew—NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams—for a shakedown crew that was speculated to have the pair aboard the ISS for simply eight days. That week-plus stretched into 9 months resulting from thruster issues aboard Starliner that NASA concluded made the ship unsafe for crews. Williams and Wilmore finally hitched a journey residence aboard a Dragon ship.

Boeing has spent the months because the crew’s March 2025 return engaged on the thrusters. In November, NASA announced that Starliner will as soon as once more be trusted to fly, in April 2026, when it makes an uncrewed run on the station, each to ship cargo and to find out if the ship can resume crewed missions. Boeing is hoping the reply is sure.

Even if Starliner does return into flight rotation, it’s unlikely ever to be seen as one in all NASA’s higher bets. The unique contract referred to as for at least six crewed flights to the station. In its November announcement, NASA revealed that the 2 events had “mutually agreed” to change the contract, chopping that quantity to 4, with an choice for the ultimate two flights remaining open, relying on the ship’s efficiency. With the ISS set to be deorbited in 2030, the Starliner program could come tumbling again to Earth with it.

Griffin-1 lunar lander and rover, July

It’s been 55 years because the Soviet Union landed the first uncrewed rover—Lunokhod-1—on the floor of the moon. Since then China, India, and Japan have left their very own tire tracks within the lunar soil with their very own robotic automobiles. But whereas the U.S. has despatched no fewer than five rovers to Mars, it has given the moon a move. That will change as early as July, when Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic and California-based Astrolab crew as much as ship a golf-cart-sized rover named FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Program) to the Nobile Crater region close to the moon’s south pole.

FLIP is a part of a NASA initiative to enlist the non-public sector to design and construct rovers that the house company will lease in its return-to-the-moon Artemis program, and Astrobotic and Astrolab have constructed a powerful machine. Weighing in at over half a ton and in a position to carry as much as 110 lbs. of cargo, FLIP is supplied with 4 wheels mounted on casters that enable it to make what are referred to as zero-point turns—rotating in place in a decent pivot relatively than having to drive in large circles to reverse course. It has an infrared steerage system that enables it to detect and steer round obstacles, driving semi-autonomously, with NASA merely having to present it a vacation spot and permitting the rover to seek out its personal approach there. 

This rover is simply the 1st step for the 2 firms. Next on the launch manifest is the bigger, 6-ft. tall FLEX (Flexible Logistics and Exploration) rover, large enough to hold greater than 3,000 lbs. of payload and convey a crew of two astronauts throughout the floor. A agency launch date has not but been set for FLEX, although 2028 is the target. That suits properly with NASA’s hopes to have Artemis astronauts on the moon by the tip of the last decade. When the crews arrive, their journey may very well be ready.

These bold missions will not be the one ones queuing as much as fly in 2026. Also heading to the launch pad is Blue Origin’s Blue Moon spacecraft, which is deliberate to carry off as early as January atop the corporate’s New Glenn rocket, aiming for a touchdown within the south lunar pole. The spacecraft has the propulsive oomph to hold as much as three tons of cargo and crew to the floor—and it’s that crew a part of the equation that makes it particularly newsworthy. In 2021, NASA awarded SpaceX a $2.89 billion contract to adapt its Starship spacecraft to function the lunar touchdown car for the crew of Artemis III and past. But SpaceX has stumbled badly, with serial failures of the enormous Starship rocket, and in October, Sean Duffy, Secretary of Transportation and interim administrator of NASA, introduced he was opening up the contract to opponents together with Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin. A profitable Blue Moon touchdown could be a black eye for SpaceX however will probably be an enormous win for NASA.