2026_in_spaceflight

2026 in spaceflight

2026 in spaceflight

Spaceflight-related events during the year 2026

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

Quick Facts

In 2026, NASA is expected to launch the Artemis III mission, which will land astronauts near the south pole of the Moon. It is expected to be the first mission to land humans on the Moon since 1972.

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will have a field of view 100 times larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope, is scheduled to be launched in October 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]

Orbital launches

More information Date and time (UTC), Rocket ...

Suborbital flights

More information Date and time (UTC), Rocket ...

Deep-space rendezvous

More information Date (UTC), Spacecraft ...

Extravehicular activities (EVAs)

More information Start Date/Time, Duration ...

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.

More information Country, Launches ...

By rocket

By family

More information Family, Country ...

By type

More information Rocket, Country ...

By configuration

More information Rocket, Country ...

By spaceport

More information Site, Country ...

By orbit

More information Orbital regime, Launches ...

Expected maiden flights

Notes

    References

    1. [1]
      "NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Roman Space Telescope". NASA (Press release). 19 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
    2. [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.
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      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.
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      "Antares 330 - CRS NG-24". Next Spaceflight. 30 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
    5. [5]
      "Vega-C - KOMPSAT-7". Next Spaceflight. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
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      "Following the success of the inaugural flight, Arianespace to start operations of Vega C with seven launchers already sold". Arianespace (Press release). 13 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
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      "Planned launches". EUMETSAT. 8 October 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
    8. ↑
      Krebs, Gunter (29 April 2022). "METOP-SG-B 1, 2, 3". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
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      Krebs, Gunter (29 April 2022). "METOP-SG-B 1, 2, 3". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
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      Henry, Caleb (11 September 2017). "Eumetsat launching two, possibly three Metop-SG satellites with Arianespace". SpaceNews. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
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      "SpaceX Satellite Rideshare Program Available Flights". SpaceX. Retrieved 17 January 2024. Archived via Imgur on 17 January 2024.
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      Pinedo, Emma (20 October 2023). "Spain's PLD Space expects first orbital launch in Q1 2026 from French Guiana". Reuters. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
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      Leon, Carole (26 October 2023). "Tropical Weather Analytics and Phantom Space Partner on Hurricane Hunter Satellite Constellation". EIN Presswire. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
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      "Arianespace supporting the European Union's Copernicus programme with Vega C". Arianespace (Press release). 29 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
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      Krebs, Gunter (22 September 2020). "CO2M (Sentinel 7)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
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      "Full steam ahead for carbon dioxide monitoring mission". ESA. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
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      "EUMETSAT to exploit ESA-developed launchers and flight operations software". EUMETSAT. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
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      Krebs, Gunter (10 September 2022). "MTG-I 1, 2, 3, 4 (Meteosat 12, 14, 15, 17)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
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      "All flights opportunities". Arianespace. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
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      Foust, Jeff (12 September 2023). "Arianespace to launch Intelsat small GEO satellite". SpaceNews.com. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
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      Foust, Jeff (31 March 2023). "Astrolab to send rover to the moon on SpaceX's Starship". SpaceNews. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
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      Foust, Jeff (9 January 2024). "NASA delays Artemis 2 and 3 missions". SpaceNews. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
    31. ↑
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      Wall, Mike (5 September 2023). "Australia launching moon rover on NASA Artemis mission as soon as 2026". Space.com. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
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      Foust, Jeff (14 October 2022). "Commercial space station developers seek clarity on regulations". SpaceNews. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
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      "Axiom Commercial Space Station". Axiom Space. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
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      Fenoglio, Franco (Head - Human Spaceflight & Transportation Unit - Thales Alenia Space) (26 June 2020). #SpaceTalk: Centro commerciale spaziale [#SpaceTalk: Focusing on commercial space] (in Italian). Event occurs at 17:30–19:54. Retrieved 3 July 2020 – via YouTube. Summary available at .
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      Foust, Jeff (20 May 2020). "NASA renames WFIRST space telescope after pioneering woman astronomer". SpaceNews. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
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      Jones, Andrew (24 March 2023). "China loses UAE as partner for Chang'e-7 lunar south pole mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
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      Foust, Jeff (13 December 2023). "SpaceX yet to select launch pad for next Axiom Space private astronaut mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 13 December 2023. Ondler said in the briefing that the first of those modules is now scheduled to launch to the ISS at the end of 2026, about a year later than the company previously announced.
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      Baylor, Michael. "Antares 330 - CRS NG-25". Next Spaceflight. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
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      "Planet-hunting eye of PLATO". ESA. 5 March 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
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      "Mission Operations". ESA. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
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      "Morocco, Major Player in Arab Satellite Communications Organization 'Arabsat' (Official)". Maroc.ma. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
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      "Arabsat and SpaceX sign contract to launch 7A satellite, Falcon 9 will carry Arabsat 7A to its orbital position 30.5 East". Arabsat (Press release). 19 September 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
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      Dunn, Michael J. (6 March 2023). "Directions 2023: Advancing GPS to Meet the Future". GPS World. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
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      Berger, Eric (11 September 2023). "Telesat books 14 launches with SpaceX, bypassing Blue Origin and Relativity". Ars Technica. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
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      Foust, Jeff (25 April 2023). "Astrobotic purchases Falcon Heavy for third lunar lander mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
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      "Astrobotic Wins $34.6M for Power Demo Mission on the Moon". Astrobotic (Press release). 25 July 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
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      "Firefly Aerospace Awarded Multi-Launch Agreement with L3Harris". Firefly Aerospace (Press release). 5 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
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      "宇宙基本計画⼯程表 (令和５年度改訂)" [Basic Plan on Space Policy (2023 Revision)] (PDF) (in Japanese). Cabinet Office. 22 December 2023. p. 45. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
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      Pillai, Soumya (12 November 2023). "Japanese rover tests on track for lunar mission with India". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
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      "Japan to Delay Mars Moon Exploration by 2 Years to 2026". Yomiuri Shimbun. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
    55. ↑
      "Rover on the home stretch to the martian moon Phobos". DLR. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
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      Lee, Kyung-tae (25 October 2021). "[누리호 발사] 내년 5·10월 추가 발사…2026년 위성시대 본격 돌입" [[Launching Nuri] Additional launches in May/October next year… The satellite era begins in earnest in 2026]. NewsPim (in Korean). Retrieved 26 October 2021.
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      "Изготовитель "Глонассов" и ГП КС займутся изготовлением спутника "Экспресс-АМУ4"" [The manufacturer of "Glonass" and the RSCC will be engaged in the manufacture of the "Ekspress-AMU4" satellite]. TASS (in Russian). 19 July 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
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      ""Роскосмос" вновь отказался запускать спутник на ракете "Ангара"" [Roscosmos once again refuses to launch satellites on Angara rockets]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). 15 January 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
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      "French-Indian space cooperation enters new dimension on visit of India's Prime Minister for national 14 July celebrations". CNES (Press release). 15 July 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
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      "TRISHNA (Thermal infraRed Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural resource Assessment)". eoPortal. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
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      "Запуск новейшего российского радиолокационного спутника отложили на год" [The launch of the newest Russian radar satellite was postponed for a year]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). 29 May 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
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      Krebs, Gunter (9 September 2019). "Obzor-R". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
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      Report on the status of current and future Russian meteorological satellite systems. CGMS-49. Roscosmos / Roshydromet. 11 May 2021. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 27 August 2021 – via the Internet Archive.
    67. ↑
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      Krebs, Gunter (28 February 2021). "Arktika-M 1, 2, 3". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
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