Gizmodo’s Guide to the Coolest Space Missions of 2026

There were many impressive moments in spaceflight this year, but if the industry had a slogan, it would be “onwards and upwards.” So, as 2025 comes to an end, it’s time to shift our focus toward the launches and mission milestones on deck for 2026.

Over the next year, space agencies and companies will push the limits of exploration further than ever before. Planned missions include the first launch of the most powerful rocket ever built, a lunar landing, and a crewed flight around the Moon—and that’s just the beginning.

Without further ado, here are the 11 most exciting spaceflight events scheduled for 2026. You won’t want to miss a single one.

First launch of Starship Version 3 (early 2026)

Starship Version 3 pic.twitter.com/1sHD25y49o

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2025

The third iteration of SpaceX’s Starship megarocket will be the largest, most powerful launch vehicle ever built. Starship Version 3 (V3) is designed to take American astronauts back to the Moon, deploy the next generation of Starlink satellites, and usher in a new era of Mars exploration. If we’re lucky, we should see it launch in early 2026.

Compared to Starship V2, this upgraded version will be about 5 feet (1.5 meters) taller with a larger propellant capacity and new docking adapters for in-orbit fuel transfer. That last upgrade will be essential to NASA’s Artemis 3 mission, which will use a modified version of Starship V3 called the Human Landing System (HLS) to return astronauts to the Moon.

However, SpaceX’s Artemis 3 contract could get swiped by Blue Origin, which is working on its own lunar lander—more on that in a moment.

As we know from the debut of Starship V2, there’s a major learning curve to launching a new-and-improved Starship. It’s perfectly likely that V3’s first few flights won’t go as planned, and we may even see some explosive failures. Whatever happens will be pivotal for SpaceX and NASA, as V3’s development underpins the Artemis timeline, Starlink’s evolution, and Starship’s path to full operation.

Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Pathfinder Mission 1 launch (early 2026)

Alright, back to Blue Origin. Blue is developing two lunar landers: Blue Moon Mark 1 (for cargo) and Blue Moon Mark 2 (for crew and cargo). The latter is the lander that could nab the Artemis 3 contract from SpaceX if it’s ready to fly before the Starship HLS, but its development hinges on the success of Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1).

The 26-foot-tall (8-meter-tall) cargo lander is expected to embark on its first flight during the first quarter of 2026, touching down near the Shackleton crater at the Moon’s south pole. This demonstration mission, dubbed “Pathfinder,” will aim to validate all of the lander’s hardware and systems, including its never-before-flown BE-7 engine.

MK1 is the largest commercial cargo lander ever built, which will allow it to carry more payload than any of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) landers. When it launches aboard New Glenn next year, it will bring a NASA payload called SCALPSS (Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies) along with it. This array of cameras will take photos of MK1’s descent and gather data to assist future Moon landings.

NASA’s Artemis 2 mission launch (no later than April)

Speaking of going to the Moon, NASA plans to launch its first crewed mission under the Artemis program no later than April 2026. Artemis 2 will be humanity’s farthest journey from Earth since the Apollo era ended over 50 years ago.

The mission will launch aboard NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The crew—consisting of mission commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen—will ride inside the Orion spacecraft.

After separating from SLS, Orion will perform multiple maneuvers to raise its orbit around Earth and eventually set itself on a lunar free return trajectory. This will send the spacecraft and its crew on a slingshot-like journey around the Moon, using Earth’s gravity to naturally pull Orion back home.

To be clear, the Artemis 2 mission will not land astronauts on the lunar surface, but this 10-day flyby will pave the way for the Artemis 3 Moon landing. It will also make history as the first to send a woman and a person of color on a lunar mission. If you only watch one space launch in 2026, it should be this one.

Vast Haven-1 launch: world’s first commercial space station (May)

Since 2000, the International Space Station (ISS) has served as an orbital outpost for astronauts spanning five space agencies and 15 countries. In 2030, NASA plans to retire it, sending it falling through Earth’s atmosphere where most of it will burn up during reentry.

That doesn’t mean the agency and its international partners will give up their continuous presence in low-Earth orbit. In 2021, NASA created the Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) program to support the design, build, and operation of private Earth-orbiting space stations. Several companies are working on this, including Vast, a California-based aerospace firm.

Vast plans to send Haven-1, a single-module space station, to orbit in May 2026. The station is designed to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Weighing in at roughly 31,000 pounds (14,000 kilograms), Haven-1 will be the largest spacecraft the rocket has ever carried. Vast claims it will also be the world’s first commercial space station.

Haven-1 will be capable of hosting up to four astronauts at a time for short-duration missions. That’s not suitable to replace the ISS, but it will serve as a stepping stone to the modular Haven-2 space station. The company aims to propose Haven-2 for the second phase of NASA’s CLD program, with plans to launch the first module in 2028.

NASA SunRISE mission launch (summer 2026)

Understanding the solar activity that drives space weather is critical to protecting infrastructure in Earth’s orbit and on the ground. Next summer, NASA plans to launch an array of six toaster-sized CubeSats that will work together to study the Sun’s dynamic behavior.

The Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment, or SunRISE, will observe low radio frequency emissions to improve scientists’ understanding of how the Sun generates solar particle storms, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. These bursts of high-energy particles can be hazardous to aircraft, spacecraft and astronauts. They can also trigger geomagnetic storms, which may disrupt power grids and communications systems.

The mission will launch as a rideshare aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur Rocket, sponsored by the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command. After launch, the SunRISE satellites will orbit Earth within 6 miles (10 kilometers) of each other to act like a giant single-aperture radio telescope, using a method known as interferometry.

SunRISE data will produce detailed 3D maps of where energetic radio emissions occur in the Sun’s heliosphere. These emissions point to the locations of extremely powerful bursts of radiation. The mission will also map the Sun’s magnetic field lines for the first time. These findings will significantly improve our understanding of how solar particle storms form and evolve.

China’s Chang’e 7 launch (August)

Blue Origin isn’t the only one attempting a Moon landing in 2026. In August, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) plans to launch a mission to the lunar south pole.

The Chang’e 7 mission will launch aboard China’s Long March 5 rocket, lifting off from Wenchang Space Launch Site on the island province of Hainan. It will send an orbiter, lander, rover, and “hopper” probe to explore the Moon’s south pole and search for resources that will help China establish a sustained lunar presence, particularly water-ice.

The lander carrying the rover and hopper probe will touch down near the rim of the Shackleton impact crater, which is prime lunar real estate. NASA is also eyeing the area as a landing site for the Artemis 3 mission and an ideal place to build a Moon base.

The Shackleton crater is so sought-after because sunlight only ever reaches its rim, which remains illuminated for 90% of the year. Meanwhile, the interior is perpetually dark. This makes it an ideal landing site for future crewed Moon missions, allowing astronauts to harness solar power at the rim while also exploring the crater’s permanently shadowed interior for water ice.

With Chang’e 7’s target launch date fast approaching, it appears China is on track to beat the U.S. to extracting water from the lunar surface. If the mission succeeds, it would put even more pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress toward a sustained lunar presence.

ESA’s Hera reaches Didymos (November)

In 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) demonstrated that ramming a spacecraft into an asteroid could change the space rock’s trajectory. The mission was a huge success that provided a potential strategy to defend Earth from oncoming asteroids, though Dimorphos—the one targeted by DART—was never a threat to our planet.

NASA scientists are tracking nearly 2,000 potentially hazardous asteroids that—unlike Dimorphos—could pose a risk to Earth. The agency wants to be ready to respond quickly if one of these space rocks ends up on a collision course with our planet. But before it can reliably depend on this defense strategy—the kinetic impactor technique—it needs to understand the consequences of using it. That’s where the European Space Agency’s Hera mission comes in.

The Hera spacecraft launched in October 2024 and is on its way to Dimorphos to conduct a post-impact survey, with an expected arrival of November 2026. Hera’s instruments will perform visual, laser, and radio mapping of the asteroid to help scientists fully understand the aftermath of the kinetic impactor technique.

This data will validate and refine numerical models of the impact process at asteroid scale, confirming whether this deflection strategy is ready for operational use. If so, it would be a major win for our planetary defense capabilities.

ESA’s BepiColombo enters Mercury’s orbit (November)

Of all the planets in the inner solar system, the one we’ve explored the least is actually our closest neighbor: Mercury. That’s because it’s extremely difficult for spacecraft to enter the small planet’s orbit.

The reason for that is Mercury’s proximity to the Sun. To enter the planet’s orbit, a spacecraft has to constantly brake against the gravitational pull of our home star, which either requires a lot of fuel or using the gravity of other planets to slow down.

Next year, the BepiColombo mission will achieve this feat for the second time in history. This joint mission between ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched in 2018, and has since completed six gravity-assisted flybys of Mercury. It’s on track to enter the planet’s orbit in November 2026.

BepiColombo consists of three separate spacecraft. Two of them are science orbiters: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). These spacecraft are being transported to the desert planet by the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM). Once they arrive, MPO and MMO will split off into two different orbits best suited to their science instruments.

MPO will orbit close to Mercury to observe the planet’s surface, while MMO hangs back to study its magnetic field. Their findings should help scientists better understand how Mercury formed and what the early solar system was like.

Sierra Space Dream Chaser first launch (late 2026)

Sierra Space, a Colorado-based aerospace company, plans to launch the world’s first commercial spaceplane in late 2026.

Dubbed “Dream Chaser,” this winged aircraft is designed to launch to low-Earth orbit atop a rocket, then survive atmospheric reentry and perform runway landings like a plane. Its foldable wings unfurl once it’s in flight and generate power using solar arrays. Its exterior is also equipped with heat shield tiles to protect it from the extreme temperatures of reentry.

In essence, Dream Chaser combines engineering elements of airplanes and spacecraft to serve as a versatile, reusable vehicle for cargo (and eventually crewed) missions to low-Earth orbit. In 2016, NASA awarded Sierra Space a Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract to provide at least seven cargo deliveries to the International Space Station.

Its first flight was originally supposed to take place in 2020, but the spaceplane’s development has been repeatedly delayed by certification hurdles and technical issues. In November, Sierra Space announced that Dream Chaser had completed a series of critical pre-flight milestones and is on track for a first launch to low-Earth orbit in the fourth quarter of 2026.

The inaugural Dream Chaser, named “Tenacity,” will launch from Kennedy Space Center aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur Rocket.

JAXA Martian Moons Exploration launch (late 2026)

JAXA is gearing up for one of the most ambitious planetary science missions in history. In late 2026, the agency hopes to launch the Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) mission, which will send a robotic probe to explore Mars’s two moons, Deimos and Phobos.

No spacecraft have conducted extended investigations of these moons before; what little information we have about them comes from a few fly-by measurements. MMX will be the first mission to not only take detailed measurements of the moons, but also land on Phobos to collect a sample and return it to Earth for analysis. MMX could also help pave the way for future crewed Mars missions.

The spacecraft is designed to launch aboard JAXA’s H3 rocket, which recently suffered an engine anomaly during its seventh flight. Hopefully JAXA can identify and correct the issue quickly, as issues with H3 have already pushed the mission past its original launch target of September 2024.

If MMX does get off the ground next year, the probe will enter Martian orbit about one year later. It will then move into a quasi satellite orbit around Phobos, land on the surface for sample collection, and perform several close flybys of Deimos before setting course back to Earth. According to this timeline, it should return in 2031.

Roman telescope launch (potentially fall 2026)

In an exciting turn of events, NASA has completed construction of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope ahead of schedule. While the official launch date for this unbelievably powerful observatory is still May 2027, it’s on track to launch as soon as fall 2026.

Roman is a multi-billion-dollar infrared telescope with a field of view 100 times larger than Hubble’s. According to NASA, it could observe a billion galaxies in its lifetime, offering an unprecedented view of the cosmos. Roman will also be able to block starlight to see exoplanets and planet-forming disks, conduct a statistical census of planetary systems in our galaxy, answer big questions about dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics.

With all this on Roman’s horizon, it may come as a surprise that one of its first tasks will be to stare at absolutely nothing. Astronomers recently laid out an action plan to use the telescope to investigate cosmic voids—immense, low-density regions of the universe. Researchers suspect these regions are dominated by dark energy, and Roman could help them look for it.

The telescope will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center. If we’re lucky enough to see it launch next year, it will mark the beginning of a new age of scientific discovery.