2026 promises another pivotal year for spaceflight: NASA's Artemis 2 aims to fly four astronauts around the Moon, SpaceX plans a Version 3 Starship test focused on reaching orbit and demonstrating on-orbit refueling, and routine ISS crew rotations will continue. Boeing is targeting an uncrewed Starliner test after its 2024 crewed test problems, while multiple commercial lunar landers from Firefly, Intuitive Machines, Blue Origin and Astrobotic are contracted for additional Moon deliveries. Blue Origin and Amazon Leo are also expanding orbital and suborbital activity.
Six Spaceflights to Watch in 2026 — From NASA's Artemis 2 to SpaceX Starship V3
Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander captures its shadow on the moon's surface after completing a successful landing March 2 near a volcanic feature on the moon called Mons Latreille. The vehicle became the first of two landers manufactured by a U.S. company to reach the moon is 2025 in crucial missions to lay the groundwork for NASA to return humans to the lunar surface in the years ahead.
If 2025 felt like a landmark year for rockets, crewed launches and robotic lunar landings, 2026 could raise the stakes even higher. Government agencies and private companies have multiple high-profile missions and tests planned — from a crewed lunar flyby to next-generation heavy rockets and renewed efforts to return cargo and people to low Earth orbit and the Moon.
Artemis 2: A Crewed Circumlunar Test
As early as February 2026, NASA aims to launch Artemis 2, a roughly 10-day crewed circumlunar mission. Four astronauts — NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, plus Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — are slated to ride an Orion capsule atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on a mission to loop around the Moon. Artemis 2 is designed to validate systems and procedures ahead of a future crewed lunar landing under Artemis 3 and help pave the way for sustained lunar operations and eventual missions to Mars.
SpaceX Starship V3: Toward Orbit and On-Orbit Refueling
SpaceX conducted multiple Starship test flights in 2025 and is preparing a significant upgrade for 2026. The planned Version 3 (V3) configuration could be the first iteration capable of reaching orbit and demonstrating on-orbit refueling — a key capability for missions beyond low Earth orbit. SpaceX has also continued development of a lunar variant under NASA's 2021 contract and views Starship as a long-term vehicle for ambitious goals, including Mars missions.
ISS Crew Rotations — Crew-12
Routine crew rotations to the International Space Station will continue in early 2026. Around Feb. 15, a SpaceX Crew Dragon mission designated Crew-12 is expected to launch four astronauts under NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The new crew will replace Crew-11 and is expected to remain on the station for roughly six months to conduct research and perform maintenance.
Boeing Starliner: Uncrewed Retry
Boeing's CST-100 Starliner may return to flight in 2026 with an uncrewed mission to the ISS as soon as April. That flight follows a troubled crewed test in June 2024 that experienced technical problems, prompting NASA to deem the vehicle unsafe for crew return. The 2026 uncrewed test would be a critical step toward certifying Starliner for regular crewed missions.
Commercial Lunar Landers
2025 saw two U.S. commercial landers reach the lunar surface within days of each other: Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost on March 2 and Intuitive Machines' Athena four days later (Athena tipped on landing, limiting its mission). For 2026, NASA has multiple contracts with private firms — including Firefly, Intuitive Machines, Blue Origin and Astrobotic — for additional robotic lunar deliveries that could expand science and technology demonstrations on the Moon.
Blue Origin and Amazon Leo
Blue Origin continued both orbital and suborbital activity in 2025. The company flew its larger New Glenn rocket twice from Florida (including a Nov. 13 mission that helped send two NASA orbiters on a Mars trajectory) and flew the smaller New Shepard suborbital vehicle several times from Texas, including passenger flights. Amazon's satellite program (formerly Project Kuiper), now operating as Amazon Leo, had deployed about 180 of a planned 3,000 broadband satellites by late 2025. Expect additional New Shepard flights and further constellation deployments in 2026.
Outlook: Schedules remain subject to change as technical work, testing and regulatory reviews continue. Together, these missions show how public and private efforts are shaping a busy year for space exploration and technology demonstrations.
Eric Lagatta / USA TODAY (original reporting); summary and update prepared for international readers.
Athena, the lunar lander on Intuitive Machines' IM-2 mission, captured this image of the moon's surface with Earth seen in the distance ahead of a March 6 landing attempt. While the lander was the second U.S. vehicle to reach the moon within a week, it ultimately landed on its side, which hindered much of its mission.
NASA astronaut Suni Williams is helped out of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft March 18 following a return to Earth after a nine-month stay at the International Space Station. She and NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore crewed the Boeing Starliner, which had launched in June 2024 on a failed test flight that was meant to return them to Earth a few days later.
Butch Wilmore reacts after he and Suni Williams and two other astronauts splashed down March 18 in a Crew Dragon space capsule following their return to earth from the International Space Station off the coast of Florida. The astronauts' extended stay at the orbital outpost dominated the news cycle for months.
A SpaceX support team member is seen airborne while working to lift the SpaceX Dragon capsule that returned the Starliner astronauts and two others onto a recovery vehicle following its landing off the coast of Florida.
This picture shows the crew of a privately-funded mission known as Fram2, from left to right, mission specialist and medical officer Eric Philips, mission commander Chun Wang, pilot Rabea Rogge and vehicle commander Jannicke Mikkelsen on March 19, 2025 in Hawthorne, California. Launched March 31 from Florida using a SpaceX Dragon capsule, the mission became t first ever human spaceflight over the Earth's polar regions.
Pop musician Katy Perry emerges April 14 from Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule in West Texas following a brief flight to the edge of space. Perry was part of an all-women crew that also included broadcast journalist Gayle King that took the ride from Blue Origin's facility called Launch Site One. The high-profile launch attracted plenty of headlines and even drew some backlash from those who viewed the mission as a wasteful publicity stunt.
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket carrying astronauts Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, Kerianne Flynn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, and Lauren Sanchez lifts off April 14 from Launch Site One near Van Horn, Texas. Blue Origin has since launched five more human spaceflights on the New Shepard in 2025.
This photo depicts a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the latest batch of Amazon's broadband satellites on Dec. 16 to low-Earth orbit after launching from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Formerly called Project Kuiper, the venture has since been renamed Amazon Leo. Since its debut April launch, Amazon Leo has deployed 180 of 3,000 satellites planned for its first constellation, which could challenge SpaceX's Starlink.
A group of Blue Origin employees with their friends and families gather on the beach in Cape Canaveral for the launch of Blue Origin's second New Glenn rocket in 2025. Following its January debut, the rocket launched for the second time Nov. 13 from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, sending NASA's twin ESCAPADE spacecraft on their trek to Mars.
Darkness falls Nov. 9 as a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket is prepped for its second-ever launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Blue Origin is developing the towering rocket for heavy-lift missions that could see Jeff Bezos' company compete with Elon Musk and SpaceX.
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft sits Oct. 12, 2025 atop the Super Heavy booster before sunrise as preparations continue for its 11th test flight from the company's complex in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off Oct. 13, 2025, on its 11th ever test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas. The launch was Starship's fifth of 2025, and second consecutive successful test flight following a year that was early on marked by explosive failures. SpaceX is developing the rocket for future missions that would help NASA astronauts land on the moon and also potentially transport the first humans to Mars.
Four astronauts will venture around the Moon on Artemis II, the first crewed mission on NASA's path to establishing a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration through Artemis. The 10-day flight will help confirm systems and hardware needed for early human lunar exploration missions.
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft sits Oct. 12, 2025 atop the Super Heavy booster before sunrise as preparations continue for its 11th test flight from the company's complex in Starbase, Texas.
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft is hoisted Oct. 11, 2025 along the launch tower for stacking atop the Super Heavy booster in preparation for its 11th test flight from the company's complex in Starbase, Texas.
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft sits Oct. 12, 2025 atop the Super Heavy booster before sunrise as preparations continue for its 11th test flight from the company's complex in Starbase, Texas.
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft sits Oct. 12, 2025 atop the Super Heavy booster before sunrise as preparations continue for its 11th test flight from the company's complex in Starbase, Texas.
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft is hoisted Oct. 11, 2025 along the launch tower for stacking atop the Super Heavy booster in preparation for its 11th test flight from the company's complex in Starbase, Texas.
SpaceX’s 11th Starship test flight lights up the skies over Brevard as seen from the Kennedy Space Center October 13, 2025. Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK
SpaceX’s 11th Starship test flight lights up the skies over Brevard as seen from the Kennedy Space Center October 13, 2025. Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK
SpaceX's Starship rocket launches Oct. 13 during the 11th test flight, as seen from South Padre Island in Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster splashes down in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed by the U.S. government as the Gulf of America, after launching the SpaceX Starship spacecraft October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
Boeing and NASA teams work around NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test Starliner spacecraft after it landed Sept. 2024 uncrewed, at White Sands, New Mexico.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope last observed come 3I/ATLAS on Nov. 30, about four months after Hubble's first look at the interstellar comet. 3I/ATLAS became one of the biggest cosmic stories of the year when astronomers deemed it to be the third-ever discovered interstellar object in our solar system originating from an entirely different part of the galaxy.
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on Oct. 2, 2025. At the time it was imaged, the comet was about 19 million miles from the spacecraft. The comet didn't come nearly as close to Earth, when it reached a distance of 170 million miles from our planet on Dec. 19.
This image shows the 3I/ATLAS interstellar comet as a bright, fuzzy orb in the center. Traveling through our solar system at 130,000 miles per hour, 3I/ATLAS was made visible by using a series of colorized stacked images from Sept. 11-25, using the Heliocentric Imager-1 (H1) instrument, a visible-light imager on the STEREO-A (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) spacecraft. The colorization was applied to differentiate the image from other observing spacecraft images.
Because it's big enough to be deemed a "city killer," asteroid 2024 YR4 became a source of alarm due to the uncommonly high risk it had of colliding with Earth on Dec. 22, 2032. For a time, it was the only object among more than 37,000 known large space rocks with any chance of hitting Earth anytime soon – with its probability of impact even rising to a record level of 3.1%.That began to change in late February as more precise observations allowed scientists to effectively winnow down the asteroid's odds of impact to a number so low, it might as well be zero.
An exoplanet known as K2-18b achieved a degree of fame in April when a team of astronomers claimed to have found in its atmosphere "the strongest evidence yet" that life exists anywhere else besides Earth. Other scientists have since cast doubt on the findings – putting a damper on the notion that humanity finally had proof that we aren't alone in the cosmos.
This artist's concept shows what exoplanet K2-18b could look like based on scientific data. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has observed K2-18b, an exoplanet 8.6 times as massive as Earth, revealing conditions that could support life on the exoplanet.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is seen in a "selfie" that it took over on Sept. 10, 2021. Perseverance rover, along with Curiosity, is one of the agency's two car-sized robots exploring the Martian surface for signs that the planet was once habitable. And in September, NASA officials confirmed that one of the rovers’ finds contained a potential biosignature.
A reddish rock nicknamed "Cheyava Falls", with features resembling leopard spots was discovered by NASA's Perseverance rover in Mars’ Jezero Crater in July 2024, in this handout photograph released on September 10, 2025.
The northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, light up the night sky Nov. 11 east of Denver, Colorado. A powerful geomagnetic solar storm in November blasted Earth and created the conditions necessary to reveal the auroras much further south in the United States than is typical.
A group of friends take photos of the northern lights Nov. 11 as they appear over Clinton Lake in Lawrence, Kansas. After NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center issued a "severe" geomagnetic storm watch in November, many people in the Northern Hemisphere, which includes the U.S., had an extraordinary opportunity to gaze upon some breathtaking red and green auroras in their own backyard.
In June, the state-of-the-art Vera C. Rubin ground telescope in Chile unveiled its first stunning images of the cosmos. This particular image combines 678 separate images taken by the observatory in just over seven hours of observing time. Combining many images in this way clearly reveals otherwise faint or invisible details, such as the clouds of gas and dust that comprise the Trifid nebula (top) and the Lagoon nebula, which are several thousand light-years away from Earth.
