2026-07-23 · setback · ●●● · published 2026-07-23corrected
Bloomberg and SatNews reported in July 2026 that SpaceX was turning away satellite operators seeking dedicated Falcon 9 launches beyond 2028 and had stopped taking new Transporter and Bandwagon rideshare bookings beyond late 2028; Ars Technica reported that one source said SpaceX told the US government it intends to end commercial launches after 2028, a plan not publicly confirmed by SpaceX.
2026-07-14 · analysis · ●●○ · published 2026-07-14verified
A PNAS Nexus study (Terzi and Nicoli, 4,400+ launches 1960–2025) estimates the average cost of sending a kilogram to orbit fell from $87,023 in 1960 to $3,868 in 2025, by 21.2% per doubling of cumulative payload, and projects in its central estimate about $1,600/kg by 2030 and $300/kg by 2040.
2026-05-20 · projection · ●●○ · published 2026-05-20corrected
SpaceX's IPO registration statement (S-1, filed 20 May 2026) cites NASA figures of about $2,700/kg to orbit for the first Falcon 9 (2010) and about $1,400/kg for the first Falcon Heavy (2018) against a historical average of $18,500/kg, and says SpaceX aims for Starship to cut the cost to reach orbit by 99% or more relative to that average.
2026-04-09 · data · ●○○ · published 2026-04-09corrected
ESA's annual contract disclosure shows that launching Sentinel-1D on an Ariane 6 in November 2025 cost €82,070,773, European Spaceflight reported.
2026-03-30 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-03-31verified
CAS Space's Kinetica-2 (Lijian-2, 12 t to 200 km LEO) reached orbit on its 30 March 2026 debut, and its chief commander Yang Haoliang said its single-launch cost without booster recovery is 30,000 yuan per kg (about $4,350/kg), which he called roughly on par with Falcon 9's $5,000/kg, and said booster recovery could later bring it to about half of SpaceX's figure.
2026-03-10 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-03-10verified
Voyager Technologies' 2025 annual report (10-K, filed 10 March 2026) discloses a $90.0 million commitment for one launch for the Starlab space station program, whose launch contract is with SpaceX's Starship, a rare public price for a dedicated Starship launch.
2026-02-04 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-02-04corrected
SpaceX's Capabilities & Services sheet, first archived in its 2026 version on 4 February 2026, lists a dedicated Falcon 9 launch at $74 million (standard payment plan, through 2026) for up to 22,000 kg to LEO on a fully expendable vehicle, about $3,364/kg nominal; Ars Technica reported the increase as from $70 million.
2025 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04legacy
Ill-Defined Space's 2025 global orbital launch summary puts SpaceX's share of global payload mass to orbit at ~85% in 2025, versus ~86% in 2024 and 60% in 2020.
2025 · data · ●○○ · published 2026-01-04legacy
China-in-Space estimates the cost to LEO of China's Long March 3B at about $4,412/kg.
2025 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
SpaceXStock’s comparison lists LEO launch costs of $1,500/kg for Falcon Heavy, $2,720/kg for Falcon 9, $4,044/kg for Vulcan, and $19,039/kg for Electron; it gives no New Glenn cost.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025: SpaceXStock's 2025 launch-market comparison lists launch cost to LEO per kg of about…
2025 · data · ●●● · published 2026-01-04corrected
Jonathan's Space Report counts 3,194.0 tons of payload launched worldwide in 2025, its biggest annual total, and 2,625.9 tons in 2024 (payload tonnage).
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025: Jonathan's Space Report's annual table of launched payload mass gives world totals of…
2025 · data · ●○○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
Wikipedia lists Electron’s starting price for delivering payloads to orbit at about $25,000 per kg.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025: Rocket Lab's Electron small launcher costs about $19,039/kg to LEO (Wikipedia figure…
2025-08 · projection · ●○○ · published 2025-08-31verified
A NextBigFuture analysis (Aug 2025) projected that SpaceX Starship with reuse could bring launch cost to LEO down to about $100/kg.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-08: A NextBigFuture analysis (Aug 2025) projected that SpaceX Starship with reuse could…
1985 · data · ●○○ · published 2026-01-04legacy
CSIS Aerospace Security data put the historical Space Shuttle launch cost to LEO at about $54,500/kg.
2026-10-14 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-10-14corrected
On 14 October 2026 the FAA announced its intent to prepare a Programmatic EIS on SpaceX’s proposal to raise Starship operations at Starbase from the currently authorized 25 launches and 50 landings per year to up to 100 launches and 200 landings a year in Phase 1 and up to 456 launches and 912 landings a year in Phase 2.
2026-10-09 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-10-09verified
NASA's Human Landing System presentation at IAC 2026 (5-9 October) schedules SpaceX's Starship ship-to-ship propellant transfer demo for Q1 2027, after a first ship catch and first Cape flight in Q4 2026, whereas SpaceX's October 2025 update had targeted the in-space propellant transfer flight test for 2026.
2026-09-28 · achievement · ●●● · published 2026-09-28verified
Starship Flight 14 on 28 September 2026 became the first Starship to reach Earth orbit and its first to deliver meaningful payload there, deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites before performing its first deorbit burn and splashing down on target in the northern Pacific.
2026-08-24 · data · ●○○ · published 2026-08-24verified
BryceTech's Q2 2026 Global Space Activity briefing (24 August 2026) estimates 732,519 kg of spacecraft mass launched worldwide in Q2 2026, down 2% from Q2 2025, on 81 orbital launches.
2026-08-04 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-08-04corrected
SpaceX's 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 (filed 4 August 2026) reports mass to orbit of 485 metric tons in Q2 2026 versus 652 t in Q2 2025, and 1,041 t in H1 2026 versus 1,102 t in H1 2025, a year-on-year decline (Falcon launches fell from 81 to 77 in the half).
2026-07-24 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-07-24verified
Starship Flight 13 on 24 July 2026, the second V3 flight, deployed 20 Starlink V3 satellites on its suborbital trajectory (expected to demise on reentry), relit a Raptor in space and made a soft splashdown intact in the Indian Ocean, while the Super Heavy booster again ended in a hard splashdown in the Gulf.
2026-06-15 · data · ●○○ · published 2026-06-15verified
BryceTech's Q1 2026 Global Space Activity briefing (15 June 2026) estimates 647,412 kg of spacecraft mass launched worldwide in Q1 2026, up 18% from Q1 2025, with 1,216 spacecraft launched.
2026-06-09 · projection · ●●○ · published 2026-06-09verified
In an IPO-roadshow interview filed with the SEC on 9 June 2026, Elon Musk said SpaceX aims to go with Starship from somewhere around 2,500 tons a year to orbit to millions of tons per year, and that it can probably reach a million tons to orbit per year in about three years.
2026-05-22 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-05-22verified
Starship Flight 12 on 22 May 2026, the first flight of the V3 Starship and Super Heavy with Raptor 3 engines and from Starbase Pad 2, put the ship on its planned suborbital trajectory, deployed 20 Starlink simulators and two modified Starlink satellites and splashed down in the Indian Ocean, while the booster ended its boostback early and hit the Gulf in a hard splashdown.
2026-05-20 · projection · ●●○ · published 2026-05-20verified
SpaceX's S-1 (filed 20 May 2026) says Starship V3 is designed to deliver 100 metric tons to orbit fully reusably, that SpaceX expects Starship to commence payload delivery to orbit in the second half of 2026, and that deploying 100 GW per year of orbital AI compute would need thousands of launches and about one million metric tons to orbit annually.
2026-05-20 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-05-20verified
SpaceX's IPO registration statement (S-1, filed 20 May 2026) reports its own mass to orbit (payload deployed by successful launches) of 2,213 metric tons in 2025, 1,699 t in 2024 and 1,210 t in 2023, and 556 t in Q1 2026 versus 450 t in Q1 2025, over 80% of the world's mass to orbit each year since 2023.
2026-04-08 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-04-08verified
BryceTech's Orbital Launches Year in Review 2025 (8 April 2026) estimates 2,712,023 kg of spacecraft mass launched worldwide in 2025 on 325 orbital launches, 2,225,403 kg of it by SpaceX.
2026-03-30 · data · ●○○ · published 2026-03-30verified
BryceTech's Q4 2025 Global Space Activity briefing (30 March 2026) estimates that 770,060 kg of spacecraft mass was launched worldwide in Q4 2025, with 1,404 spacecraft launched.
2026-02-04 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-02-04verified
On 4 February 2026 the FCC Space Bureau accepted for filing SpaceX's application for a non-geostationary system of up to one million satellites designed to operate as orbital data centers.
2026-02-02 · projection · ●●○ · published 2026-02-02verified
Announcing its acquisition of xAI on 2 February 2026, SpaceX said only about 3,000 tons of payload were launched into orbit in 2025 and projected that Starship, launching every hour with 200 tons per flight, will deliver millions of tons to orbit per year, a million tons per year of compute satellites adding 100 GW of AI compute annually.
2026-01-29 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-02-03verified
The FAA's Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision for Starship-Super Heavy at Kennedy Space Center's LC-39A (notice dated 29 January 2026) covers up to 44 Starship-Super Heavy launches per year, with up to 44 Super Heavy and 44 Starship landings (SpaceX still needs an FAA license for these operations).
- 2025 · Ill-Defined Space's 2025 global orbital launch summary puts SpaceX's share of global payload mass to orbit at ~85% in 2025, versus ~86% in 2…
- 2025 · Jonathan's Space Report counts 3,194.0 tons of payload launched worldwide in 2025, its biggest annual total, and 2,625.9 tons in 2024 (paylo…
2025-10-13 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
SpaceX Starship Flight 11 on 13 October 2025 achieved its test objectives.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-10-13: SpaceX Starship Flight 11 on 13 October 2025 met all test objectives, closing out…
- 2025-08 · A NextBigFuture analysis (Aug 2025) projected that SpaceX Starship with reuse could bring launch cost to LEO down to about $100/kg.
2025-08-26 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
SpaceX Starship’s test launch on 26 August 2025 succeeded, releasing eight test satellites and splashing down in the Indian Ocean.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-08-26: SpaceX Starship Flight 10 on 26 August 2025 succeeded, performing Starship's first…
2025-05-27 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04verified
SpaceX Starship Flight 9 on 27 May 2025 flew the first reused Super Heavy booster, but the booster was lost.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-05-27: SpaceX Starship Flight 9 on 27 May 2025 flew the first reused Super Heavy booster, but…
2025-03-06 · setback · ●●○ · published 2025-09-30verified
SpaceX Starship Flight 8 on 6 March 2025 failed when Ship 34 was lost during ascent.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-03-06: SpaceX Starship Flight 8 on 6 March 2025 failed when Ship 34 was lost during ascent.
2025-01-16 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
Starship Flight 7 lifted off on January 16, 2025; Ship 33 was lost before second-stage engine cutoff, while Booster 14 was caught on the tower.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-01-16: SpaceX Starship Flight 7 on 16 January 2025 lost its upper stage (Ship 33 exploded),…
2026-10-09 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-10-09verified
NASA released its final Request for Proposals for commercial low Earth orbit space stations to follow the ISS on 9 October 2026, planning multi-award firm-fixed-price IDIQ contracts with proposals due 8 December 2026 and awards expected in spring 2027.
2026-10-01 · achievement · ●○○ · published 2026-10-01corrected
Varda launched its W-8 and W-9 reentry vehicles together on SpaceX's Transporter-18 on 1 October 2026, the first time two commercial reentry vehicles went to orbit at the same time; they carry thermal-protection payloads and, on W-9, a navigation system for hypersonic flight, for commercial and government customers.
2026-09-30 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-09-30verified
Varda raised a $251 million Series D (total raised $598 million) on 30 September 2026 to scale toward the first pharmaceutical made in space for patients on Earth, having completed six successful reentry missions with over a dozen more launches and reentries planned through 2028.
2026-08-06 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-08-06verified
Redwire's SpaceMD contracted its first commercial mission on SpaceX's Starfall reentry spacecraft, planned for launch in 2028 with capacity for up to 32 PIL-BOX drug-crystallization units; since November 2023, 54 PIL-BOX systems have flown to the ISS and SpaceMD has crystallized 45 unique compounds for research.
2026-07-05 · achievement · ●○○ · published 2026-09-09verified
Besxar's Flight-1 carried two wafer-carrying 'Clipper-class' canisters on a Falcon 9 first-stage booster to about 71 miles altitude on 5 July 2026 and recovered them intact (an 11-minute suborbital exposure test toward in-space compound-semiconductor manufacturing), the first of 12 contracted SpaceX missions.
2026-06-24 · announcement · ●○○ · published 2026-06-24verified
LambdaVision, which has flown nine ISS missions producing protein thin films for its pre-clinical artificial retina, signed a memorandum of understanding on 24 June 2026 with Vast for future research and manufacturing aboard Haven-1 and later commercial stations.
2026-06-23 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-08-01verified
SpaceX flew the first demonstration of Starfall, an uncrewed reentry capsule (3.1 m diameter, up to 1,000 kg of payload) aimed at returning in-space-manufactured products and other cargo, launching it on a Falcon 9 on 23 June 2026; SatNews reported a targeted Pacific splashdown, and a second demo flight is planned.
2026-06-17 · achievement · ●○○ · published 2026-07-09verified
Auxilium Biotechnologies bioprinted kidney and liver tissues on the ISS with its AMP-1 orbital bioprinter, the first of either tissue made in space, returned to Earth on mission AXLM-3, which splashed down in the Pacific on 17 June 2026, for research at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (the printer has also produced 28 nerve-repair implants).
2026-05-13 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-05-13corrected
Varda announced on 13 May 2026 a collaboration with United Therapeutics to process small-molecule medicines aboard multiple missions to low Earth orbit, seeking novel formulations for rare pulmonary disease; the research collaboration was billed as the first focused on space-based drug formulation that could result in patient therapies, with the first launch anticipated in early 2027, and Varda said it could not name anything manufactured in space, returned and sold.
2026-03-25 · achievement · ●○○ · published 2026-03-25verified
Space Forge reported that its ForgeStar-1 satellite has generated plasma more than 100 times in its in-house growth chamber in low Earth orbit, demonstrating on a free-flying commercial satellite the conditions needed for gas-phase semiconductor crystal growth (no material has been returned to Earth).
2026-01-29 · achievement · ●○○ · published 2026-01-29corrected
Varda's W-5 capsule reentered and landed at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia on 29 January 2026 after 9 weeks in orbit, the first full mission on Varda's in-house satellite bus; it carried a U.S. Navy payload collecting data for hypersonic reentry testing, funded through the AFRL Prometheus program.
2026-01-20 · setback · ●○○ · published 2026-01-20verified
Vast began integration of its Haven-1 commercial space station on 20 January 2026 and moved its launch-readiness target to Q1 2027 on a Falcon 9, from a previously public mid-2026 launch date.
2025 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
Vast’s Haven-1 flight article is built; the company currently targets launch in 2027.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025: Vast's Haven-1 commercial space station flight article is complete, with launch…
2025 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04legacy
Redwire bioprinted the first live human heart tissue in space and launched 14 PIL-BOX pharmaceutical crystallization experiments in 2025.
2025 · projection · ●○○ · published 2026-01-04verified
MarketsandMarkets projects the in-space manufacturing market to reach $4.6B by 2030 and $62.8B by 2040.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025: MarketsandMarkets projects the in-space manufacturing market to reach $4.6B by 2030 and…
2025 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04legacy
Flawless Photonics has produced more than 12 km of ZBLAN optical fiber aboard the ISS, with quality verification ongoing.
2025 · announcement · ●○○ · published 2025-12-18corrected
Axiom Space completed the first module’s final welds; testing of the pressure vessel was underway, and the revised station plan targets no earlier than 2028.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025: Axiom Space completed welding of its first Axiom Station module, with the PPTM module…
2025-11-30 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2025-11-30corrected
Varda has completed a handful of missions and sees getting a drug into clinical trials as its next major milestone.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-11-30: Varda Space Industries says it has completed five in-space pharmaceutical-crystal…
2025-11-28 · achievement · ●○○ · published 2025-11-30legacy
Varda Space Industries launched its W-5 in-space pharmaceutical manufacturing capsule on 28 November 2025.
2025-05 · achievement · ●○○ · published 2026-01-04legacy
Space Forge returned a semiconductor-manufacturing payload from orbit to Earth in May 2025.
2024-02 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2025-11-30corrected
Varda’s W-1 returned in February 2024, landing on U.S. soil under the FAA’s Part 450 licensing framework.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2024-02: Varda Space Industries' W-1 capsule returned in February 2024, the first commercial…
2026-10-09 · projection · ●●○ · published 2026-10-09corrected
NASA’s Human Landing System paper for IAC 2026 (5–9 October) says the agency is working toward the Artemis IV crewed lunar landing in early 2028 and a second crewed landing, Artemis V, in late 2028; after Artemis III, SpaceX and Blue Origin are to demonstrate uncrewed precision lunar landings, with autonomous landing accuracy within 100 m of a target, and providers to be assigned to the crewed missions later.
2026-09-28 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-09-28corrected
With Albania, Croatia, Côte d’Ivoire and San Marino signing, the Artemis Accords reached 76 signatory countries by 28 September 2026.
2026-09-21 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-09-21verified
The Astronaut Center of China said on 21 September 2026 that more than 20 varieties of 14 plant species have been cultivated aboard the Tiangong space station, with wheat completing a full growing cycle and a second crop from those seeds close to harvest, as groundwork for station crop production and a planned "lunar vegetable garden".
2026-09-15 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-09-15verified
NASA's Moon Base program manager said on 15 September 2026 that only one of the four lunar landers planned for 2026 (Astrobotic's Griffin, no earlier than November) is still expected to launch this year: Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance (delayed by a May New Glenn pad explosion) and Intuitive Machines' Nova-C Trinity slipped to the first part of 2027 and Firefly's Blue Ghost 2 to later in 2027.
2026-09-14 · analysis · ●●○ · published 2026-09-14verified
Elvis and McDowell (Frontiers in Space Technologies, 14 September 2026) estimate that even a generous 1 billion tons of polar lunar water would sustain a city of one million people for only about a century with ISS-level 98% water recycling (about 2.4 years with none), that current estimates are roughly 30 times lower, and that power is not the binding constraint, precluding large (>100,000-person) long-term lunar settlement unless recycling improves about tenfold or more water is found.
2026-08 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-09-29verified
NASA, the Canadian Space Agency and DLR signed a memorandum of understanding in August 2026 to start preparatory work on a Lunar Agriculture Module ground test demonstrator, linking a high-density crop-growing module to a habitat simulator to study crop growth at reduced pressure and oxygen, CO2 and water exchange, with a decision on building it due by 2032 at the latest.
2026-08-28 · announcement · ●○○ · published 2026-08-31verified
NASA Glenn released a draft RFP (late August 2026) for the multiple-award Space Power and Reactor Capabilities (SPARC) contract whose main purpose is maturation, testing and flight design of Lunar Reactor-1, the first operational lunar surface fission reactor, with the final RFP planned around 15 November 2026 and ordering from April 2027 through 2031.
2026-08-23 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-08-23verified
China's Chang'e-7 lunar south pole resource-survey mission, set to launch on a Long March 5 around 24 August 2026, did not meet launch conditions and cannot launch in this year's planned window, the China Manned Space Engineering website announced on 23 August 2026, delaying it to 2027 at the earliest.
2026-06-30 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-06-30verified
NASA awarded nearly $600 million on 30 June 2026 for four more Moon Base lunar landings in late 2028 (Astrobotic $297.9 million for two, Firefly $144.2 million and Intuitive Machines $148.3 million for one each), bringing its contracted CLPS surface deliveries to 17.
2026-06-09 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-06-09verified
NASA named the four-person Artemis III crew on 9 June 2026 and detailed the 2027 Earth-orbit mission, in which Orion will rendezvous and dock with test versions of one or both commercial landers (Blue Origin's pathfinder spending about two days docked), ahead of Artemis IV, the first planned crewed mission to the lunar South Pole, in 2028.
2026-05-26 · projection · ●●● · published 2026-05-26verified
NASA's Moon Base roadmap (26 May 2026) schedules Phase One (build, test, learn) through 2029, Phase Two (early power, cargo, logistics and communications infrastructure) in 2029-2032, and Phase Three, assembly of a permanent South Pole outpost where astronauts live and work for extended periods, from 2032 onward.
2026-05-26 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-05-26verified
NASA awarded Astrolab $219 million and Lunar Outpost $220 million for the first phase of Lunar Terrain Vehicles, to deploy crewed and uncrewed rovers to the lunar South Pole region by 2028, and Blue Origin $188 million (with a $280.4 million option) to deliver them.
2026-05-26 · projection · ●●○ · published 2026-05-26verified
NASA named the first three Moon Base missions on 26 May 2026, all targeted for launch in 2026: Moon Base I on Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance lander (no earlier than fall 2026, to Shackleton Connecting Ridge), Moon Base II on Astrobotic's Griffin with Astrolab's FLIP rover, and Moon Base III on Intuitive Machines' Nova-C Trinity.
2026-05-20 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-05-20verified
SpaceX's IPO registration statement (S-1, filed 20 May 2026) states a goal of a sustainable lunar presence, saying a lunar economy first requires proving reliable extraction of water ice to sustain life and producing hydrogen-oxygen propellant, and that locally produced water and fuel would provide the foundation for a permanent human presence on the Moon, without giving a timeline.
2026-05-06 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-05-06corrected
A May 2026 study of Chandrayaan-2 dual-frequency radar observations found signatures consistent with subsurface ice in four doubly shadowed craters in the lunar south polar region, with the strongest radar evidence in crater F2 on the floor of Faustini.
2026-04-20 · analysis · ●●○ · published 2026-04-20verified
NASA's Office of Inspector General reported on 20 April 2026 that Axiom's lunar and microgravity spacesuits are at least a year and a half behind schedule, with demonstration readiness planned for late 2027 but, if testing follows historical averages, not until 2031, which could affect the Artemis landing timeline.
2026-04-10 · achievement · ●●● · published 2026-04-21corrected
Artemis II, NASA's first crewed lunar flyby, ended with a Pacific splashdown at 8:07 p.m. EDT on 10 April 2026 after a mission of 9 days 1 hour 32 minutes in which the four-person crew reached 252,756 miles from Earth, a record distance for human spaceflight.
2026-04-03 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-04-03corrected
The President's FY2027 budget request (April 2026) would cut NASA to $18.8 billion while putting $8.5 billion into Artemis and Mars-focused capabilities, starting work toward a permanent lunar base camp near the lunar South Pole, and requesting no discretionary funding for Gateway, whose reconciliation-act money ($1.1 billion in FY2026 and $750 million in each of FY2027 and FY2028) would be transitioned to the lunar base camp.
2026-04-01 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-04-01verified
NASA's SLS launched the Artemis II Orion spacecraft with astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and CSA's Jeremy Hansen from Kennedy Space Center at 6:35 p.m. EDT on 1 April 2026 on NASA's first crewed lunar flyby in 50 years.
2026-03-24 · policy · ●●● · published 2026-03-24verified
At its 24 March 2026 "Ignition" event NASA announced a three-phase plan to build a lunar base (robotic CLPS and rover demonstrations, then semi-habitable infrastructure and recurring surface operations, then heavier infrastructure for a continuous human foothold and permanent base) and said it intends to pause the Gateway lunar station in its current form to focus on sustained surface operations.
2026-03-24 · projection · ●●○ · published 2026-03-24verified
NASA said on 24 March 2026 that it is targeting up to 30 robotic CLPS lunar landings starting in 2027 and, beyond Artemis V, crewed lunar surface missions initially every six months using more commercially procured and reusable hardware.
2026-03-18 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-03-18verified
A University of Hawai'i-led ShadowCam study (Science Advances, 18 March 2026) found no evidence of widespread water ice at concentrations above 20-30% by weight on the surfaces of the Moon's permanently shadowed craters, identifying only a few areas 20-50 m across with optical signatures consistent with more than 10% ice (buried or lower-concentration ice not ruled out).
2026-03-04 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-03-04verified
The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee unanimously passed the NASA Authorization Act of 2026 on 4 March 2026, which would authorize $24.7 billion for FY2026 and $25.3 billion for FY2027, extend NASA's authority to operate the ISS from 2030 to 30 September 2032, require a continuous U.S. human presence in Earth orbit, and for the first time authorize a permanent Moon base (committee passage, not yet law).
2026-02-27 · policy · ●●● · published 2026-02-27verified
NASA restructured Artemis on 27 February 2026: Artemis III, now in 2027, becomes a low-Earth-orbit test of rendezvous and docking with one or both commercial landers (SpaceX, Blue Origin), the first crewed landing moves to Artemis IV in 2028, and NASA plans at least one lunar surface landing every year thereafter with a standardized SLS configuration.
2026-02-11 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-02-11verified
China flew a prototype Long March-10 crewed lunar rocket for the first time on 11 February 2026 in a low-altitude demonstration flight that also served as the first maximum-dynamic-pressure abort test of the Mengzhou crew spacecraft, with the first stage and return capsule splashing down at sea for recovery, CMSA said, as China aims to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030.
2026-02-08 · announcement · ●●● · published 2026-02-09verified
Elon Musk wrote on 8 February 2026 that SpaceX has shifted its focus to building a "self-growing city" on the Moon, which he said it could potentially achieve in less than 10 years versus 20+ years for Mars, while SpaceX would also strive to begin building a Mars city in about 5 to 7 years (projections, not plans with dates).
2026-02-03 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-02-03verified
After an Artemis II fueling test in which engineers spent several hours troubleshooting a liquid-hydrogen leak in a core-stage interface, NASA moved the crewed Artemis II lunar flyby off its February window and targeted March 2026 as the earliest possible launch opportunity.
2026-01-29 · projection · ●●○ · published 2026-01-29verified
Roscosmos has contracted NPO Lavochkin to create a Russian lunar nuclear power station by 2036, meant to power the Russian lunar programme and International Lunar Research Station facilities, with Lavochkin's CEO projecting support and infrastructure missions in 2033 and 2034 and delivery of the power module in 2035.
2026-01-23 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-01-23verified
Congress rejected the administration's proposed cut of NASA's FY2026 budget to $18.8 billion, funding the agency at $24.438 billion (versus $24.838 billion in FY2025) in the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations act (H.R. 6938) that President Trump signed into law on 23 January 2026.
2026-01-13 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-01-13verified
The US Department of Energy and NASA announced on 13 January 2026 a memorandum of understanding to develop a lunar surface fission reactor by 2030, a planned power system meant to operate for years without refuelling to enable sustained lunar missions (a target, not hardware).
2025 · projection · ●○○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
NASA says Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element will launch with HALO ahead of the Artemis IV mission.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025: NASA plans to launch the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and HALO modules of its…
2025 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04legacy
The Trump administration's FY2026 budget request proposed significant NASA cuts, including potential termination of the SLS rocket.
2025 · projection · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
China’s ILRS plan projects a basic model in the lunar south pole region by 2035.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025: China's International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) plan targets a basic lunar base by…
2025-12 · policy · ●●○ · published 2025-12-31corrected
The December 2025 executive order “Ensuring American Space Superiority” set a 2028 Moon-return goal, prioritized commercial space, and revoked the 2021 National Space Council order.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-12: President Trump's December 2025 executive order 'Ensuring American Space Superiority'…
2025-10-27 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
On October 27, 2025, the Philippines became the 59th nation to sign the Artemis Accords.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-12-16: As of 16 December 2025, 59 nations had signed the Artemis Accords on international…
2025-10-20 · policy · ●●● · published 2025-10-20corrected
NASA said it was opening the Artemis 3 astronaut moon-landing contract to rival bids because SpaceX was behind schedule.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-10-20: On 20 October 2025 NASA said it would open SpaceX's Artemis III Human Landing System…
2025-10-20 · setback · ●●● · published 2025-10-20corrected
SpaceX estimated its earliest crewed lunar landing attempt could take place in September 2028, with up to 12 in-space refuelings for the Starship lunar lander.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-10-20: Starship HLS delays pushed the first Artemis crewed lunar landing to 2028: SpaceX…
2025-09 · announcement · ●○○ · published 2025-09-22verified
NASA selected 10 new astronaut candidates in September 2025 from about 8,000 applicants.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-09: NASA selected 10 new astronaut candidates in September 2025 from about 8,000 applicants.
2025-09-19 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2025-09-19verified
NASA revived VIPER on 19 September 2025, selecting Blue Origin under a $190M contract to deliver the rover to the Moon's south pole with launch in late 2027.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-09-19: NASA revived VIPER on 19 September 2025, selecting Blue Origin under a $190M contract…
2025-04-23 · projection · ●●○ · published 2025-04-23verified
China targets its first crewed lunar landing around 2030 (Reuters, April 2025).
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-04-23: China targets its first crewed lunar landing around 2030 (Reuters, April 2025).
2025-03 · achievement · ●○○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
NASA's PRIME-1 TRIDENT drill operated on the lunar surface during IM-2, completing multiple stages of drilling movement.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-03: NASA's PRIME-1 payload demonstrated its TRIDENT drill on the lunar surface in March…
2025-03-24 · projection · ●●○ · published 2025-03-24legacy
NASA's official Artemis schedule targets the crewed Artemis II lunar flyby for no earlier than April 2026 and the Artemis III first crewed lunar landing for no earlier than mid-2027.
2025-03-06 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
NASA reported that Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission ended after the lander tipped over; PRIME-1 included a drill to bring lunar soil to the surface.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-03-06: Intuitive Machines' IM-2 lander touched down near the lunar south pole (86°S, the…
2025-03-02 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04legacy
Firefly's Blue Ghost Mission 1 landed at Mare Crisium on 2 March 2025, the first fully successful mission of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
2024-07-17 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
On July 17, 2024, NASA announced its intent to discontinue VIPER development, citing cost increases, launch delays and risks of future cost growth.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2024-07-17: NASA cancelled its VIPER lunar ice-prospecting rover on 17 July 2024 citing budget…
2026-09-24 · announcement · ●○○ · published 2026-09-24verified
NASA named five winners (113 submissions from 33 countries) of its Deep Space Food Challenge: Mars to Table on 24 September 2026, awarding $650,000 in total for paper concepts of food systems for a 15-person crew over 500 sols on Mars; the $300,000 first prize went to the ANI concept, which combines crops, fermentation, fungi and bioreactor nutrient recycling to produce 50% of the food away from Earth.
- 2026-09-21 · The Astronaut Center of China said on 21 September 2026 that more than 20 varieties of 14 plant species have been cultivated aboard the Tian…
2026-09-20 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-09-22corrected
At China's first Space Medical Engineering Conference (19–20 September 2026), attendees were told that Tiangong's regenerative life support system had operated in orbit for more than five years with 100% oxygen closure and over 96% water closure.
- 2026-08 · NASA, the Canadian Space Agency and DLR signed a memorandum of understanding in August 2026 to start preparatory work on a Lunar Agriculture…
2026-08-28 · announcement · ●○○ · published 2026-08-28verified
NASA concluded its $3 million LunaRecycle Challenge on 28 August 2026, naming MIT's CERBERUZ (which grinds mixed trash, including foam, into feedstock for injection-moulded parts or 3D-printing filament; $775,000 in total awards) first among prototype and digital-twin systems for recycling fabrics, plastics, foam and metals on lunar or deep-space missions.
2026-06-16 · setback · ●○○ · published 2026-06-16corrected
After NASA halted the lunar Gateway, Northrop Grumman terminated Paragon Space Development's contract to design and deliver the life support system for Gateway's HALO habitation module, a $100-million contract awarded in 2022, and Paragon cut about 70–77 jobs at its Tucson headquarters.
2026-06-15 · data · ●○○ · published 2026-06-15verified
Kurita reported on 15 June 2026 that its teardown of the urine-to-drinking-water recycling system JAXA demonstrated in the ISS Kibo module for about four years (through 2023, returned in May 2025) found design and operational issues to address, including water and air-bubble behaviour in microgravity and component degradation from on-orbit operation longer than planned, although the system had met its expected performance.
2026-05-18 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-06-02verified
NASA's Divergent Deployable Wastewater Treatment Facility, a trailer with three bioreactors that turn separated urine, graywater, fecal and food waste into reusable water and hydroponic nutrient solution for a vertical garden, was connected to the University of North Dakota's Integrated Lunar/Martian Analog Habitat on 18 May 2026 for integrated testing with human subjects planned from summer 2026 through September 2028.
2026-05-08 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-05-08corrected
NASA's CRS-34 mission overview (8 May 2026) said the ISS's automated Advanced Plant Habitat plant-growth facility would return to Earth on the June 2026 Dragon splashdown for eventual museum display; Ohalo III, a crop-production testbed housed in an EXPRESS rack, was targeted to launch to the ISS no earlier than August 2026 and is described as the first operational crop production system in space and a prototype for a Mars Transit Vehicle.
2026-04-29 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-04-29verified
NASA's 2026 status paper on the ISS as an exploration life-support testbed (ICES-2026-379, released 29 April 2026) reports that the Brine Processor Assembly had recovered about 1,395 L of water over 1,079 days of operation by December 2025 (about 1.3 L/day), that no CO2-reduction (Sabatier) system is planned for the ISS after the Sabatier upgrade was cancelled (a companion NASA paper puts ISS oxygen-loop closure at about 50%), and that the upgraded oxygen generator is due in mid-2027 and the full exploration Air String in mid-2028.
2026-03-12 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-03-12verified
China Manned Space said on 12 March 2026 that Tiangong's physico-chemical regenerative life support system has supported 10 crews for nearly 1,700 days (Shenzhou-12 to Shenzhou-21), that its design water closure is about 80% from condensate and urine recovery and over 90% with CO2 reduction, and that it plans membrane distillation to raise water recovery from urine to over 90% with the goal of 100% on-orbit water self-sufficiency, and that bioregenerative (plant, algae and biological waste-treatment) life support should be verified in orbit in due course.
2026-02-26 · announcement · ●○○ · published 2026-02-26verified
Roscosmos deputy director general Grigory Maksimov said on 26 February 2026 that the state corporation plans to model a "conditionally closed" life support system on the ground for deep-space crewed exploration, as a programme included in a Russian national project and paired with a long-duration power source.
2026-02-02 · achievement · ●○○ · published 2026-02-02verified
Chongqing University reported on 2 February 2026 that a butterfly emerged from its pupa and flew inside "Shennong Kaiwu-2", an 8.3 kg, 14.2-litre sealed miniature ecosystem payload (plants as producers, the butterfly as consumer, microbes as decomposers, with no human intervention) launched on a Kuaizhou-11 on 13 December 2025, an orbital test of a closed plant–animal–microbe loop rather than a crew life-support system.
2025 · data · ●○○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
NASA says the ISS Sabatier system averages about 47% oxygen recovery from carbon dioxide, while SCOR targets more than 75% with a stretch goal of 100%.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025: The ISS Sabatier carbon-dioxide reduction system recovers about 50% of oxygen from CO2,…
2025 · data · ●○○ · published 2026-01-04legacy
ISS food remains 100% resupply-dependent (0% produced on board), with plant growth limited to Veggie and Advanced Plant Habitat experiments.
2025 · data · ●○○ · published 2025-12-31corrected
An npj Microgravity review says China's Beijing Lunar Palace program demonstrated closed-system operations for a breathable atmosphere, water and nutritious food for a crew of four taikonauts for an entire year.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025: China's Lunar Palace 1 bioregenerative life-support facility demonstrated 80% food…
2023-06 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04verified
In June 2023 NASA achieved 98% water recovery on the ISS using the Brine Processor Assembly together with the Urine Processor and Water Processor assemblies, meeting the threshold for Mars missions.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2023-06: In June 2023 NASA achieved 98% water recovery on the ISS using the Brine Processor…
2023-04 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2023-04-14corrected
China’s space station can produce 100% of its oxygen supply through its onboard regeneration system, SCIO reported in April 2023.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2023-04: China's Tiangong space station has achieved 100% oxygen regeneration and more than 95%…
2020 · data · ●○○ · published 2020-06-09corrected
EDEN ISS produced 268 kg of fresh edible biomass during its 286-day operational phase in 2018.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2020: The EDEN ISS greenhouse in Antarctica produced 268 kg of fresh produce from 12.5 m² of…
2026-09-30 · announcement · ●○○ · published 2026-09-30verified
NASA selected three PRISM science payload suites for CLPS delivery under its Moon Base program on 30 September 2026, including DISCO (Ames, PI Ariel Deutsch), which is to make the first direct on-surface measurements of ice in lunar micro-cold traps, pinpointing where ice exists and how much to inform turning ice into a usable resource for Moon Base (no flight date given).
2026-09-24 · policy · ●○○ · published 2026-09-25verified
The UN COPUOS Legal Subcommittee's Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities circulated, with its 24 September 2026 intersessional meeting, a consolidated draft of non-binding Initial Recommended Principles for Space Resource Activities stating that extraction of space resources in compliance with the Outer Space Treaty 'does not inherently constitute national appropriation', for negotiation toward the April 2027 Legal Subcommittee session.
- 2026-09-14 · Elvis and McDowell (Frontiers in Space Technologies, 14 September 2026) estimate that even a generous 1 billion tons of polar lunar water wo…
- 2026-08-23 · China's Chang'e-7 lunar south pole resource-survey mission, set to launch on a Long March 5 around 24 August 2026, did not meet launch condi…
2026-07-31 · data · ●○○ · published 2026-07-31verified
A Planetary Science Journal study from NASA's Mars Subsurface Water Ice Mapping (SWIM) team (published 31 July 2026) jointly interprets orbital data to estimate the likelihood of subsurface water ice between 60°S and 60°N, finding near-surface ice likely poleward of about 45° in both hemispheres but unconstrained by existing data closer to the equator.
2026-07-20 · achievement · ●○○ · published 2026-07-20verified
Interlune said on 20 July 2026 that its Cold Capture cryogenic-distillation system produced 99% pure helium-3 from terrestrial Grade A helium, a separation step it intends to reuse for harvesting helium-3 from lunar regolith (no lunar material was processed), and that it holds nearly $500 million in binding helium-3 purchase agreements.
2026-07-12 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-07-12verified
A NASA Kennedy paper for ICES 2026 (12-16 July) reports that the late-2024 vacuum test of Lunar Resources' LR-1 molten regolith electrolysis reactor processed 25 kg of lunar regolith simulant and produced oxygen at an average 0.07 kg per hour over 9 hours of sustained electrolysis (a ground demonstration in a vacuum chamber).
2026-07-01 · data · ●○○ · published 2026-07-01verified
The PRIME-1 team's operations summary from the IM-2 mission (Planetary Science Journal, 1 July 2026) reports that the TRIDENT drill and MSolo mass spectrometer both functioned on the Moon but that PRIME-1 could not fulfil its primary objectives because, with the lander on its side, TRIDENT lay parallel to the surface and could not excavate regolith.
2026-06-23 · analysis · ●○○ · published 2026-06-23verified
A lifecycle-cost study (Johnson et al., Springer, June 2026) estimates that, against Earth resupply at an assumed $100,000/kg lunar delivery cost, lunar-derived oxygen is worth about $286,000 per kg and water about $121,000 per kg to early NASA Moon Base habitation elements with open-loop life support, though it finds ISRU lifecycle costs likely exceed Earth resupply in all but the maximum habitation-demand scenario.
- 2026-05-20 · SpaceX's IPO registration statement (S-1, filed 20 May 2026) states a goal of a sustainable lunar presence, saying a lunar economy first req…
- 2026-05-06 · A May 2026 study of Chandrayaan-2 dual-frequency radar observations found signatures consistent with subsurface ice in four doubly shadowed …
2026-05-04 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-05-04verified
NASA awarded Interlune a $6.9 million, 18-month SBIR Phase III contract (4 May 2026) to build flight hardware for a lunar payload that collects and sorts regolith, heats it to extract solar-wind volatiles such as helium-3 and hydrogen, and measures them with an MSOLO-derived mass spectrometer, the payload to be ready to fly on a CLPS lander in 2028.
2026-03-24 · announcement · ●○○ · published 2026-03-24verified
NASA said on 24 March 2026 it will provide its Neutron Spectrometer System, which infers hydrogen (water ice) up to about 1 m below the surface, for the rover of the JAXA-ISRO Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission, planned to arrive at the Moon no earlier than 2028 to measure the quantity and distribution of lunar polar water.
- 2026-03-18 · A University of Hawai'i-led ShadowCam study (Science Advances, 18 March 2026) found no evidence of widespread water ice at concentrations ab…
2026-03-18 · announcement · ●○○ · published 2026-03-18verified
Black Moon Energy said on 18 March 2026 that it secured a contract (value undisclosed) to supply lunar helium-3 to the U.S. Department of Energy Isotope Program (following Interlune's 2025 DOE helium-3 purchase agreement), and that its roadmap targets helium-3 production at scale within eight years after a year-long robotic 'Fusion 1' resource-survey mission it plans within five years with JPL/Caltech.
2026-02-13 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-02-13verified
NASA's Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) completed integrated prototype testing in which concentrated sunlight from a Glenn-designed solar concentrator drove Sierra Space's carbothermal reactor to process simulated lunar regolith, confirming production of carbon monoxide (the oxygen-bearing intermediate later converted to oxygen), a ground test with no oxygen production rate reported.
2026-02-02 · projection · ●●○ · published 2026-02-02verified
Announcing its acquisition of xAI on 2 February 2026, SpaceX said factories on the Moon could use lunar resources to manufacture satellites and that, with an electromagnetic mass driver and lunar manufacturing, it is possible to put 500 to 1,000 TW per year of AI satellites into deep space (an aspiration with no timeline or demonstrated lunar extraction).
2026-01-29 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-01-29corrected
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said on 29 January 2026 that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) it will carry out feasibility studies for a 'Tiangong Kaiwu' major special project on space resource development, building a comprehensive space-resources experiment and ground-support system and targeting small-body resource prospecting, intelligent autonomous mining, low-cost transfer transport and in-orbit processing (a study programme, not a funded mission).
- 2025-09-19 · NASA revived VIPER on 19 September 2025, selecting Blue Origin under a $190M contract to deliver the rover to the Moon's south pole with lau…
2025-05 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
NASA Kennedy researchers measured molecular oxygen during vacuum-chamber molten regolith electrolysis testing of simulated lunar soil.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-05: In May 2025 NASA Kennedy's molten regolith electrolysis (MRE) testing produced…
- 2025-03 · NASA's PRIME-1 TRIDENT drill operated on the lunar surface during IM-2, completing multiple stages of drilling movement.
- 2025-03-06 · NASA reported that Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission ended after the lander tipped over; PRIME-1 included a drill to bring lunar soil to the …
- 2024-07-17 · On July 17, 2024, NASA announced its intent to discontinue VIPER development, citing cost increases, launch delays and risks of future cost …
2023-09-06 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2023-09-06corrected
NASA’s MOXIE completed its Mars mission in 2023 after 16 oxygen-production runs, reaching up to 12 g per hour at 98% purity or better.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2024-09: NASA's MOXIE experiment on the Perseverance rover completed its mission (Sep 2024 per…
2026-10-14 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-10-15verified
Rocket Lab said on 14 October 2026 that its medium-lift reusable Neutron will not fly until 2027 after voids were found in carbon-composite propellant-tank domes of the first stage, traced to a design change made after a tank ruptured in a hydrostatic test in January; Neutron was announced in 2021 for a 2024 first flight.
2026-10-06 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-10-08verified
The U.S. DOT announced five proposed FAA rules to streamline Part 450 commercial launch and reentry licensing (electronic applications, more flexibility to show equivalent safety, combining three safety analyses into one submission), citing 217 of 329 commercial launches worldwide in 2025 by the U.S. and an expectation of 10,000 FAA-licensed launches and reentries a year by 2035.
2026-09-28 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-09-28verified
NASA said on 28 September 2026 that Boeing's uncrewed Starliner-1 engineering-evaluation mission could fly in December 2026 or January 2027 and that it plans to return astronauts on Starliner-2 by 2028.
- 2026-09-28 · With Albania, Croatia, Côte d’Ivoire and San Marino signing, the Artemis Accords reached 76 signatory countries by 28 September 2026.
2026-09-14 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-09-14verified
ESA's Space Environment Report 2026 (data to end-2025) says more than 300 launches put over 4,000 payloads in orbit in 2025, more than three intact satellites or rocket bodies now reenter daily, and projected LEO object and collision numbers are rising in a runaway (Kessler-type) effect even with the projection horizon cut from 200 to 100 years, making active debris removal necessary.
2026-09-08 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-09-08verified
Stoke Space closed an initial $1 billion Series E (total raised $2.3 billion) on 8 September 2026 to develop its fully reusable Nova rocket and a larger 15-ton-class Nova Block 2; on 22 September it targeted the first Nova Pathfinder orbital flight for early 2027.
2026-09-05 · achievement · ●●● · published 2026-09-05corrected
Isar Aerospace's Spectrum reached orbit and deployed its payloads on its second flight from Andøya, Norway, on 5 September 2026, becoming the first commercial space company from Europe to deliver satellites into orbit.
2026-09-01 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-09-01verified
Galactic Energy's Pallas-1, a Chinese commercial liquid-propellant rocket designed for first-stage recovery on later flights, reached orbit on its debut launch on 1 September 2026.
2026-08-27 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-08-27verified
ESA signed the first European Launcher Challenge contracts on 27 August 2026: €197.8 million to Isar Aerospace, €186.9 million to RFA and €158.9 million to PLD Space (€543.6 million in total), with MaiaSpace's contract still being finalized.
2026-08-20 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-08-25verified
The new U.S. National Space Transportation Policy (NSPM-17, signed 20 August 2026, replacing the 2013 policy) says U.S. space transportation ranges must grow to support more than 1,000 launches and reentries every year by 2030 and makes reentry infrastructure a national priority.
2026-08-19 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-08-19verified
LandSpace landed the first stage of its methane-fuelled Zhuque-3 on the rocket's second orbital launch, touching down on a pad in Gansu on 19 August 2026 (Beijing time), the first orbital-booster landing by a Chinese commercial company and China's first on land, though a post-landing fire broke out in the booster's aft section.
2026-08-12 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-08-13verified
Virgin Galactic, which has not flown to space since June 2024, moved the first commercial flight of its Delta-class spaceplane from late 2026 to February 2027 to finish avionics and systems installation.
2026-07-21 · data · ●●○ · published 2026-07-22verified
The Space Foundation's annual State of the Global Space Economy report (released 21 July 2026) put the global space economy at a record $686 billion in 2025, up 12% from 2024, with commercial activity at $544.3 billion (79%) and government space spending at $141 billion across 53 budgets.
2026-07-18 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-07-18verified
Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 (about 350 kg to LEO) reached low Earth orbit on its debut 'Aagaman' flight on 18 July 2026, India's first orbital launch by a private company.
2026-07-10 · achievement · ●●● · published 2026-07-10verified
China recovered an orbital rocket booster for the first time on 10 July 2026: the first stage of CASC's Long March 10B (at least 16 t to LEO) returned vertically after launch from Hainan and was caught by hooks in a net on a floating sea platform, according to state media.
2026-06-17 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-06-17verified
Ariane 6 flight VA269 on 17 June 2026 debuted upgraded P160C boosters (14 tonnes more propellant each, +10-15% performance) and placed 36 Amazon Leo satellites in orbit, the heaviest cargo ever launched by a European rocket.
2026-06-12 · achievement · ●●● · published 2026-06-12corrected
SpaceX raised $75 billion by selling 555.6 million shares at $135 in the largest IPO on record (a $1.77 trillion valuation) and began trading on Nasdaq as SPCX on 12 June 2026, closing its first day at $161, up about 19%.
2026-06-11 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-06-12corrected
Japan's H3 returned to flight on 11 June 2026 (U.S. time), its first launch since a December failure, flying for the first time in the HE-30S configuration and placing six smallsats in orbit.
2026-06-05 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-06-08corrected
The FCC removed the requirement that Amazon launch half of its 3,232 first-generation Amazon Leo satellites (1,616) by 30 July 2026, which Amazon was set to miss, while keeping the July 2029 deadline for the full constellation.
2026-06-05 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-06-05verified
After Roscosmos measured the ISS Zvezda transfer-tunnel (PrK) leak rate rising to two pounds of air per day and found new suspected leak areas, NASA's Crew-12 and astronaut Chris Williams took safe haven on 5 June 2026 during a planned structural repair, which Roscosmos then paused in favour of further measurements.
2026-06-01 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-06-01corrected
China conducted the unannounced maiden launch of its reusable Long March 12B on 1 June 2026, delivering operational Qianfan broadband satellites to orbit.
2026-05-28 · setback · ●●● · published 2026-06-04corrected
A significant anomaly during a New Glenn integrated-vehicle hotfire test at Launch Complex 36 on 28 May 2026 caused Blue Origin to lose the pad's lightning tower, transporter-erector and hydraulic cylinders; early analysis points to the first stage's aft section, and the company plans to return to flight by year-end using a horizontal/vertical hybrid approach instead of rebuilding the same pad.
2026-05-24 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-05-25corrected
China launched the three-person Shenzhou-23 crew to Tiangong on 24 May 2026 for a one-year in-orbit stay experiment, with payload specialist Li Jiaying becoming the first astronaut from the Hong Kong SAR.
2026-05-22 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-05-22verified
NASA announced an agencywide realignment on 22 May 2026, merging its Exploration Systems Development and Space Operations directorates into a single Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate and its Aeronautics and Space Technology directorates into a Research and Technology Mission Directorate charged with nuclear power and propulsion.
2026-04-30 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-05-01verified
Russia's new Soyuz-5 medium-lift rocket, meant to replace the Ukrainian-built Zenit, flew for the first time from Baikonur's Site 45 on 30 April 2026 on a planned suborbital test carrying an inseparable mass simulator, with both stages working as planned according to Roscosmos.
2026-04-19 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-04-19verified
New Glenn's third flight on 19 April 2026 reflew and again landed a previously flown first stage (Blue Origin's first booster reuse), but its upper stage left AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 satellite in an off-nominal orbit.
2026-04-03 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-04-03corrected
The first launch of Space Pioneer's Tianlong-3 failed on 3 April 2026 after an anomaly during ascent.
- 2026-04-03 · The President's FY2027 budget request (April 2026) would cut NASA to $18.8 billion while putting $8.5 billion into Artemis and Mars-focused …
2026-03-22 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-03-22verified
Russia returned Baikonur's Site 31, its only pad for crewed and cargo launches to the ISS, to service with the Progress MS-33 (Progress 94) launch on 22 March 2026, after the pad's service platform collapsed during the Soyuz MS-28 launch on 27 November 2025.
- 2026-03-04 · The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee unanimously passed the NASA Authorization Act of 2026 on 4 March 2026, which would authorize $24.7 billio…
2026-03-04 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-03-04verified
Spanish launch startup PLD Space closed a €180 million Series C led by Mitsubishi Electric (over €350 million raised to date) to scale up its MIURA 5 small launcher, whose first test flight it targets in 2026.
2026-02-27 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-02-27verified
China said it will begin its first one-year astronaut mission aboard Tiangong in 2026 and that its first international astronaut, from Pakistan, will make a short visit to the station.
2026-02-12 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-02-12verified
One of four solid rocket motors on ULA's Vulcan suffered a significant nozzle anomaly during the 12 February 2026 USSF-87 launch (the payload still reached geosynchronous orbit), grounding Vulcan pending investigation: the Space Force moved GPS III-8 to a Falcon 9 in March and ULA said in May it aimed to return to flight by the end of 2026.
2026-02-12 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-02-12verified
The first four-booster Ariane 64 lifted off on 12 February 2026 and placed 32 Amazon Leo satellites in low Earth orbit, a configuration ESA says can carry around 21.6 tonnes to LEO, more than double the two-booster Ariane 62.
2026-02-02 · announcement · ●●● · published 2026-02-02verified
SpaceX announced on 2 February 2026 that it has acquired xAI, merging Elon Musk's AI company (including the X platform) with the launch and Starlink operator.
2026-01-30 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-01-30verified
Blue Origin announced on 30 January 2026 that it will halt flights of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle for at least two years to shift its focus to human lunar exploration.
- 2026-01-23 · Congress rejected the administration's proposed cut of NASA's FY2026 budget to $18.8 billion, funding the agency at $24.438 billion (versus …
2026-01-21 · announcement · ●●○ · published 2026-01-21verified
Blue Origin announced TeraWave on 21 January 2026, a planned network of 5,408 optically interconnected satellites (5,280 in LEO offering up to 144 Gbps per customer and 128 in MEO offering up to 6 Tbps via optical links) for enterprise, data-center and government customers, with deployment to begin in Q4 2027.
2026-01-19 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-01-19verified
China's debris-damaged Shenzhou-20 capsule, after an in-orbit window-crack repair by the Shenzhou-21 crew, returned to Earth uncrewed at the Dongfeng landing site on 19 January 2026 with its cargo reported in good condition, closing the episode in which its crew had come home in Shenzhou-21 in November 2025.
2026-01-16 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-01-17verified
China suffered two launch failures on 16 January 2026: a Long March 3B lost a classified Shijian satellite, and Galactic Energy's new Ceres-2 solid rocket failed on its first launch.
2026-01-15 · setback · ●●● · published 2026-01-15verified
NASA ended SpaceX Crew-11 early because of a serious medical concern of one crew member, bringing all four astronauts home on 15 January 2026 after 167 days in space, the first time an American-led human spaceflight mission ended early for a medical issue (a 'medical evacuation', not an emergency return).
2026-01-12 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-01-12verified
India's PSLV-C62 failed on 12 January 2026 after a roll disturbance near the end of its third-stage burn, losing the EOS-N1 Earth-observation satellite and 15 rideshare payloads (16 satellites), the PSLV's second consecutive failure after the third-stage anomaly on PSLV-C61 in May 2025.
2026-01-08 · policy · ●●○ · published 2026-01-12verified
The FY2026 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations agreement, passed by the U.S. House on 8 January 2026, does not support the existing NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return program (while providing $110 million for Mars Future Missions), effectively ending the planned campaign to return Perseverance's samples.
2025 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
NASA and Boeing agreed to reduce Starliner's crewed flights by at least two missions, leaving up to four missions under the contract and two available as options.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025: Boeing Starliner's NASA contract was reduced to 4 missions from 6, and its next flight…
2025 · achievement · ●○○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
China launched the 12th batch of Guowang satellites on Oct. 16, 2025.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025: China launched its 12th batch of Guowang satellites in 2025 for the planned…
- 2025 · The Trump administration's FY2026 budget request proposed significant NASA cuts, including potential termination of the SLS rocket.
- 2025-12 · The December 2025 executive order “Ensuring American Space Superiority” set a 2028 Moon-return goal, prioritized commercial space, and revok…
2025-12-18 · policy · ●●○ · published 2025-12-18verified
The US Senate confirmed Jared Isaacman as NASA Administrator on 18 December 2025.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-12-18: The US Senate confirmed Jared Isaacman as NASA Administrator on 18 December 2025.
2025-11 · setback · ●●○ · published 2025-11-25corrected
Debris damage to Shenzhou-20 prompted an emergency Shenzhou-22 launch, and the response from crew report to launch was completed in 16 days.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-11: China's Shenzhou-20 spacecraft was damaged by debris in November 2025, and China…
2025-11-13 · achievement · ●●● · published 2025-11-13verified
Blue Origin's New Glenn landed its booster on its second flight on 13 November 2025 (launching NASA's ESCAPADE Mars mission), the first propulsive orbital-booster landing by a company other than SpaceX.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-11-13: Blue Origin's New Glenn landed its booster on its second flight on 13 November 2025…
- 2025-10-27 · On October 27, 2025, the Philippines became the 59th nation to sign the Artemis Accords.
2025-10-21 · data · ●●○ · published 2025-10-21corrected
ESA’s 2025 Space Environment Report estimates 54,000 objects larger than 10 cm and 1.2 million objects from 1 cm to 10 cm.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-10-21: ESA's Space Environment Report 2025 counts more than 40,000 tracked objects in orbit…
2025-04 · achievement · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04verified
Fram2 flew the first crewed polar-orbit spaceflight (90.01° inclination) in April 2025, carrying 4 civilians over Earth's poles.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-04: Fram2 flew the first crewed polar-orbit spaceflight (90.01° inclination) in April 2025,…
2025-03-18 · setback · ●●○ · published 2026-01-04corrected
NASA astronauts Wilmore and Williams spent more than nine months in orbit and returned to Earth in March 2025 on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
↳ corrects (or adds sources to) an earlier record: 2025-03-18: NASA astronauts Wilmore and Williams, stranded about 9 months after Boeing's Starliner…