A Pivotal Year For Space Exploration And Discovery

The cosmos, a vast and mysterious expanse, 13. 8 billion years old, comprising hundreds of billions of galaxies, each teeming with stars and planets. In 2026, humanity is poised to make significant strides in unraveling its secrets. A highlight of the upcoming year is NASA’s Artemis II mission, slated for launch as early as February. This pioneering endeavor will send four astronauts on a 10-day voyage around the moon, marking the first human presence in the lunar vicinity since the early 1970s. The mission will also serve as a critical test of hardware for subsequent crewed missions to the lunar surface.

The lunar exploration landscape is set to expand with Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 2, scheduled to deliver NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) payloads to the moon in late 2026. China’s Chang’e 7 mission, targeting the lunar south pole in the second half of the year, will further augment our understanding of the moon.

Asteroid and comet studies are also expected to gain momentum in 2026. China’s Tianwen-2 mission will collect material from the asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, while ESA’s Hera mission will investigate the aftermath of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test ( ← →