Exploration
Space missions
Upcoming and in-progress major missions, soonest first. Dates are agency targets and can slip.
Curated dataset
BepiColombo
ESA · JAXA · Launch: 20 Oct 2018
Two orbiters travelling together to Mercury after a seven-year cruise and six Mercury flybys.
Mercury orbit insertion
Nov 2026
Target date · may change
Hera
ESA · Launch: 7 Oct 2024
Planetary-defence mission heading to the Didymos–Dimorphos asteroid pair, the target hit by NASA's DART in 2022.
Arrival at Didymos
Dec 2026
Target date · may change
PLATO
ESA · Launch: Dec 2026 (target)
26 cameras on one spacecraft hunting Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars.
Launch on Ariane 6
Dec 2026
Target date · may change
MMX
JAXA · Launch: Late 2026 (target)
Martian Moons eXploration: land on Phobos, collect samples and bring them back to Earth.
Launch on H3
Late 2026
Target date · may change
Chang'e 7
CNSA · Launch: 2026 (target)
Orbiter, lander, rover and a hopping probe to search for water ice at the lunar south pole.
Launch
Late 2026
Target date · may change
Nancy Grace Roman
NASA · Launch: Late 2026 – May 2027 (target)
Wide-field infrared telescope with a field of view 100× Hubble's, built to survey dark energy and exoplanets.
Launch on Falcon Heavy
Early 2027
Target date · may change
Blue Moon MK1
Blue Origin · Launch: 2026–2027 (target)
Uncrewed cargo lander demonstrating technologies for Blue Origin's crewed lander used on Artemis V.
Launch on New Glenn
Early 2027
Target date · may change
Gaganyaan
ISRO · Launch: Uncrewed tests 2026, crewed 2027 (provisional)
India's first human spaceflight programme, starting with uncrewed test flights carrying the Vyommitra robot.
First crewed flight
2027
Target date · may change
Haven-1
Vast · Launch: 2026–2027 (target)
First commercial space station, a single module visited by crews flying on SpaceX Dragon.
Launch on Falcon 9
2027 (target)
Target date · may change
Artemis III
NASA · Launch: 2027 (provisional)
Next crewed Artemis flight after Artemis II, using a commercial lander — first humans near the lunar south pole.
Crewed launch
Summer 2027
Target date · may change
Lucy
NASA · Launch: 16 Oct 2021
First mission to Jupiter's Trojan asteroids — fossils of planet formation.
Eurybates flyby (first Trojan)
Aug 2027
Target date · may change
NEO Surveyor
NASA · Launch: 2027 (target)
Infrared space telescope dedicated to finding potentially hazardous asteroids and comets.
Launch
Late 2027
Target date · may change
Tianwen-2
CNSA · Launch: 29 May 2025
China's asteroid sample-return mission to near-Earth asteroid Kamoʻoalewa, followed by a comet rendezvous.
Sample capsule returns to Earth
Late 2027
Target date · may change
Chandrayaan-4
ISRO · Launch: 2027–2028 (target)
India's lunar sample-return mission, launched in two parts and assembled in orbit.
Launch
2028
Target date · may change
Dragonfly
NASA · Launch: Jul 2028 (target)
A nuclear-powered rotorcraft that will fly between sites on Saturn's moon Titan.
Launch
Jul 2028
Target date · may change
Artemis IV
NASA · ESA · Launch: 2028 (provisional)
Second crewed lunar landing, including the first assembly of the Gateway lunar station.
Crewed launch
2028
Target date · may change
Rosalind Franklin rover
ESA · Launch: 2028 (target)
European Mars rover with a 2-metre drill to search for signs of past life below the surface.
Launch
Late 2028
Target date · may change
Tianwen-3
CNSA · Launch: 2028 (target)
China's Mars sample-return mission, aiming to be the first to bring Martian rock to Earth.
Launch
Late 2028
Target date · may change
Starship to Mars
SpaceX · Launch: Next Mars windows: late 2026 / late 2028 (company goal)
SpaceX's plan to send uncrewed Starships to Mars, followed by crewed flights in a later launch window.
First uncrewed Starships to Mars
2028 window (goal)
Target date · may change
Comet Interceptor
ESA · JAXA · Launch: 2028–2029 (target)
Will wait in space for a pristine comet — possibly from outside our Solar System — then fly past it with three probes.
Launch with ARIEL
2029
Target date · may change
China crewed Moon landing
CMSA · Launch: Before 2030 (goal)
China aims to land two astronauts on the Moon before 2030.
Crewed landing
Before 2030
Target date · may change
Psyche
NASA · Launch: 13 Oct 2023
Journey to a metal-rich asteroid that may be the exposed core of an early planet.
Arrival at asteroid Psyche
Aug 2029
Target date · may change
Europa Clipper
NASA · Launch: 14 Oct 2024
Largest NASA planetary spacecraft, en route to Jupiter's ocean moon Europa.
Jupiter orbit insertion
Apr 2030
Target date · may change
ISS deorbit
NASA · SpaceX · international partners · Launch: Station in orbit since 1998
The International Space Station will be retired and steered into a remote part of the Pacific Ocean by a SpaceX-built deorbit vehicle.
Controlled re-entry over the Pacific
~2030–2031
Target date · may change
JUICE
ESA · Launch: 14 Apr 2023
Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, bound for Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.
Jupiter arrival
Jul 2031
Target date · may change
EnVision
ESA · NASA · Launch: 2031 (target)
Venus orbiter studying the planet from its inner core to its upper atmosphere.
Launch
2031
Target date · may change
Artemis II
NASA · CSA · Launch: April 2026
First crewed flight of SLS and Orion: four astronauts flew around the Moon — the first since 1972.