Top 10 Space Missions Launching in 2026-2027

SpaceX is planning Starship's first uncrewed Mars trajectory test — not a landing, but a demonstration that the largest rocket ever built can reach Mars orbit or flyby. Starship's 150-tonne payload capacity to low Earth orbit dwarfs every rocket in history. Whether this test happens in 2026 or slips to 2027, it represents the first concrete step toward Musk's Mars colonization timeline. The engineering is real even if the timeline is aspirational.

Japan's most ambitious interplanetary mission will travel to Mars's moon Phobos, collect surface samples, and return them to Earth by 2031. MMX will resolve a decades-old debate: are Phobos and Deimos captured asteroids or debris from a giant impact with Mars? The mission also carries a small rover (jointly developed with CNES) that will be deployed on Phobos's surface. Japan is quietly becoming a powerhouse in sample-return missions.

China's lunar exploration program continues with Chang'e 7, targeting the lunar south pole to search for water ice in permanently shadowed craters. The mission includes an orbiter, lander, rover, and a mini-flying probe that can hop into craters too dark and steep for rovers. Finding accessible water ice on the Moon would be transformative — water means drinking water, oxygen, and rocket fuel, making a permanent lunar base feasible.

Launched in 2023, ESA's JUICE spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter in 2031, but 2026 marks critical gravity assist maneuvers and instrument calibration. JUICE will study Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa — three moons believed to harbor subsurface oceans that could support life. The mission represents Europe's biggest bet on finding extraterrestrial life. If there is life in our solar system beyond Earth, it is most likely hiding under the ice of Jupiter's moons.

Vast Space is building the first commercial space station designed to eventually replace the aging ISS. Haven-1 is a single-module station that will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 and host its first crew via SpaceX Crew Dragon. The station is designed for both research and space tourism. With the ISS scheduled for deorbiting around 2030, the transition to commercial space stations is not optional — it is urgent.

India's first crewed spaceflight will send three astronauts (vyomanauts) into low Earth orbit aboard the Gaganyaan spacecraft. If successful, India becomes only the fourth nation to independently launch humans into space, after Russia, the US, and China. The mission follows ISRO's remarkable string of successes including the Chandrayaan-3 Moon landing in 2023. India is proving that world-class space exploration does not require a world-class budget.

Launched in 2024, Europa Clipper is en route to Jupiter's moon Europa, which harbors a global ocean beneath its icy shell that may contain twice as much water as Earth. The spacecraft will make 49 close flybys of Europa, using ice-penetrating radar, mass spectrometers, and cameras to assess habitability. While arrival is in 2030, 2026-2027 is a critical cruise phase with Venus and Earth gravity assists. This is NASA's most important astrobiology mission.

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin finally enters the orbital rocket market with New Glenn, a heavy-lift reusable rocket that has been in development for over a decade. The 98-meter rocket is designed to compete directly with SpaceX's Falcon Heavy and has already secured contracts from NASA, Amazon's Project Kuiper, and commercial satellite operators. New Glenn's success would break SpaceX's near-monopoly on commercial launches.

NASA's Dragonfly mission will send a nuclear-powered drone helicopter to Saturn's moon Titan — the only moon in the solar system with a thick atmosphere and liquid lakes (of methane, not water). Dragonfly will fly from site to site, analyzing Titan's organic-rich surface chemistry. Launch is planned for 2028, but 2026-2027 is the critical construction and testing phase. Titan's chemistry may resemble pre-biotic Earth, making Dragonfly a search for the ingredients of life.

SpaceX is planning Starship's first uncrewed Mars trajectory test — not a landing, but a demonstration that the largest rocket ever built can reach Mars orbit or flyby. Starship's 150-tonne payload capacity to low Earth orbit dwarfs every rocket in history. Whether this test happens in 2026 or slips to 2027, it represents the first concrete step toward Musk's Mars colonization timeline. The engineering is real even if the timeline is aspirational.

Japan's most ambitious interplanetary mission will travel to Mars's moon Phobos, collect surface samples, and return them to Earth by 2031. MMX will resolve a decades-old debate: are Phobos and Deimos captured asteroids or debris from a giant impact with Mars? The mission also carries a small rover (jointly developed with CNES) that will be deployed on Phobos's surface. Japan is quietly becoming a powerhouse in sample-return missions.

China's lunar exploration program continues with Chang'e 7, targeting the lunar south pole to search for water ice in permanently shadowed craters. The mission includes an orbiter, lander, rover, and a mini-flying probe that can hop into craters too dark and steep for rovers. Finding accessible water ice on the Moon would be transformative — water means drinking water, oxygen, and rocket fuel, making a permanent lunar base feasible.

Launched in 2023, ESA's JUICE spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter in 2031, but 2026 marks critical gravity assist maneuvers and instrument calibration. JUICE will study Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa — three moons believed to harbor subsurface oceans that could support life. The mission represents Europe's biggest bet on finding extraterrestrial life. If there is life in our solar system beyond Earth, it is most likely hiding under the ice of Jupiter's moons.

Vast Space is building the first commercial space station designed to eventually replace the aging ISS. Haven-1 is a single-module station that will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 and host its first crew via SpaceX Crew Dragon. The station is designed for both research and space tourism. With the ISS scheduled for deorbiting around 2030, the transition to commercial space stations is not optional — it is urgent.

India's first crewed spaceflight will send three astronauts (vyomanauts) into low Earth orbit aboard the Gaganyaan spacecraft. If successful, India becomes only the fourth nation to independently launch humans into space, after Russia, the US, and China. The mission follows ISRO's remarkable string of successes including the Chandrayaan-3 Moon landing in 2023. India is proving that world-class space exploration does not require a world-class budget.

Launched in 2024, Europa Clipper is en route to Jupiter's moon Europa, which harbors a global ocean beneath its icy shell that may contain twice as much water as Earth. The spacecraft will make 49 close flybys of Europa, using ice-penetrating radar, mass spectrometers, and cameras to assess habitability. While arrival is in 2030, 2026-2027 is a critical cruise phase with Venus and Earth gravity assists. This is NASA's most important astrobiology mission.

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin finally enters the orbital rocket market with New Glenn, a heavy-lift reusable rocket that has been in development for over a decade. The 98-meter rocket is designed to compete directly with SpaceX's Falcon Heavy and has already secured contracts from NASA, Amazon's Project Kuiper, and commercial satellite operators. New Glenn's success would break SpaceX's near-monopoly on commercial launches.

NASA's Dragonfly mission will send a nuclear-powered drone helicopter to Saturn's moon Titan — the only moon in the solar system with a thick atmosphere and liquid lakes (of methane, not water). Dragonfly will fly from site to site, analyzing Titan's organic-rich surface chemistry. Launch is planned for 2028, but 2026-2027 is the critical construction and testing phase. Titan's chemistry may resemble pre-biotic Earth, making Dragonfly a search for the ingredients of life.