Lunar missions as soon as felt just like the area of historical past books somewhat than present occasions, however an upcoming journey across the moon is poised to generate headlines at a stage not seen for the reason that Apollo period.
NASA’s Artemis 2 mission, which is because of launch 4 astronauts on a round-the-moon journey as a warmup for a future lunar touchdown, is shaping up because the spaceflight spotlight of 2026. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who took the company’s helm this month after a tumultuous 12 months, says it’s the highest merchandise on his must-see checklist.
“What’s to not be enthusiastic about?” he stated final week on CNBC. “We’re sending American astronauts across the moon. It’s the primary time we’ve completed that in a half-century. … We’re weeks away, probably a month or two away at most from sending American astronauts across the moon once more.”
The Pacific Northwest performs a major function within the back-to-moon marketing campaign. For instance, L3Harris Applied sciences’ staff in Redmond, Wash., constructed thrusters for Artemis 2’s Orion crew automobile. And Artemis 2 isn’t the one upcoming moon mission with Seattle-area connections: Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin area enterprise, headquartered in Kent, plans to ship an uncrewed Blue Moon Mark 1 lander to the lunar floor in 2026 to assist NASA get set for future moon journeys.
“We’re taking our first steps to assist open up the lunar frontier for all of humanity,” Paul Brower, Blue Origin’s director of lunar operations, stated in a latest LinkedIn put up.
2026 may be the 12 months when Seattle-based Interlune sends its first prospecting instrument to the lunar floor to hunt for indicators of helium-3, a uncommon materials the corporate goals to deliver again to Earth to be used in fusion reactors or quantum computer systems.
As we shut out 2025, right here’s a glance again at 5 of the previous 12 months’s area milestones and 5 developments to look at within the 12 months to return.
Trying again at 2025
Blue Origin goes orbital: After a decade of growth, Blue Origin launched its orbital-class New Glenn rocket for the primary time in January, on a mission that lofted check tools for its Blue Ring area mobility platform into orbit. A second launch in November despatched NASA’s Escapade probes towards Mars and marked the primary profitable at-sea restoration of a New Glenn booster. On the suborbital aspect, Blue Origin’s New Shepard program supplied rides to area for seven crews. Notable passengers included Lauren Sanchez, who grew to become Bezos’ spouse two months after her flight; Justin Solar, the crypto entrepreneur who paid $28 million for his area ticket; and Michaela Benthaus, the primary wheelchair person to fly to area.
Amazon’s satellite tv for pc community will get all the way down to enterprise: The primary operational satellites for Amazon’s space-based broadband web service have been launched in April. The community’s title was modified from Mission Kuiper to Amazon Leo in November. Terminals have been shipped to early-stage prospects for a preview program, and the rollout is anticipated to assemble steam in 2026. In the meantime, SpaceX continues to develop its Starlink community, with greater than 9,300 satellites offering high-speed web service to greater than 9 million prospects worldwide.
Rubin Observatory delivers first photographs: A decade and a half in the past, Microsoft’s Invoice Gates and Charles Simonyi donated $30 million to help the creation of a large sky-survey telescope in Chile. in June, the Rubin Observatory lastly made its star-studded debut, with Simonyi in attendance. Researchers on the College of Washington performed key roles in shepherding the $800 million undertaking to completion.
A primary for orbital knowledge facilities: Redmond-based Starcloud despatched an Nvidia GPU chip into orbit in November, and weeks later it claimed to be the primary firm to coach a man-made intelligence mannequin in area. The achievement marked one small step in Starcloud’s marketing campaign to create a community of knowledge facilities in orbit. A number of tech titans — together with Bezos, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, SpaceX’s Elon Musk and Google’s Sundar Pichai — see orbital knowledge facilities as a solution to fulfill the rising starvation for AI processing assets on Earth. Some say the development is driving SpaceX’s plans to go public in 2026.
SpaceX’s Starship goes via ups and downs: A lot of SpaceX’s ambitions, starting from orbital knowledge facilities to moon landings to Mars migrations, rely upon the profitable growth of its Starship super-rocket. Starship additionally performs an important function within the enterprise fashions for many area startups, together with Starcloud and a Seattle-based area journey enterprise referred to as Orbite. Three Starship check flights ended badly within the first half of 2025, however SpaceX bounced again with two profitable check flights within the second half of the 12 months. Now SpaceX is engaged on an upgraded model of Starship — and coping with the aftermath of a booster anomaly that occurred throughout a pressurization check in November.
Waiting for 2026
Artemis 2 to ship people across the moon: For the primary time since Apollo 17 in 1972, people will go away Earth orbit. The present plan requires the Artemis 2 mission to happen within the February-to-April time-frame. A crew of 4 — three Individuals and one Canadian astronaut — will climb into the Orion spacecraft and be despatched into area atop NASA’s House Launch System rocket. The round-the-moon route shall be just like the trajectory used for NASA’s uncrewed Artemis 1 flight in 2022. If Artemis 2 goes nicely, that might set the stage for an Artemis 3 crewed lunar touchdown as early as 2027 (however extra probably later).
Blue Moon’s lunar supply: Blue Origin’s uncrewed lander is tasked with delivering a NASA experiment referred to as SCALPSS to the moon’s south polar area. Stereo cameras will doc how the touchdown burn interacts with the dusty lunar floor — and the outcomes shall be factored into plans for future landings. This Blue Moon Mark 1 mission will blaze a path for Blue Origin’s Mark 2 lander, which is because of begin taking astronauts to the lunar floor in 2030. Different robotic spacecraft scheduled for moon landings in 2026 embrace China’s Chang’e 7 rover, Firefly’s Blue Ghost 2 lander, Intuitive Machines’ IM-3 lander and Astrobotic’s Griffin lander (which shall be carrying two mini-rovers and Interlune’s helium-hunting digital camera).
Seattle area corporations depend all the way down to liftoff: Along with Blue Origin, a number of different corporations headquartered close to the Emerald Metropolis are planning large area missions in 2026. Kent-based Stoke House may launch its first absolutely reusable Nova rocket from Florida. Bothell-based Portal House Programs’ Starburst area automobile is because of make its orbital debut. And Tukwila-based Starfish House is scheduled to display how its maneuverable Otter spacecraft can provide satellites an in-space increase.
Golden Dome takes form: A proposed $175 billion missile protection system referred to as the Golden Dome is already attracting curiosity from area ventures — significantly ventures which can be specializing in in-space mobility (corresponding to Portal House and Starfish House) or in-space knowledge processing (corresponding to Starcloud and Seattle-based Sophia House). Marysville, Wash.-based Gravitics is constructing an orbital provider that may function a “pre-positioned launch pad in area” for the U.S. House Pressure, underneath the phrases of a deal that could possibly be price as a lot as $60 million. Different big-ticket navy initiatives are prone to come to gentle in 2026.
Whither NASA? Or will NASA wither? Isaacman is taking on at NASA following a 12 months of layoffs and science program cuts. He has pledged to land astronauts on the moon through the present presidential time period, however funding stays a hurdle. “I nearly assure you he’s going to be strolling up the road to the White Home, saying ‘I actually need more cash,’” NASAWatch’s Keith Cowing stated on Israel’s i24 TV.
Bonus: Coming to a sky (or a display) close to you: Preserve an eye fixed out for a whole lunar eclipse on March 3 that shall be seen over the U.S., climate allowing. There’s additionally a photo voltaic eclipse on Aug. 12 that may deliver totality to slender stretches of Greenland, Iceland and Spain. Though this eclipse can’t be seen in Seattle’s skies, it’s best to be capable to catch the highlights on-line.
