United States

NASA • 2022–2030s

NASA's flagship program to return humans to the Moon and establish sustained lunar presence. Artemis I (uncrewed) flew 1.4M miles around the Moon in 2022. Artemis II crew is in quarantine at KSC as of March 2026 for the first crewed lunar flyby. The program's architecture was restructured in late 2024 — Artemis III became an LEO lander demo, Artemis IV is the first landing, and Artemis V uses Blue Origin's lander. Over 60 nations signed the Artemis Accords.

NASA • 2014–ongoing

Public-private partnership restoring US crew launch capability after Space Shuttle retirement. SpaceX Crew Dragon is the primary ISS crew transport vehicle, with 13+ successful crewed missions since 2020. Boeing Starliner's crewed flight test in June 2024 experienced thruster issues — crew returned via SpaceX Dragon in Feb 2025. Starliner future uncertain.

NASA / Boeing (prime) • 2011–ongoing

NASA's super heavy-lift launch vehicle for deep space. Block 1 successfully flew Artemis I in 2022 — most powerful rocket flown at the time. Block 1B (Exploration Upper Stage by Boeing) planned for Artemis IV+. Under scrutiny for high per-launch cost vs. SpaceX Starship. Congress has maintained funding through reconciliation acts.

NASA • 2018–2028+

Task-order program enabling private companies to deliver NASA science payloads to the lunar surface. Created a commercial lunar lander industry from scratch. Intuitive Machines achieved first US lunar landing since Apollo (IM-1, Feb 2024). Firefly completed first fully successful commercial soft landing (Blue Ghost M1, March 2025). Multiple missions per year now planned.

NASA • 2021–2030

Program to develop commercial space stations succeeding the ISS (retirement targeted ~2030). Three Phase 1 awardees: Blue Origin (Orbital Reef), Nanoracks/Voyager (Starlab), Northrop Grumman. Axiom Space building commercial modules to attach to ISS first, then separate. Vast also selected for a private astronaut mission in 2026.

NASA / JPL • Ongoing

Perseverance rover (landed Feb 2021) collecting rock samples for future return to Earth. Ingenuity helicopter far exceeded 5-flight design — completed 72 flights before blade damage ended its mission in Jan 2024. Mars Sample Return (MSR) program faces major budget and schedule challenges; NASA soliciting commercial alternatives. Human Mars missions studied for 2040s.

DoD / USSF • 2019–ongoing

US Space Force is the 6th military branch, responsible for space operations. The Space Development Agency (SDA) is building the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) — a mesh of hundreds of optically-linked LEO satellites for missile tracking, data transport, and navigation. Tranche 3 Tracking Layer ($3.5B) awarded Dec 2025 to L3Harris, Lockheed, Northrop, and Rocket Lab (18 sats each).

NASA / ESA / CSA • 2021–2040s (operations)

Most powerful space telescope ever built. Launched Dec 25, 2021, operating at Sun-Earth L2 point 1.5M km from Earth. Revolutionizing astronomy across every domain — earliest galaxies, exoplanet atmospheres, star formation, solar system science. Has enough fuel to operate through the 2040s. Built by Northrop Grumman (prime) with Ball Aerospace mirror segments.

NASA / ESA / JAXA / CSA • 2025–2030s

International space station in lunar orbit supporting Artemis surface missions. Gateway will serve as a staging point for crewed lunar landings, deep space science, and eventual Mars transit. ESA is building the ESPRIT refueling module and I-HAB habitation module. JAXA contributing life support. CSA providing Canadarm3 robotic system.

NASA / JPL • 2024–2034

Flagship mission to determine if Jupiter's moon Europa could harbor conditions suitable for life. Launched October 14, 2024 on SpaceX Falcon Heavy. Will conduct 49 close flybys of Europa using ice-penetrating radar (REASON), mass spectrometer (MASPEX), and thermal imager (E-THEMIS) to characterize the subsurface ocean beneath Europa's icy shell.

NASA / GSFC • 2027–2032+

Next-generation wide-field infrared space telescope with a 2.4m mirror (same size as Hubble) but 200x the field of view. Will survey billions of galaxies, discover thousands of exoplanets via microlensing, and study dark energy through weak gravitational lensing. Also carries a coronagraph technology demonstrator for direct exoplanet imaging.

NASA / APL • 2028–2034

Nuclear-powered rotorcraft lander (octocopter) that will explore Saturn's largest moon Titan. Titan has a thick nitrogen atmosphere, methane lakes, and complex organic chemistry — conditions potentially analogous to early Earth. Dragonfly will hop between locations sampling surface materials and searching for biosignatures.

NASA / JPL • 2028–2033

Space-based infrared telescope dedicated to detecting and characterizing near-Earth objects (asteroids and comets) that could threaten Earth. Will orbit at L1 point and discover an estimated 90% of asteroids larger than 140 meters. Critical for planetary defense — early detection enables deflection missions like DART.

NASA / ISRO • 2025–2028

Joint NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite that will map the entire globe every 12 days using dual-frequency radar. Will track changes in Earth's ice sheets, ecosystems, sea level, natural hazards, and groundwater with unprecedented precision. One of the most capable Earth observation satellites ever built.

NASA / ASU / JPL • 2023–2029

Mission to explore 16 Psyche, a unique metallic asteroid that may be the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet. Launched October 2023 using Hall-effect solar electric propulsion. Will study the asteroid's composition, structure, and magnetic field to understand planetary formation and differentiation.

Axiom Space / NASA • 2027–2030

First commercial space station. Will initially attach modules to the ISS, then detach as a free-flying station before ISS retirement around 2030. Axiom Hub One (first module) built by Thales Alenia Space. Will host research, manufacturing, tourism, and sovereign astronaut programs. AxEMU spacesuits selected for NASA's Artemis III lunar surface EVAs.