The coming year's space highlights include a NASA mission that will send astronauts around the moon and a Blue Origin lunar lander mission.

In theory, leaner NASA oversight, greater use of off‑the‑shelf hardware and narrower science goals can cut costs while launching more missions and increasing the total science return. If ESCAPADE succeeds in delivering important science, it will be held up as evidence that this more commercial, risk-tolerant template can deliver.

NASA plans to send four astronauts on a mission to circumnavigate the moon, the first human lunar mission in over 50 years. SpaceX is expected to debut a new version of its Starship megarocket and continue developing it for future moon and Mars missions.

The 26-foot-tall (8-meter-tall) cargo lander is expected to embark on its first flight during the first quarter of 2026, touching down near the Shackleton crater at the Moon’s south pole. This demonstration mission, dubbed “Pathfinder,” will aim to validate all of the lander’s hardware and systems, including its never-before-flown BE-7 engine.

A Congressional bill restores funding for most NASA space science missions, but there is no money for returning samples already collected on the red planet.