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2026 In Spaceflight
This article documents expected notable spaceflight events during the year 2026. In 2026, NASA is expected to launch the Artemis III mission, which will land astronauts near the south pole of the Moon. It is expected to be the first mission to land humans on the Moon since 1972. NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will have a field of view 100 times larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope, is scheduled to be launched in October 2026. China plans to launch Chang'e 7 to explore the lunar south pole in late 2026. The mission will include an orbiter, a relay satellite, a lander, a rover, and a mini-flying probe. Orbital launches , colspan=8 style="background:white;", January , - , colspan=8 style="background:white;", March , - , colspan=8 style="background:white;", June , - , colspan=8 style="background:white;", September , - , colspan=8 style="background:white;", October , - , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (shortened as Roman or the Roman Space Telescope, and formerly the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope or WFIRST) is a NASA infrared space telescope currently in development and scheduled to launch by May 2027. Roman was recommended in 2010 by the United States National Research Council Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey, Decadal Survey committee as the top priority for the next decade of astronomy. On 17 February 2016, WFIRST was approved for development and launch. The Roman Space Telescope is based on an existing wide field of view primary mirror and will carry two scientific instruments. The Wide-Field Instrument (WFI) is a 300.8-megapixel multi-band visible and Infrared, near-infrared camera, providing a sharpness of images comparable to that achieved by the Hubble Space Telescope over a 0.28 square degree field of view, 100 times larger than imaging cameras on the Hubble. The coronagraph, Coronagraphic Instrument (CGI) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vega-C
Vega ( it, Vettore Europeo di Generazione Avanzata, or french: Vecteur européen de génération avancée, or en, European Vector of Advanced Generation, meaning "Advanced generation European carrier rocket") is an expendable launch system in use by Arianespace jointly developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Development began in 1998 and the first launch took place from the Guiana Space Centre, Centre Spatial Guyanais on 13 February 2012. It is designed to launch small payloads – 300 to 2500 kg satellites for scientific and Earth observation satellite, Earth observation missions to Polar orbit, polar and Low Earth orbit, low Earth orbits. The reference Vega mission is a polar orbit bringing a spacecraft of 1500 kg to an altitude of 700 km. The rocket, named after Vega, the List of brightest stars, brightest star in the constellation Lyra, is a single-body launcher (no strap-on boosters) with three Solid-propellant rocke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imgur
Imgur ( , stylized as imgur) is an American online image sharing and image hosting service with a focus on social gossip that was founded by Alan Schaaf in 2009. The service has hosted viral images and meme, particularly those posted on Reddit. History The company was started in 2009 in Athens, Ohio as Alan Schaaf's side project while he attended Ohio University for computer science. Imgur was created as a response to the usability problems encountered in similar services. "It took off almost instantly, jumping from a thousand hits per day to a million total page views in the first five months." In October 2012, Imgur expanded its functionality to allow users to directly share images to Imgur instead of requiring images to gain enough attraction through other social media sites like Reddit to show up on the popular image gallery. In the beginning, Imgur relied on donations to help with the web hosting costs. Display ads were introduced in May 2009; sponsored images and self-se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars. The company manufactures the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship launch vehicles, several rocket engines, Cargo Dragon and Crew Dragon spacecraft, and Starlink communications satellites. SpaceX is developing a satellite internet constellation named Starlink to provide commercial internet service. In January 2020, the Starlink constellation became the largest satellite constellation ever launched, and as of December 2022 comprises over 3,300 small satellites in orbit. The company is also developing Starship, a privately funded, fully reusable, super heavy-lift launch system for interplanetary and orbital spaceflight. It is intended to become SpaceX's primary orbi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weather Satellite
A weather satellite or meteorological satellite is a type of Earth observation satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites can be polar orbiting (covering the entire Earth asynchronously), or geostationary (hovering over the same spot on the equator). While primarily used to detect the development and movement of storm systems and other cloud patterns, meteorological satellites can also detect other phenomena such as city lights, fires, effects of pollution, auroras, sand and dust storms, snow cover, ice mapping, boundaries of ocean currents, and energy flows. Other types of environmental information are collected using weather satellites. Weather satellite images helped in monitoring the volcanic ash cloud from Mount St. Helens and activity from other volcanoes such as Mount Etna. Smoke from fires in the western United States such as Colorado and Utah have also been monitored. El Niño and its effects on weather are monitored ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
EUMETSAT
The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) is an intergovernmental organisation created through an international convention agreed by a current total of 30 European Member States. EUMETSAT's primary objective is to establish, maintain and exploit European systems of operational meteorological satellites. EUMETSAT is responsible for the launch and operation of the satellites and for delivering satellite data to end-users as well as contributing to the operational monitoring of climate and the detection of global climate changes. The activities of EUMETSAT contribute to a global meteorological satellite observing system coordinated with other space-faring nations. Satellite observations are an essential input to numerical weather prediction systems and also assist the human forecaster in the diagnosis of potentially hazardous weather developments. Of growing importance is the capacity of weather satellites to gather long-term measure ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MetOp-SG
MetOp-SG (Meteorological Operational Satellite - Second Generation) is a series of six meteorological satellites developed by European Space Agency and EUMETSAT to be launched from 2025 to 2039. Development In May 2014 during ILA Berlin Air Show, in a presence of chancellor Angela Merkel, ESA, EUMETSAT and Airbus Defence and Space signed the first documents for the development of second generation of the MetOp satellites. On 16 October 2014 contract was signed with Airbus Defence and Space for a construction of the satellites, worth in total for six spacecraft (on average each). In December 2014 additional contracts were signed for Ice Cloud Imagers to be used on B-series satellites and three microwave sounder instruments. MetOp-SG satellites will be built in two series: A, carrying visible, infrared, and microwave imagers and sounders; and B, carrying microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ELA-4
ELA-4 (french: Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 4, lit=Ariane Launch Complex 4), is a launch pad and associated facilities at the Centre Spatial Guyanais in French Guiana located along the Route de l'Espace in the Roche Christine site, between ELA-3 and ELS launch facilities. The complex is composed of a launch pad with mobile gantry, an horizontal assembly building and a dedicated launch operations building. ELA-4 is operated by Arianespace as part of the Ariane 6 program. the first launch is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2023. History CNES was responsible for the construction of the Ariane 6 ground segments including the new launch pad. Earthworks on the 170 hectare launch site began at the end of June 2015 and was completed at the start of 2016. Four platforms were levelled to accommodate the launch pad, the liquid oxygen and hydrogen tanks and the assembly building. Civil engineering works on the flame trench and other buildings began in the summer of 2016 and ended in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ariane 62
Ariane 6 is a European expendable launch system currently under development since the early 2010s by ArianeGroup on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA). It is intended to replace the Ariane 5, as part of the Ariane launch vehicle family. The stated motivation for Ariane 6 (as of 2015) was to halve the cost compared to Ariane 5, and increase the capacity for the number of launches per year (from six or seven to up to eleven). Ariane 6 is designed with two core stages both powered by liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen ( hydrolox) engines. The first stage has an improved version of the Vulcain engine already used on the Ariane 5, whilst the second stage has a newly designed Vinci engine. Most of the initial lift-off thrust is provided by solid rocket boosters attached to the first stage: either two or four P120s (Ariane 62 and Ariane 64 variants respectively), which are larger versions of the P80s used on the Vega rocket. Selection of the design concept was made by ESA in De ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earth Observation Satellite
An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, meteorology, cartography and others. The most common type are Earth imaging satellites, that take satellite images, analogous to aerial photographs; some EO satellites may perform remote sensing without forming pictures, such as in GNSS radio occultation. The first occurrence of satellite remote sensing can be dated to the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. Sputnik 1 sent back radio signals, which scientists used to study the ionosphere. The United States Army Ballistic Missile Agency launched the first American satellite, Explorer 1, for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on January 31, 1958. The information sent back from its radiation detector led to the discovery of the Earth's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sun-synchronous Orbit
A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is an orbit arranged so that it precesses through one complete revolution each year, so it always maintains the same relationship with the Sun. Applications A Sun-synchronous orbit is useful for imaging, reconnaissance, and weather satellites, because every time that the satellite is overhead, the surface illumination angle on the planet underneath it is nearly the same. This consistent lighting is a useful characteristic for satellites that image the Earth's surface in visible or infrared wavelengths, such as weather and spy satellites, and for other remote-sensing satellites, such as those carrying ocean and atmospheric remote-sensing instruments that require sunlight. For example, a satellite in Sun-synchronous orbit might ascend acros ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Korea Aerospace Research Institute
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), established in 1989, is the aeronautics and space agency of South Korea. Its main laboratories are located in Daejeon, in the Daedeok Science Town. KARI's vision is to continue building upon indigenous launch capabilities, strengthen national safety and public service, industrialize satellite information and applications technology, explore the moon, and develop environmentally-friendly and highly-efficient cutting-edge aircraft and core aerospace technology. Current projects include the KSLV-2 launcher. Past projects include the 1999 Arirang-1 satellite. The agency was founded in 1989. Prior to South Korea's entry into the Institute for Advanced Engineering (IAE) in 1992, it focused primarily on aerospace technology. Background KARI began on October 10, 1989, as a national aerospace research institute with the purpose of contributing to sound development of the national economy and enhancement of people's lives through a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
