2026: New Space Telescopes to Map Billions of Galaxies

For the first time since 1972, humans will journey around the moon next year, and three groundbreaking space telescopes will begin surveying the cosmos like never before.

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, finishing construction this past December, could launch as early as fall 2026. What makes Roman extraordinary isn't just its power, but its vision: it can photograph regions of sky 100 times larger than Hubble while maintaining the same crystal clarity.

During its five-year mission, Roman will discover more than 100,000 distant planets orbiting other stars and map billions of galaxies across cosmic time. The telescope will also help scientists understand dark matter and dark energy, the invisible forces that make up 95% of our universe.

Europe's PLATO mission joins the party in December 2026, launching with 26 cameras to monitor 200,000 stars. Its mission: find small, rocky planets in habitable zones where liquid water could exist.

China is making history too with its Xuntian space telescope, launching in late 2026. The telescope will co-orbit with China's Tiangong space station, allowing astronauts to service and upgrade it, potentially keeping it operational for decades.

Together with the new ground-based Vera C. Rubin Observatory, these telescopes will study not just where things are in space, but how the universe changes and evolves over time.

The Ripple Effect

The excitement extends beyond robots. NASA's Artemis II mission will send four astronauts around the moon in April 2026, the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit in 54 years.

India is preparing for its own historic moment through the Gaganyaan program, working toward sending astronauts to space for the first time. Success would make India only the fourth nation to achieve independent human spaceflight.

China continues regular crewed missions to its space station, building experience for planned lunar missions later this decade. Meanwhile, NASA increasingly relies on commercial spacecraft for Earth orbit missions, freeing the agency to focus on deep space exploration.

These missions represent unprecedented global cooperation and healthy competition in space science. Nations are sharing knowledge while pushing their own boundaries, and the entire world benefits from the discoveries.

Researchers at major astrophysical institutes report electric anticipation across the global space science community. The data and images from these missions will keep scientists busy for years, revealing secrets about how planets form, whether we're alone in the universe, and how galaxies evolved over billions of years.

Next year marks a turning point in humanity's relationship with space, where multiple nations simultaneously reach for answers to our biggest questions about the cosmos and our place in it.