Voyager 1

After budget cuts threatened one of them and derailed a European partnership, NASA's two Venus missions have launch targets again: the DAVINCI orbiter and descent probe in December 2030, and the VERITAS radar-mapping orbiter in November 2032. NASA has withdrawn its radar contribution to ESA's EnVision, which will fly a European-built alternative.

The Space Systems Command (SSC) in El Segundo awarded an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract on April 7, 2026, for space-based space domain awareness capability. The 14-company pool includes Anduril, Astranis, BAE Systems Space, General Atomics, Intuitive Machines, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Millennium Space Systems, Northrop Grumman, Quantum Space, Redwire, Sierra Space, True Anomaly, and Turion Space. The IDIQ ceiling and individual task order values were not disclosed. The procurement was competitive with 32 offers received. This represents a significant commercial-first approach to orbital domain awareness infrastructure.

NASA formally locks in an April 1–7 2026 launch window for Artemis II, the first crewed flight of the Artemis program, to perform a lunar flyby using the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft.

Senior NASA managers detail development of compact nuclear power systems to provide steady heat and electricity for lunar and Mars habitats, supporting long‑duration surface operations and science.

NASA leadership has chosen to redirect resources away from the long-planned Lunar Gateway orbital station toward building a more ambitious, sustained human base on the lunar surface. The decision reflects a broader Artemis program shift toward surface infrastructure.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called for a monthly cadence of robotic lunar landers to the south pole starting next year, accelerating CLPS 2.0 and surface infrastructure.