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72 articles across 6 categories, updated as spaceflight moves.
Agencies
Agencies & Companies
11- SpaceXSpaceX is an American spacecraft manufacturer and launch provider that builds Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, Dragon, Starlink, and Starship, the largest rocket ever flown.
- Blue OriginBlue Origin is Jeff Bezos's space company, developing New Shepard, New Glenn, Blue Moon landers, Blue Ring spacecraft, and the Orbital Reef station.
- China National Space AdministrationChina's civil space agency, CNSA, ran the Chang'e Moon sample returns and runs the Tianwen probes; a 2026 integration put Moon missions in the crewed program.
- European Space AgencyESA is a 23-state intergovernmental agency for European space science, Earth observation, navigation, exploration, launchers, technology, and safety.
- ISROISRO is India's national space agency, known for the Chandrayaan-3 Moon landing, Aditya-L1 solar observatory, LVM3 rocket, and the Gaganyaan crew program.
- JAXAJAXA is Japan's space agency, operator of the SLIM Moon lander, Hayabusa asteroid sample returns, the H3 rocket, and the MMX mission to Phobos.
- LandSpaceLandSpace is the Chinese launch company whose Zhuque-2 was the first methane rocket to reach orbit and whose Zhuque-3 landed a booster in 2026.
- NASANASA is the United States civil aeronautics and space agency, responsible for human spaceflight, scientific missions, aviation research, and technology.
- Rocket LabRocket Lab is a US launch and space systems company founded by Peter Beck, operator of the Electron small rocket and developer of the reusable Neutron.
- RoscosmosRoscosmos is Russia's state space corporation, heir to the Soviet program, operating Soyuz flights, the ISS Russian segment, and the Luna-Glob lunar series.
- StarcloudStarcloud is a US orbital-computing startup whose first satellite carried an NVIDIA H100; larger missions and an 88,000-satellite filing remain proposals.
Rockets
Rockets & Vehicles
13- StarshipStarship is SpaceX's super heavy-lift rocket in flight testing, designed for full reuse, orbital refueling, Starlink launches, and lunar missions.
- Ariane 6Ariane 6 is Europe's expendable heavy launcher, flown since July 2024 in A62 and A64 versions. It launches Amazon Leo satellites and ESA missions.
- ElectronElectron is Rocket Lab's small-lift launcher, a carbon composite rocket with electric-pump Rutherford engines that has flown 100 times since 2017.
- Falcon 9Falcon 9 is SpaceX's two-stage rocket, with a reusable first stage, 702 liftoffs through November 12, 2026, and crew, science, and Starlink roles.
- Falcon HeavyFalcon Heavy is SpaceX's three-core heavy-lift rocket, flown 14 times since its 2018 debut with launches including Psyche, Europa Clipper, and Roman.
- Long MarchChina's Long March rocket family has flown 674 missions since 1970, carrying every Shenzhou crew, every Chang'e Moon probe, and Tianwen-1 to Mars.
- NeutronNeutron is Rocket Lab's reusable medium-lift rocket, a 43 m carbon composite launcher with nine methalox Archimedes engines, now expected to debut in 2027.
- New GlennNew Glenn is Blue Origin's reusable heavy-lift rocket. It has flown three times and is grounded after a May 2026 static-fire explosion damaged LC-36.
- Saturn VSaturn V was the NASA rocket that launched the Apollo Moon missions and Skylab, flying 13 times from 1967 to 1973 without losing a crew or payload.
- SoyuzSoyuz is the R-7-derived Russian rocket family that launches Soyuz crew spacecraft, Progress cargo ships, and satellites from three cosmodromes.
- Space Launch SystemThe Space Launch System is NASA's super-heavy Artemis Moon rocket. It flew uncrewed in 2022 and carried the Artemis II crew around the Moon in April 2026.
- Vulcan CentaurVulcan Centaur is ULA's successor to Atlas V and Delta IV, flown since January 2024 with Blue Origin BE-4 engines and the Centaur V upper stage.
- Zhuque-3Zhuque-3 is LandSpace's reusable stainless steel methalox rocket. Its second flight in August 2026 made China's first orbital booster landing on legs.
Missions
Missions & Programs
21- Apollo 11Apollo 11 was the first crewed Moon landing. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked at Tranquility Base on July 20, 1969, while Michael Collins orbited above.
- Artemis ProgramArtemis is NASA's Moon-to-Mars campaign. Artemis II flew around the Moon in 2026; Artemis III will test landers before a planned 2028 landing.
- Amazon LeoAmazon Leo, formerly Project Kuiper, is Amazon's low Earth orbit broadband constellation, with 392 satellites in orbit in November 2026 and service planned.
- Apollo programNASA's Apollo program landed 12 astronauts on the Moon across six missions from 1969 to 1972, returning 382 kg of lunar samples at a cost of $25.8 billion.
- Cassini-HuygensCassini-Huygens orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017, landed the Huygens probe on Titan in 2005, discovered Enceladus plumes, and ended with the Grand Finale.
- Chang'e 7Chang'e 7, now expected in 2027, will send an orbiter, lander, rover, and hopping probe to hunt for water ice near Shackleton crater at the Moon's south pole.
- Commercial Crew ProgramNASA's Commercial Crew Program buys ISS astronaut flights from SpaceX and Boeing. Crew Dragon is operational; Starliner remains uncertified.
- Crew DragonSpaceX's Crew Dragon is the only certified US crew spacecraft, with 21 crewed flights since 2020 on a reusable five-capsule fleet launched by Falcon 9.
- Curiosity (rover)NASA's Curiosity rover landed in Gale Crater in August 2012 and is still climbing Mount Sharp, with finds from ancient lakebeds to large organic molecules.
- Europa ClipperEuropa Clipper, NASA's largest planetary spacecraft, launched on a Falcon Heavy in October 2024 and will survey Jupiter's moon Europa with 49 flybys from 2031.
- Hubble Space TelescopeThe Hubble Space Telescope, launched April 24, 1990, has made more than 1.7 million observations and still operates in one-gyroscope mode after 36 years.
- International Space StationThe International Space Station is a five-agency orbital laboratory, continuously occupied since 2000, with a controlled deorbit planned after 2030.
- James Webb Space TelescopeThe James Webb Space Telescope is a 6.5-meter infrared observatory launched December 25, 2021. It observes the earliest galaxies and exoplanet atmospheres.
- New HorizonsNew Horizons made the first Pluto flyby in July 2015 and the most distant flyby ever at Arrokoth in 2019; it now studies the Kuiper Belt beyond 65 AU.
- OrionOrion is NASA's deep space crew capsule for Artemis. It flew uncrewed in 2014 and 2022, then carried the Artemis II crew around the Moon in April 2026.
- Perseverance (rover)NASA's Perseverance rover has explored Jezero Crater on Mars since February 2021, caching rock cores and reporting a potential biosignature at Cheyava Falls.
- Project SuncatcherProject Suncatcher is Google's research program with Planet to run TPU chips on solar-powered satellites; its first prototype reached orbit on October 1, 2026.
- StarlinkStarlink is SpaceX's satellite internet constellation, with more than 11,000 satellites in orbit and 13.6 million subscribers across 174 markets in late 2026.
- StarmindStarmind is SpaceX's proposed orbital AI-computing program, pairing NVIDIA-equipped AI1 satellites with Starlink laser links under a pending FCC application.
- TiangongTiangong is China's three-module space station, crewed continuously since June 2022, with expansion to six modules and a co-orbiting telescope planned.
- Voyager programNASA's twin Voyager probes launched in 1977, toured the outer planets, and now return data from interstellar space more than 21 billion kilometers away.
People
People
9- Buzz AldrinBuzz Aldrin (born 1930) is an American astronaut and engineer who flew Gemini 12 and Apollo 11, becoming the second person to walk on the Moon in 1969.
- Elon MuskElon Musk (born 1971) founded SpaceX in 2002 and is its chief executive and chairman, directing the reusable Falcon rockets, Starlink, and the Starship program.
- Gwynne ShotwellGwynne Shotwell (born 1963) has been SpaceX's president and COO since 2008, running its day-to-day operations from early Falcon sales to the 2026 IPO.
- Katherine JohnsonKatherine Johnson (1918-2020) was a NASA mathematician whose trajectory calculations supported Mercury, Apollo 11, and Apollo 13, honored in Hidden Figures.
- Neil ArmstrongNeil Armstrong (1930-2012) was an American test pilot and NASA astronaut who commanded Apollo 11 and became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969.
- Peggy WhitsonPeggy Whitson is an American biochemist and astronaut whose 695 cumulative days in space are the most of any American, over three NASA and two Axiom flights.
- Sally RideSally Ride (1951-2012) was a physicist and NASA astronaut who became the first American woman in space on STS-7 in 1983 and later led STEM education efforts.
- Valentina TereshkovaValentina Tereshkova (born 1937) is a Soviet cosmonaut who became the first woman in space aboard Vostok 6 in 1963 and remains the only woman to fly solo.
- Yuri GagarinYuri Gagarin (1934-1968) was a Soviet cosmonaut who became the first human in space on April 12, 1961, orbiting Earth once aboard Vostok 1 in 108 minutes.
Concepts
Concepts & Technology
8- How rockets workHow rockets work: Newton's third law, the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, staging, propellant types, engine cycles, and why orbit is about sideways speed.
- Mars colonizationMars colonization faces radiation, toxic dust, partial gravity, and life support limits. No crewed mission is scheduled, and SpaceX now puts the Moon first.
- Orbital Data CentersOrbital data centers span edge processors and proposed compute constellations; power, heat, links, radiation, launch, and debris set their limits.
- Orbital mechanicsOrbital mechanics explains how spacecraft move: Kepler's laws, delta-v budgets, Hohmann transfers, gravity assists, Lagrange points, and rendezvous.
- Reusable rocketsReusable launch vehicles recover and refly rocket stages. A Falcon 9 booster has flown 37 times, and China recovered its first orbital booster in July 2026.
- Space debrisSpace debris includes about 46,000 tracked objects and millions of untracked fragments; collisions and mega-constellations drive rules and cleanup missions.
- Space tourismSpace tourism began with Dennis Tito's 2001 ISS visit and now spans suborbital hops and private orbital missions, with prices from $750,000 to $70 million.
- The Space RaceThe Space Race was the 1955-1975 US-Soviet competition that produced Sputnik, Gagarin's flight, and the Apollo Moon landings before ending in detente.
Destinations
Destinations
10- Asteroid beltThe asteroid belt is a sparse ring of rocky bodies between Mars and Jupiter, home to Ceres and Vesta and the source of most near-Earth asteroids.
- Baikonur CosmodromeBaikonur Cosmodrome is the world's first spaceport, launch site of Sputnik and Gagarin, leased by Russia from Kazakhstan and still flying Soyuz crews.
- EuropaEuropa is Jupiter's fourth-largest moon, an ice-covered world with a global subsurface ocean targeted by NASA's Europa Clipper and ESA's Juice missions.
- Jiuquan Satellite Launch CenterJiuquan Satellite Launch Center is China's oldest and busiest spaceport, site of the first Chinese satellite, every Shenzhou crew, and a commercial boom.
- Kennedy Space CenterNASA's spaceport on Merritt Island, Florida, where Launch Complex 39 has launched every Apollo lunar crew, 135 shuttle missions, and Artemis II.
- MarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun, a cold desert world with evidence of ancient water, explored today by six orbiters and two active NASA rovers.
- The MoonThe Moon is Earth's only natural satellite, shaped by a giant impact 4.5 billion years ago and now the focus of renewed crewed and robotic exploration.
- TitanTitan is Saturn's largest moon, with a thick nitrogen atmosphere, methane seas, organic dunes, a disputed interior ocean, and NASA's Dragonfly mission ahead.
- VenusVenus is the second planet from the Sun, a runaway greenhouse world hot enough to melt lead, explored by Soviet landers and targeted by new missions.
- Wenchang Space Launch SiteChina's coastal Wenchang spaceport on Hainan launches space station modules, lunar and Mars missions, and hosts the country's first commercial launch site.