Japan
Japan is betting its next deep-space decade on 10 grams of Phobos
MMX is a sample-return mission, a technology demonstrator and a carefully designed argument for Japan’s role in exploration beyond the Moon.
United States
The Moon is no longer a destination. It is becoming infrastructure.
America, China, Europe, Japan and India are converging on the same idea: the lasting advantage will belong to whoever can move power, data and cargo around the Moon reliably.
Mission control
Follow the signal
United States
The Moon is no longer a destination. It is becoming infrastructure.
America, China, Europe, Japan and India are converging on the same idea: the lasting advantage will belong to whoever can move power, data and cargo around the Moon reliably.
Japan
Japan is betting its next deep-space decade on 10 grams of Phobos
MMX is a sample-return mission, a technology demonstrator and a carefully designed argument for Japan’s role in exploration beyond the Moon.
Europe
Europe’s launcher gap is closing — but sovereignty is a service, not a rocket
Ariane 6 has moved from recovery story to operating system. The harder question is whether Europe can turn launch cadence into durable commercial leverage.
Connectivity
Your next cell tower may cross the sky every 90 minutes
Direct-to-device satellite service is moving from emergency novelty to a regulated network layer. The experience will be ordinary; the coordination behind it will not.
India
NISAR turns radar into public infrastructure for a changing planet
The NASA–ISRO observatory’s value is not its 12-metre reflector. It is the repeatable evidence it can deliver to scientists, governments and operators on the ground.
China
China’s south-pole strategy is a chain of machines, not a single Moon shot
Chang’e 7 combines orbit, landing, roving and a hopping detector because the most valuable lunar questions sit in places sunlight rarely reaches.
Space Economy
Orbit is already crowded. The next space economy must repair what it launches.
With roughly 46,840 tracked objects and more than 17,000 tonnes in orbit, servicing and removal are moving from environmental argument to operating necessity.
Latin America & Spain
Spain is building a space portfolio, not chasing a prestige launch
Earth-observation constellations, wildfire tools, scientific leadership and a private launcher reveal a more durable model for a rising space nation.
Connectivity
Satellite broadband is becoming a portfolio, not a dish
Fixed terminals, maritime links, resilient enterprise networks and direct-to-phone coverage now solve different problems. Buying by brand obscures the real choice.
Space Economy
The most valuable space businesses may never own a rocket
Launch captures attention. Ground software, spectrum, terminals, data products and operations capture recurring customer problems.
United States
Artemis II changed what “after the mission” means
The lunar flyby ended in April. Its most consequential work now happens in labs, software reviews and the architecture of the next flights.
One orbit.
Many worlds.
Many worlds.
Explore by region
- 01United StatesNASA, commercial launch, direct-to-device
- 02ChinaLunar science, Tiangong, commercial constellations
- 03EuropeESA, sovereign launch, orbital sustainability
- 04JapanJAXA, H3, Martian moons
- 05IndiaISRO, Earth intelligence, human spaceflight
- 06Latin America & SpainGround stations, launch startups, Earth data
- 07Southeast AsiaConnectivity, climate, emerging agencies
Orbital reality check
The numbers above us
functioning satellites estimated in Earth orbit
ESA Space Debris Office ↗space objects regularly tracked and catalogued
ESA, 31 July 2026 ↗estimated total mass of objects in Earth orbit
ESA Space Environment ↗Phobos material JAXA's MMX aims to return
JAXA MMX ↗Watch next
Mission timeline
JAXA MMX
Japan targets the first sample-return mission from the Martian moon Phobos.
Chang’e 7
China’s multi-spacecraft campaign is designed to investigate lunar south-pole water and terrain.
Artemis III demo
NASA’s updated architecture targets a low-Earth-orbit test of commercial lunar landers.
Artemis IV
NASA targets its next lunar landing while building an enduring cadence.