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This article documents expected notable spaceflight events during the 2020s.

In 2020, NASA plans to launch the Mars 2020 rover, followed by the maiden launch of the Space Launch System (launch date to be determined, unlikely to be before late 2021); in 2023, NASA plans to carry out the first crewed flight of the Space Launch System.

The trend towards cost reduction in access to orbit is expected to continue. In 2020, Blue Origin plans the maiden flight of New Glenn with a reusable first stage. In the same year SpaceX plans to launch its new fully reusable Starship/Super Heavy system.

NASA plans a return of humans to the Moon by 2024, first by assembling a Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway in lunar orbit. A crewed exploration of Mars could follow in the mid 2030s. An uncrewed and then a crewed trip to Jupiter and Europa have been commonly contemplated, but no space agencies or companies have yet announced definite plans to launch a crewed mission further than Mars. SpaceX, a private company, has also announced plans to land humans on Mars in the mid-2020s, with the long-term goal of enabling the colonization of Mars.

India plans its first crewed flight with a spacecraft called Gaganyaan for December 2021 on a home-grown GSLV-III rocket. The mission would make India the 4th nation to launch a crewed space flight after Russia, US and China. India also plans to launch its second Mars probe, Mars Orbiter Mission 2 (Mangalyaan 2), in 2024.

The number of small satellites launched annually was expected to grow to around one thousand (2018 estimate), although SpaceX alone plans to launch more than that for its Starlink constellation (12,000 satellites from 2019 to 2027). The majority of the satellites are expected to be communication satellites in large constellations.

2023

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2024

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2025

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2026

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2028

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