_{NASA at the
International Astronautical Congress}

The International Space Station Program brings together international flight crews, multiple launch vehicles, globally distributed launch and flight operations, training, engineering, and development facilities, communications networks, and the international scientific research community. 

NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program is supporting the development of commercially-owned and operated Low Earth Orbit destinations from which NASA, along with other customers, can purchase services and stimulate the growth of commercial activities in Low Earth Orbit. As commercial Low Earth Orbit destinations (CLDs) become available, NASA intends to implement an orderly transition from current International Space Station (ISS) operations to these new CLDs.  

NASA is at the forefront of exploring the unique opportunities offered by microgravity in low Earth orbit (LEO). Our LEO Microgravity Strategy aims to harness this remarkable environment to advance scientific discovery, drive technological innovation, and prepare for future human exploration of the solar system. Microgravity offers a unique platform for conducting experiments and research that are impossible on Earth, leading to breakthroughs in fields such as medicine, materials science, and fundamental physics. As we chart the course for the future of space exploration and utilization, your insights and feedback are crucial. 

The space operating environment is undergoing rapid changes with the emergence of new commercial capabilities that NASA has championed, including increased satellite activity and novel space capabilities such as satellite constellations, autonomous spacecraft, and commercial space destinations. Under the leadership of a cross-agency advisory board, NASA has committed to develop an integrated agencywide strategy to measure and assess space sustainability for Earth, Earth orbit, the cislunar space, and deep space.  

With NASA’s Artemis campaign, we are exploring the Moon for scientific discovery, technology advancement, and to learn how to live and work on another world as we prepare for human missions to Mars. We will collaborate with commercial and international partners and establish the first long-term presence on the Moon. Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.

NASA’s architecture approach distills agency-developed objectives into operational capabilities and elements that support science and exploration goals. Working with experts across the agency, industry, academia, and the international community, NASA continuously evolves that blueprint for crewed exploration, setting humanity on a path to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Looking to the future of Artemis! This downloadable poster features the four astronauts who will fly around the Moon on Artemis II: NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

NASA, in coordination with the U.S. Department of State, established the Artemis Accords in 2020 together with seven other founding member nations. The accords reinforce the commitment by the United States and signatory nations to the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices and norms of responsible behavior that NASA and its partners support, including the public release of scientific data. 

While NASA is leading Artemis, international partnerships will play a key role in achieving a sustainable and robust presence at the Moon where the agency will prepare for the first human mission to Mars. With numerous countries and private companies conducting missions and operations around the Moon, a common set of principles to govern the civil exploration and use of outer space is necessary. 

NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) develops, demonstrates, and transfers new space technologies that benefit NASA, commercial, and other government missions. Through the Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative, STMD is developing foundational technologies and approaches needed to fulfill Artemis missions at the Moon in preparation for expeditions farther in deep space. Under the Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative, STMD operates the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium with Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory which fosters communications and collaborations among international partners, academia, industry, and government. The consortium is comprised of over 3,000 participants from 50 states and 78 countries.  

NASA will coordinate with U.S. government stakeholders, partners, and international standards organizations to establish a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) following a policy directive from the White House in April. The agency’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) program is leading efforts on creating a coordinated time, which will enable a future lunar ecosystem that could be scalable to other locations in our solar system. 

NISAR is designed to provide a detailed view of the Earth to observe and measure some of the planet’s most complex processes, including ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater issues. Its radar, the first of its kind in space, will systematically map Earth, measuring changes of our planet’s surface as small as a centimeter. 

Europa Clipper’s main science goal is to determine whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, that could support life. The mission’s three main science objectives are to understand the nature of the ice shell and the ocean beneath it, along with the moon’s composition and geology. The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet. 

NASNASA is working with several American companies to deliver science and 
technology to the lunar surface through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. These companies, ranging in size, bid on delivering payloads for NASA. This includes everything from payload integration and operations, to launching from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon.  

NASA makes vital investments in a diverse portfolio of learning opportunities and activities designed to reach as many U.S. students as possible – from kindergarten through graduate school. NASA seeks to build the next generation STEM workforce and broaden student participation to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM fields.

GLOBE, the Global Learning and Observations to benefit the Environment Program, is a worldwide program that brings together students, teachers, scientists and citizens to promote science and learning about the environment.  Through a hands-on approach to inquiry, participants are encouraged to engage in local investigations that cover five core fields: atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, soil (pedosphere), and Earth as a system. Observations made locally are submitted to the GLOBE data and information system, and can be accessed freely online.