Space programs: announced vs achieved

Space agencies and companies regularly say what they will do and when. This section sets each dated statement beside what has happened since, with the original source and the evidence used for the current status. Pick a program for its full timeline.

Claims tracked

19

Achieved

3

On track

5

Slipped

8

Dropped

1

Unknown

2

Met on original date

0% (0 of 12 decided)

Average delay where late

27 months

These numbers describe only the claims listed here. The claims were chosen because they are dated, public and checkable, so the totals are not a ranking of agencies and should not be read as one.

Featured: Moon plans, USA and China

Five steps toward a crewed landing, each with a dated target, status, months late and a source. Open the side-by-side page.

Programs

1. Starship & Human Landing System

   SpaceX · 4 claims
   Starship is SpaceX's fully reusable launch system. A Starship variant is one of two landers NASA is funding for Artemis crewed lunar landings. SpaceX has also publicly discussed Mars missions. This page tracks dated public statements about lander milestones and Mars, not engineering merit.

   Slipped 2Dropped 1Unknown 1

2. Artemis

   NASA · 5 claims
   NASA's program to return astronauts to the Moon with the SLS rocket and Orion capsule plus commercial landers. Artemis II flew a crewed lunar flyby in April 2026; the schedule for the first landing was restructured in February 2026.

   Achieved 2On track 1Slipped 2

3. China's lunar program

   CMSA / CNSA · 4 claims
   China's integrated Lunar Exploration Program combines the crewed lunar landing effort (Long March 10, Mengzhou, Lanyue) with the robotic Chang'e series. Official statements come mainly through Xinhua and the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

   On track 3Slipped 1

4. Blue Origin: New Glenn & Blue Moon

   Blue Origin · 3 claims
   Blue Origin builds the New Glenn heavy-lift rocket and the Blue Moon lunar landers, including the Mark 2 crewed lander NASA funds for Artemis. New Glenn has not flown since a May 28, 2026 pad explosion.

   Achieved 1On track 1Slipped 1

5. Gaganyaan

   ISRO · 3 claims
   India's human spaceflight program: a crew module launched on the human-rated HLVM3 rocket, preceded by uncrewed test flights (G1, G2, G3).

   Slipped 2Unknown 1

What the statuses mean

How we do this

Each claim is a dated public statement with a source link. Status is set by hand from the cited evidence. Slip is computed by the site builder in whole months from the original target to the achieved date, the current revised target, or (if neither exists and the target has passed) today.

Months late is counted in whole months from the original target month to the date a goal was achieved, to the current target if there is one, or, for goals that are overdue with no new date, to today (shown as “at least”). Where an announcement date or detail could not be verified, the entry says so. Statements from companies and governments are reported as statements, not as independent confirmation. Found an error or a better source? matthew@mytestingarena.com.