Spacefarer Update - End of 2025

Human Spaceflight in 2025: A Year of Milestones, Private Innovation, and Resilience

As 2025 draws to a close on December 31, it's time to reflect on an extraordinary year for human spaceflight. From groundbreaking private missions achieving new orbital paths to international crew rotations on the International Space Station (ISS) and China's Tiangong, to deft handling of in-orbit emergencies, 2025 advanced our presence in low Earth orbit while laying groundwork for returns beyond it. With record-breaking activity in launches and ongoing operations aboard two orbital outposts, humanity spent another year continuously inhabiting space—now marking over 25 years since the ISS first hosted crews.

At year's end, 10 humans are in space: 7 aboard the ISS (Expedition 74) and 3 aboard China's Tiangong space station. The maximum simultaneous humans in space reached 14 during crew overlaps, with an estimated average of around 9-10 throughout the year, reflecting steady rotations and brief handover periods.

Occupied Locations at Year-End

International Space Station (Expedition 74): 7 crew members from multiple international partners, conducting hundreds of scientific experiments in microgravity.

Tiangong Space Station: 3 taikonauts (from the Shenzhou 21 crew), continuing China's independent human spaceflight program.

No private or free-flyer stations were occupied long-term in 2025, though private missions visited the ISS.

Key Highlights of 2025

Here are some standout moments that defined human spaceflight this year:

Fram2 became the first crewed mission to enter a polar retrograde orbit, flying over Earth's poles and opening new observational possibilities.

Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) marked a historic return to space for astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary—nations not sending humans to orbit since the Soviet-era Interkosmos program decades ago.

China successfully managed its first major in-orbit emergency when suspected space debris damaged the Shenzhou 20 return capsule. Quick action saw the Shenzhou 20 crew safely return via Shenzhou 21, followed by an uncrewed Shenzhou 22 launch as a replacement vehicle—demonstrating resilience and operational maturity.

The ISS briefly hosted all eight docking ports occupied simultaneously in late 2025, a new record showcasing the station's expanded capacity with new resupply vehicles like Cygnus XL and Japan's HTV-X.

Sunita Williams broke the women's cumulative spacewalk time record during ongoing ISS maintenance.

Multiple NASA-SpaceX crew rotations (including Crew-10 and Crew-11) and Soyuz missions (e.g., Soyuz MS-28) ensured continuous international cooperation despite geopolitical tensions.

Debut of enhanced resupply capabilities: Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL and JAXA's HTV-X successfully delivered cargo to the ISS.

Blue Origin continued regular suborbital tourism flights with New Shepard, including missions like NS-37 carrying crews of tourists above the Kármán line.

Private missions like Ax-4 highlighted the growing role of commercial partners in human spaceflight access.

Crewed Launches in 2025

2025 saw approximately 8 orbital crewed launches, sending 28 people to space (some overlaps due to rotations). Notable missions included:

Fram2 (1 April 2025, Falcon 9 / Crew Dragon, Kennedy Space Center): Private mission, Orbital/LEO (polar orbit). Crew: 4 private astronauts (Chun Wang - Commander, Jannicke Mikkelsen - Vehicle Commander, Rabea Rogge - Pilot, Eric Philips - Mission Specialist). First crewed polar overflight. Success.

Axiom Mission 4 (25 June 2025, Falcon 9 / Crew Dragon Grace, Kennedy Space Center): Private ISS visit, Orbital/LEO. Crew: Peggy Whitson (Commander, Axiom/USA), Shubhanshu Shukla (Pilot, ISRO/India), Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (ESA/Poland), Tibor Kapu (Hungary). Success; returned 15 July.

Soyuz MS-28 (27 November 2025, Soyuz-2.1a, Baikonur): ISS rotation, Orbital/LEO. Crew: Christopher Williams (NASA/USA), Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (Roscosmos), Sergei Mikaev (Roscosmos). Success.

Additional missions: NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 (late March) and Crew-11 (July), various Shenzhou rotations (Shenzhou 20/21/22 involvement), and other Soyuz flights maintaining ISS and Tiangong crews.

Suborbital: Multiple Blue Origin New Shepard flights, including NS-37 (December) with crews of 6 tourists each.

No missions went beyond LEO in 2025, with all activity focused on Earth orbit.

Looking Ahead

The next scheduled crewed launch after December 31, 2025, is Artemis II—humanity's first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. This Orion spacecraft flight on the SLS rocket will send four astronauts (Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch - NASA; Jeremy Hansen - CSA) on a lunar flyby, targeted for early 2026 (NET February) from Kennedy Space Center.

2025 solidified the transition to a multi-station, multi-provider era in low Earth orbit, with private innovation complementing government programs. As we close the year with 10 people orbiting overhead, the stage is set for even bolder steps in 2026 and beyond—toward the Moon, Mars, and sustained commercial habitats in space.

Clear skies and safe travels to all spacefarers, past and future.