The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), previously known as Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST), is a space observatory under construction and scheduled to launch in October 2018. The JWST will offer unprecedented resolution and sensitivity from long-wavelength visible to the mid-infrared, and is a successor instrument to the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The telescope features a segmented 6.5-meter (21 ft) diameter primary mirror and will be located near the Earth–Sun L2 point. A large sunshield will keep its mirror and four science instruments below 50 K (−370 °F).

The Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign is set to achieve a groundbreaking milestone in space exploration. MSR's primary objective is to collect and return Martian samples to Earth for detailed analysis. The Capture, Containment, and Return System (CCRS) is a crucial component of this mission. Designed by NASA, the CCRS will autonomously secure samples collected by the Perseverance rover and stored in a container on Mars' surface. Once in orbit, the system will retrieve the container and prepare it for the trip back to Earth. The success of the MSR mission is poised to revolutionize our understanding of Mars by returning the first Martian samples to the Earth.

The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, is an observatory currently in the design phase, set to launch in 2024. PACE aims to enhance NASA's over two-decade record of satellite observations of ocean biology, aerosols, and clouds. This mission will further the understanding of ocean health by measuring the distribution of phytoplankton and continue systematic records related to air quality and Earth's climate. PACE features advanced instruments including the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) for detailed light measurement and Multi-angle Polarimeters to study light polarization. Positioned as a successor to NASA's previous missions, it will offer insights into the ecosystem and the interactions between the atmosphere and ocean.

NASA's participation in the 2018 ExoMars Rover mission includes providing critical elements to the premier astrobiology instrument on the rover, the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA). By studying organic molecules (the chemical building blocks of life as we know it), MOMA is designed to help answer questions about whether life ever existed on Mars, as well as its potential origin, evolution, and distribution on the Red Planet.

LRO is a robotic mission that set out to map the moon's surface and, after a year of exploration, was extended with a unique set of science objectives. LRO observations have enabled numerous groundbreaking discoveries, creating a new picture of the moon as a dynamic and complex body. These developments have set up a scientific framework through which to challenge and improve our understanding of processes throughout the solar system.

Complementing SPLICE's capabilities is the Hazard Detection Lidar (HDL). This laser-based 3D imaging system meticulously scans surfaces, producing a detailed map of potential landing areas. HDL plays a crucial role in identifying terrain hazards, such as steep inclines and large boulders, ensuring safer landings. Together, SPLICE and HDL not only enhance lunar expeditions but also pave the way for future Mars missions.

MMS investigates how the Sun’s and Earth’s magnetic fields connect and disconnect, explosively transferring energy from one to the other in a process that is important at the Sun, other planets, and everywhere in the universe, known as magnetic reconnection. Reconnection limits the performance of fusion reactors and is the final governor of geospace weather that affects modern technological systems such as telecommunications networks, GPS navigation, and electrical power grids. Four identically instrumented spacecraft measure plasmas, fields, and particles in a near-equatorial orbit that will frequently encounter reconnection in action.

ICESat-2 is part of NASA's Earth Observing System, is a mission for measuring ice sheet mass elevation, sea ice freeboard as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics. The ICESat-2 mission is designed to provide elevation data needed to determine ice sheet mass balance as well as vegetation coverage information. It provides topography and vegetation data around the globe, in addition to the polar-specific coverage over the polar regions.

The Wide-field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) was a two-color, solid hydrogen-cooled, infrared imaging telescope designed to study starburst galaxies and to search for protogalaxies. The science goals of WIRE were to: (1) determine what fraction of the luminosity of the universe at a redshift of >0.5 is due to starburst galaxies; (2) assess how fast and in what ways starburst galaxies evolve; and, (3) examine whether luminous protogalaxies are common at redshifts <3. In order to accomplish these goals, WIRE was to conduct a four month survey at 12 and 25 micrometers over an area of between ten and several hundred square degrees of the sky.

Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer (FAST) is the second of the Small-Class Explorer (SMEX) missions. It investigated the plasma physics of the auroral phenomena which occur around both poles of the Earth. This will be accomplished by taking high data rate snapshots with electric and magnetic fields sensors, and plasma particle instruments, while traversing through the auroral regions.

TRACE was a NASA space telescope designed to investigate the connections between fine-scale magnetic fields and the associated plasma structures on the Sun by providing high resolution images and observation of the solar photosphere and transition region to the corona. A main focus of the TRACE instrument is the fine structure of coronal loops low in the solar atmosphere.

The Small Explorer program (SMEX) is an effort within NASA to fund space exploration missions. Extending the larger Explorer program, it was started in 1989.

The first set of three SMEX missions were launched between 1992 and 1998. The second set of two missions were launched in 1998 and 1999. These missions were managed by the Small Explorer Project Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).