Since the dawn of the 21st century, space science and planetary science have entered a new phase of leapfrog development. The deepening of Earth science theories provides a paradigmatic foundation for planetary research, while breakthroughs in materials science and intelligent computing technologies have converged with aerospace engineering, autonomous navigation, and precision measurement and control technologies, collectively forging a multidimensional technological architecture for extraterrestrial celestial exploration. Confronting global challenges of sustainable development and planetary resource thresholds, the strategic importance of this discipline has become increasingly prominent—it not only bears the scientific mission of expanding humanity’s civilizational frontiers but also undertakes the pragmatic imperative of unlocking extraterrestrial resource utilization and cosmic environmental adaptation.

The Soviet Union successfully launched humanity’s first artificial Earth satellite on October 4, 1957. On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to enter space and complete an Earth orbital flight, heralding a new era of space exploration. The United States has sustained leadership in this field: The Apollo 11 mission pioneered crewed lunar landing verification, the Mars Exploration Program (MEP) systematically revealed Martian environmental evolution patterns, the Artemis Program advances human lunar return efforts, and the Dragonfly Titan probe establishes novel paradigms for in situ organic molecule exploration. Europe has collaboratively developed the Hubble Space Telescope (optical astronomy), executed the Cassini-Huygens mission as the first Saturn orbital spacecraft, and achieved the Rosetta mission’s historic comet orbital insertion and Philae lander deployment. China has mastered the orbiting-landing-return full-process lunar exploration technology through its Chang’e Program, with Tianwen-1 accomplishing Mars orbiting-landing-roving exploration feat during its inaugural mission and Chang’e-6 realizing lunar far-side sample return, while the International Lunar Research Station’s Two-Phase Strategy (2035 Basic Module & 2045 Expanded Complex) and the National Space Science Mid-to-Long Term Development Plan are accelerating the development of a comprehensive space exploration system.

Global scientific forces have coalesced into a multidimensional innovation matrix: Europe’s ExoMars rover has advanced Martian life-detection technologies, Japan’s Hayabusa2 achieved asteroid material sampling, while India’s Chandrayaan-3 demonstrated precision soft-landing at the lunar south pole. Russia continues being deeply involved in the construction of the International Space Station. The lunar development collaboration under the Artemis Accords framework and the multinational participation mechanism of the China-Russia-led International Lunar Research Station collectively signifies humanity’s coordinated approach through shared exploration technologies, interoperable planetary datasets, and collaborative extraterrestrial resource research—a synergistic paradigm addressing fundamental scientific inquiries into life’s origins, planetary evolution, and space habitation.

Contemporary space exploration has entered a phase characterized by exponential escalation in mission complexity and a high-yield period of scientific output. Concurrently, the cosmic immensity presents enduring natural enigmas, technological bottlenecks, and unsolved cosmic puzzles in space endeavors. npj Space Exploration emerges as a cross-disciplinary, transregional academic nexus, focusing on three pivotal domains: planetary science theoretical frontiers, space exploration engineering innovations, and strategic frameworks for extraterrestrial resource utilization—establishing a comprehensive knowledge dissemination continuum from fundamental research to engineering applications. This journal will persistently advance international academic consortium development, serving as an open-innovation platform for humanity’s quest to unravel cosmic mysteries.

Core dimensions

Theoretical Exploration: (1) to systematically interpret fundamental propositions including planetary geodynamics, orbital evolution of solar system bodies, and extraterrestrial material cycling mechanisms; (2) to conduct in-depth analyses of frontier topics, such as the formation of the Earth-Moon system, paleohydrological evolution of Mars, and energy metabolism in icy moon subsurface oceans; and (3) to establish planetary surface crater chronology models, spectral diagnostic databases for regolith materials, and 3D terrain reconstruction algorithm systems, revealing solar wind-magnetosphere interaction mechanisms and spatiotemporal distribution patterns of cosmic ray radiation doses.

Engineering Technology: (1) to prioritize breakthroughs in critical technologies, including thrust-to-weight ratio optimization for heavy-lift launch vehicles, intelligent decision-making in autonomous navigation systems, and energy-mass conversion in in-situ resource utilization systems; (2) to innovate engineering paradigms encompassing spacecraft multi-body coupling design, extreme environment protection on planetary surfaces, and miniaturization of space exploration payloads; and (3) to develop lunar water-ice extraction process simulation platforms, asteroid kinetic impact defense efficacy assessment systems, and standardized protocols for Martian construction material mechanical testing, while advancing major infrastructure projects like lunar-based radio array networks and interplanetary space weather monitoring systems.

Strategic Collaboration: (1) to establish technology interoperability protocols for the Artemis Program, data-sharing networks for the International Lunar Research Station, and coordinated planetary defense early-warning systems; (2) to facilitate the development of integrated innovation ecosystems encompassing scientific discovery-technological verification-engineering application chains; and (3) to launch core special columns including Lunar Base Construction and Mars Habitability Transformation, systematically tracking cutting-edge developments in lunar lava tube construction technologies and experimental Martian carbon dioxide-to-oxygen conversion processes.

Mission and vision

npj Space Exploration establishes a trinity academic dissemination framework integrating theory-technology-engineering to bridge dialogues between planetary science and aerospace engineering communities. Anchored by rigorous peer-review mechanisms and connected through open data-sharing platforms, we collectively map humanity’s cognitive expansion into deep space—enabling every theoretical breakthrough to find engineering validation anchors, while ensuring each technological innovation gains traction from scientific discovery.

When Tsiolkovsky’s philosophical assertion, Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot remain in the cradle forever (1911), resonates through the cosmos, and when Apollo 11’s lunar module dust confirmed Armstrong’s civilization manifesto of one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind, space exploration has evolved into an intrinsic driver of civilizational progress. As the Artemis Program renews crewed lunar landings, Tianwen missions achieve Martian reconnaissance, and Jovian system exploration enters the epoch of icy moon biosignature detection, space and planetary sciences are fundamentally reconstructing humanity’s cognitive framework at unprecedented depth. This journal invites global scholars to co-create holographic atlases of solar system exploration for transforming each groundbreaking discovery into civilization’s gravitational slingshot towards deep space, while forging every technological innovation into Hilbert keys unlocking cosmic enigmas.