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Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum to open new galleries, IMAX theater spring 2025

At Home in Space exhibition
The “At Home in Space” exhibition shows human spaceflight and future possibilities. (Courtesy National Air and Space Museum)
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At Home in Space exhibition
Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight gallery
Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall exhibit
Flight and the Arts Center
Futures in Space gallery
How Things Fly exhibit
Jay I. Kislak World War II in the Air exhibit

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is moving into the final stages of multiyear renovations which includes opening up new galleries and an IMAX theater in spring 2025.

Construction began in 2018 and the museum is currently open to the public amid the staged renovations. On Tuesday, the museum revealed new details about the 12 galleries and exhibits that are expected to open by July 2026 — just in time for its 50th anniversary.

The exhibits and galleries included in the final stage of renovations:

The “Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight” and “Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall” galleries are expected to open in the spring of 2025, according to a news release. The Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater and the museum’s entrance on Jefferson Drive are also scheduled to open on that timeline.

The rest of the exhibits and galleries are expected to open by July 2026.

Construction of the museum is expected to be completed next year. Curators said the new exhibits will feature artifacts that the museum hasn’t displayed before.

The museum was closed to the public in March 2022 for massive renovations before reopening in October of that year with eight new exhibits in which visitors needed to reserve free timed-entry passes.

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Tadiwos Abedje

Tadi Abedje is a freelance digital writer/editor for WTOP. He was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Northern Virginia. Journalism has been his No. 1 passion since he was a kid and he is blessed to be around people, telling their stories and sharing them with the world.

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