Pokémon Go celebrates World Space Week with astronaut Pikachu

Space-themed raids, museum partnerships, and Timed Research headline the celebration

Pikachu's wardrobe keeps expanding in Pokémon Go, and the latest addition arrives just in time for World Space Week. The event introduces Astronaut Pikachu, a new costumed variant that appears in one-star raids, meaning solo players won't need to assemble a raid group to catch it.

A free Timed Research line runs alongside the event, with a Pokémon encounter listed among the rewards. Players have until midnight on October 12th to claim and complete the tasks — a short window that extends a couple of days past the event itself.

The space theme lasts much longer than a week

The celebration goes beyond World Space Week. Pokémon Go has partnered with the European Space Agency, and starting October 4th, six science and space museums across Europe will feature their own dedicated gameplay through April 30th, 2027.

The participating venues are the Science Museum in London, Cité de l'espace in Toulouse, the Deutsches Museum in Nuremberg, Museu de les Ciències in València, Space Expo in Noordwijk, and the Euro Space Center in Transinne.

Visiting any of these museums puts Astronaut Pikachu in one-star raids, and catches there come with a Location Background marking where the Pokémon was found. Timed Research stays available at the museums for the entire duration of the partnership, and some of the encounters from that research also carry a background. From October 4th to 10th, spinning PokéStops at the venues will award themed Field Research as well.

Boosted spawns and ESA locations

Wild spawns near the participating museums get a space-flavored boost during that first week too. Clefairy, Lunatone, Solrock, Elgyem, and Starmie all appear on the boosted list — along with one Pokémon that has always looked like it stepped out of a UFO documentary.

For players who can't make it to a museum, seven ESA sites will host the same Pokémon Go gameplay from October 4th to 10th. These locations won't offer Location Backgrounds, but the lineup includes ESA headquarters in Paris and ECSAT at Harwell in the UK, among others.

Before heading out to add yet another costumed Pikachu to the collection, players should remember to redeem the latest Pokémon Go codes.

Source: the original publisher