NASA is moving forward with launching Artemis II as soon as April 1, bringing humans back to the moon for the first time in more than fifty years.
Artemis II is the first crewed mission to the moon since the Apollo era ended in 1972. Four astronauts will venture to the moon, fly further than any human has gone before, and return home over the course of ten days.
"We've been tracking it day by day in the preparations leading up to launch, and I can tell you that as of this moment right now, there are no major issues that we're working [on]," Lori Glaze, manager of NASA's Moon to Mars program, said in an event on Tuesday. "We are doing everything according to plan, we're following the plan, we'll be watching the weather very closely over the next week."
When will Artemis II launch?
NASA is planning to launch Artemis II as soon as April 1.
There are several windows to potentially launch based on the trajectory of the Earth and the moon. If Artemis II does not launch on April 1, it can launch on any date through April 6. After that, the next available launch date is April 30.
NASA has not publicly shared any further launch dates beyond April, though officials said they will do so if Artemis II does not launch in April.
How can I keep up with Artemis II?
NASA currently provides a 24/7 livestream of the Artemis II rocket and spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center on YouTube. NASA will also livestream the launch when it happens.
When Artemis II does launch, NASA will also launch a new web program called the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW). That will allow users to keep track of where the Orion spacecraft is in space, how far it is from the Earth, and how far it is from the moon.
What is Artemis II?
Artemis II is NASA's grand return to the moon — the first time humans have been to the moon since the Apollo missions wound down in the 1970s.
A Space Launch System (SLS) will launch the mission from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, propelling the Orion Spacecraft into space. The crew will fly around the moon and back without landing. Artemis II is mostly a test flight to see how well the equipment works and how well astronauts function, given that it's been half a century since the last time NASA went to the moon.
Who are the astronauts going on Artemis II?
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.
The mission will be one of historic firsts: Glover will be the first Black astronaut to reach the moon; Koch, the first woman; and Hansen, a Canadian, the first non-American.
How long will the Artemis II mission last?
NASA estimates the mission will last approximately ten days.
What comes after Artemis II?
Artemis III, of course!
NASA recently overhauled the near-term plans for the Artemis Program, including revamping its next two missions. Artemis III will now fly into low Earth orbit in 2027, with the goal of testing NASA's Orion Spacecraft with the commercial lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin that were commissioned for a future lunar landing.
Artemis IV will be the first time humans land on the moon since 1972, utilizing a commercialized lunar lander. The Artemis V mission will follow, to begin work on permanent lunar infrastructure, giving the United States a continued presence on the moon.
What will happen during the mission?
Artemis II will conduct what’s called a trans-lunar burn, the propulsion of the spacecraft in a specific direction. That will set the Artemis II’s spacecraft, Orion, on the path to fly by the moon and use the moon’s gravity to launch it back to Earth.
Orion will eventually circle the moon one time, including flying across the dark side of the moon. That should result in about 40 minutes of radio silence between Orion and mission control.
Though NASA has flown to the far side of the moon before, Artemis II is expected to break the record for the farthest distance from Earth anyone has ever traveled, currently held by the Apollo 13 mission.
The Artemis II crew aims to observe the moon’s features from a distance. From the astronauts’ perspective, the moon should look about the size of a basketball, according to NASA. Afterward, the Orion is set to return to Earth and splash down off the coast of San Diego.
Artemis II is tasked with five mission priorities from NASA, which can be roughly summarized as ensuring such a mission is possible. More specifically, the mission will outline whether or not the crew, systems and hardware can sustain the trip; ensuring emergency protocols work; and collecting data and information on space travel and the moon itself.
How much money has been spent on Artemis II?
There isn't a hard price tag for the Artemis II mission. A 2024 audit by NASA's Office of Inspector General found that by September 2025, when Artemis II was once slated to launch, "NASA will have spent more than $55 billion on the SLS, Orion, and Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) programs."
A July 2025 report by the Government Accountability Office found that NASA's Artemis spending had gone over budget by about $7 billion, nearly half of the agency's overruns in total.
"We are not going to sit idly by when schedules slip or budgets are exceeded," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said during Tuesday's event. "Expect uncomfortable action if that is what it takes, because the public has invested over $100 billion and has been very patient with respect to America's return to the moon."
Why are we going back to the moon?
Much of the mission boils down to lofty ambitions of science, exploration, and discovery. By bringing astronauts to the moon again, it will allow humans to study and research the moon and space in new ways — and it will also carve a pathway for NASA to eventually send a crew to Mars, as is proposed.
"America will never again give up the moon," Isaacman said Tuesday.
At the same time, the United States is in something of a new-age space race with China, which is also working on sending its own astronauts to the moon. Speculation has arisen that China could, in fact, beat the United States to the moon, though most American supporters say the true race is to build permanent lunar infrastructure, rather than simply returning to the moon.
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