Artemis II experienced a delay due to pad-discovered hardware issues and recently emerged from the Vehicle Assembly Building with a helium problem fixed.
U.S. political strategy around Artemis includes using Artemis II, the Artemis Accords, and commercial partnerships as narrative assets if the physical program is stretched or curtailed.
NASA scheduled Artemis II for 2026, Artemis III LEO test for 2027, and Artemis IV landing for early 2028 with a possible Artemis V later in 2028.
Artemis II is planned as a roughly 10-day crewed lunar flyby in 2026 to test Orion’s life support, navigation, and communications in deep space.
Artemis II is a crewed lunar flyby currently expected in early April 2026.
Artemis II moved to at least April 2026 after pad-discovered hardware issues forced a rollback and repair campaign in the Vehicle Assembly Building.
A successful Artemis II crewed flyby would return people to deep space around the Moon for the first time in more than fifty years.
Artemis II remains a roughly 10-day crewed lunar flyby targeting early April 2026.
Onboard Orion, NASA will fly the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System (O2O) to test high-bandwidth laser links with real mission data from the crewed flight.
Data and experience collected during Artemis II are expected to form a foundation for subsequent lunar landing flights and longer-duration crewed expeditions into deep space.
For Artemis II, the Orion Launch Abort System abort capability will be fully active to provide an additional safety layer for the four astronaut crew.
Artemis II will use the flight to confirm the integrated performance of the SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, and associated systems and hardware under operational conditions.
Artemis II will be the first mission to send humans into deep space in more than half a century.
The Near Space Network will provide communications and navigation services for Artemis II during mission stages close to Earth, including while Orion is in low Earth orbit and during early parts of the translunar trajectory.
For Artemis II, data from Orion will be compressed after it reaches Earth with priority given to crew communications and mission-critical telemetry while still transmitting images and video at reduced quality.
NASA's Mission Control Center at the Johnson Space Center in Houston will track the Space Launch System rocket, the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, and the Orion spacecraft as Artemis II progresses.
Flight controllers will operate the Near Space Network and the Deep Space Network in a tightly coordinated fashion throughout Artemis II.
Artemis II will carry four astronauts on a mission that will last about 10 days and travel around the Moon.
Jenni Gibbons is a backup crew member for Artemis II and will serve specifically as Capcom during the mission.
Artemis II is the first crewed mission to the Moon in over 50 years.