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Additional Media

NASA’s Artemis II Crew Launches to the Moon (Official Broadcast)

Artemis II is NASA’s first crewed mission under the Artemis program and will launch from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor […]

Artemis II: ’s First Crewed Lunar Flyby in 50 Years

Meet the Artemis II crew and learn how NASA’s 10-day lunar flyby mission will test deep space systems and pave the way for future Moon landings.

Artemis II

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Lunar flyby
Mission: Human Exploration

Lunar flyby Launch Complex 39B Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA Probability: 80%

Artemis II is the first crewed mission as part of the Artemis program. Artemis II will send a crew of 4 - 3 Americans and 1 Canadian around the moon and return them back to Earth. The mission will test the core systems of NASA's Orion spacecraft including the critical life support system, among other systems which could not be tested during Artemis I due to the lack of crew onboard.

Telemetry

Launch trajectory and telemetry simulations provided by Flight Club - a rocket launch simulator and orbital trajectory visualiser for all things space!

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • Feb. 3, 2026, 7:03 a.m.

Delayed to NET March, to be confirmed pending additional tests.


Cosmic_Penguin • Feb. 21, 2026, 5:35 p.m.

Delayed to NET April due to upper stage helium leak issue.


Cosmic_Penguin • Feb. 6, 2026, 7:13 p.m.

Moved back up to NET March 3, to be confirmed (see also https://x.com/nasaspaceflight/status/2019805496836767830.)


Cosmic_Penguin • March 12, 2026, 7:06 p.m.

Targeting April 1st.


Cosmic_Penguin • Jan. 2, 2026, 10:07 p.m.

Updated approximate launch time.


Space Launch System (SLS)

Family:
Configuration: Block 1

The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American Space Shuttle-derived heavy expendable launch vehicle. It is part of NASA's deep space exploration plans including as the main launch vehicle of the Artemis program. SLS follows the cancellation of the Constellation program, and is to replace the retired Space Shuttle.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    111.0 m
  • Diameter
    8.4 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    8.4 m
  • Launch Mass
    2628.0 T
  • Thrust
    39000.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Space Launch System (SLS)
  • Family
  • Variant
    Block 1
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Space Launch System Block 1
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $2000000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    95000.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

Orion Integrity


Active Human Rated Crew On-board: 4 Crew Capacity: 4 Payload Capacity: 100 kg
Destination: Circumlunar flyby
Serial Number: 003

Orion spacecraft used for Artemis 2.

Orion Details

Crew


Gregory R. Wiseman

Spacecraft Commander - configurations.Country.None - ( NASA )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: Nov. 11, 1975
Age: 50

Victor J. Glover

Pilot - configurations.Country.None - ( NASA )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: April 30, 1976
Age: 49

Jeremy Hansen

Mission Specialist - configurations.Country.None - ( CSA )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: Jan. 27, 1976
Age: 50

Christina Koch

Mission Specialist - configurations.Country.None - ( NASA )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: Jan. 29, 1979
Age: 47

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

(NASA)

Administrator: Jared Isaacman Founded: 1958 Successes: 121 Failures: 20 Pending: 6

Agency Type:

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

INFO WIKI

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To date, only Americans have travelled to the Moon.  On Artemis 2, that will change when the Canadian Space Agency sends one of its four astronauts on the first-ever crewed flight of NASA’s Orion capsule and the Space Launch System (SLS) r…

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Canadian astronaut to fly on first crewed Artemis mission

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) have finalized an agreement regarding Canada’s participation in the Artemis program, which includes flying a Canadian astronaut on a mission around the moon in 2023.

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NASA evaluating schedule, launch date forecasts for Artemis 2

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Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39B


Falcon 9
Go
1 day, 1 hour ago
Starlink Group 17-35
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 25 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Go
1 day, 12 hours ago
Starlink Group 10-58
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Soyuz-5
TBC
1 day, 13 hours ago
Demo Flight
45/1 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Demonstration Flight for Russia's new Soyuz-5 launch vehicle, with a mass simulator on board. Details TBD.


Space Launch System (SLS)
Go
2 days, 2 hours ago
Artemis II
Launch Complex 39B - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Artemis II is the first crewed mission as part of the Artemis program. Artemis II will send a crew of 4 - 3 Americans and 1 Canadian around the moon …


Soyuz 2.1a/Fregat-M
Go
2 days, 22 hours ago
Meridian-M No.21L
43/3 (43L) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Payload identity uncertain. Meridian is a series of communications satellite for military and civilian use.


Zhuque-2E
TBD
4 days ago
Unknown Payload
Launch Area 96A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Details TBD.


Tianlong-3
TBD
4 days ago
Demo Flight
Tianlong-3 Launch Pad - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

First test launch of Space Pioneer’s Tianlong-3 rocket. Reports indicate this launch may carry a batch of satellites for the SpaceSail/G60/Qianfan LE…


Falcon 9
Go
4 days, 3 hours ago
Starlink Group 10-44
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Go
4 days, 13 hours ago
Transporter 16 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Dedicated rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.


Kinetica 2
Go
4 days, 13 hours ago
Qingzhou Spacecraft Demo Flight
Launch Area 140 - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

First test launch and mission of CAS Space’s Kinetica-2 rocket and Qingzhou cargo resupply spacecraft for future cargo transport to the Chinese Tiang…