Watch the Launch

Watch the Launch

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: 90%

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 • April 1, 2026, 10:15 p.m.

Extending hold at T-10 minutes.


Cosmic_Penguin • April 1, 2026, 10:25 p.m.

New T-0.


Cosmic_Penguin • April 1, 2026, 10:49 p.m.

Liftoff.


Cosmic_Penguin • April 2, 2026, 2:01 a.m.

Launch success with Orion separation.


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

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


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
    98.0 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: 50

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: 122 Failures: 20 Pending: 5

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
NASA Spaceflight

Canada to become second nation ever to send people to the Moon

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…

SpaceNews

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.

NASA Spaceflight

NASA evaluating schedule, launch date forecasts for Artemis 2

NASA is currently forecasting that Artemis 2 will be ready to launch no earlier than (NET) September 2023, but similar to attempting to forecast when Artemis 1 will be ready to launch, there is also uncertainty in when Artemis 2 might fly.…

NASA

NASA, National Geographic Partner to Show Inside Artemis Moon Mission

NASA has selected National Geographic to help tell the story of Artemis II, the first Artemis flight that will carry astronauts around the Moon and back to Earth aboard the agency’s Orion spacecraft.

NASA

NASA Outlines Challenges, Progress for Artemis Moon Missions

In the first major Artemis update provided under the Biden-Harris Administration, NASA leadership discussed Tuesday the challenges and progress of America’s lunar exploration plans and reiterated a long-term commitment to exploring the Moo…

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39B


Starship
Go
2 days, 7 hours ago
Starlink Group 31-1 (Starship Flight 14)
Orbital Launch Pad 2 - SpaceX Starbase, TX, USA

14th test flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle. 3rd flight of Starship V3 and the first Starship flight to deploy satellites (a group of S…


Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 5 hours ago
USSF-385
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A classified mission for the United States Space Force. It is possibly a batch of classified LEO satellites based on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite bu…


Electron
Success
4 days, 19 hours ago
Owlright, Owlright, Owlright (StriX Launch 13)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.


Long March 6A
Success
6 days, 11 hours ago
Yaogan 40 Group 04
Launch Complex 9A - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

3 Chinese reconnaissance satellites of unknown purposes, officially reported as for "Electromagnetic environment probing".


Long March 8A
Success
1 week ago
SatNet LEO Group 26
Commercial LC-1 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

A batch of 9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group.…


Kinetica 1
Success
1 week, 3 days ago
9 satellites
Launch Area 130 - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Share-ride of 9 commercial Earth observation and technology demonstration satellites to SSO, details TBD.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 3 days ago
Starlink Group 15-27
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 2D
Success
1 week, 4 days ago
PIESAT-2 13-16
Launch Complex 9 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

4 X-band synthetic-aperture radar Earth observation satellites for the Chinese Earth observation satellite company PIESAT.


Electron
Success
1 week, 4 days ago
Owl By The Dozen (StriX Launch 12)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.


Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M
Success
1 week, 6 days ago
Glonass-K1 No. 20 (?)
43/3 (43L) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Satellite serial number and Cosmos designation not confirmed. Glonass-K are the third generation of satellite design for GLONASS satellite n…