NASA is continuing preparations for the Artemis II mission, which will send a crew of four astronauts on a flyby around the Moon. This mission is a critical step before Artemis III, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface.
As of March 2026, NASA has not set a launch date for Artemis II. The mission's timeline has been adjusted to address issues identified during the Artemis I mission and to ensure crew safety. The agency is targeting a launch no earlier than September 2025, but this date is under review and likely to shift further.
The mission will use the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft. The crew, consisting of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will not land on the Moon but will test systems in deep space.
NASA officials emphasize that crew safety is the top priority, and the schedule will be finalized only after all necessary testing and hardware readiness milestones are met. The countdown and specific launch window details will be announced closer to a confirmed launch date.
