NASA's Artemis II Mission Could Launch as Soon as February

Despite lingering questions about the timeline of the 2027 Artemis III mission, NASA has made it clear that Artemis II, which uses the Space Launch System (SLS), is on track to launch before April 2026. Indeed, it's actually running ahead of schedule, meaning it could launch its astronauts for a lunar flyby as soon as Feb. 5.

NASA's three Artemis missions are designed to take astronauts back to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. Artemis I launched in 2022, sending the then-unmanned Orion capsule around the Moon to demonstrate the capsule and the Space Launch System's capabilities. Artemis III will take astronauts to the lunar surface sometime in 2027 or beyond, but Artemis II is coming up in just a few months, and NASA is very ready.

Set to take astronauts on a free-return trajectory around and beyond the Moon—actually traveling further ...