NASA says it’s ‘go’ for Artemis II launch on April 1
After completing a flight readiness review and risk assessment, NASA managers say they are confident moving forward with the April 1 Artemis II astronaut test flight around the moon.
NASA announced the astronauts for the upcoming Artemis II mission that aims to send humans back to the moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972.
NASA has set April 1 as the target launch date for the Artemis II mission, sending four astronauts on a 10-day test flight around the moon.
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft are inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA is targeting no earlier than Thursday, March 19 to roll the SLS back out to the launchpad after teams were able to replace an electrical harness faster than expected. The trip will take about 12-hours to make the 4-mile trek to the pad.
The agency announced the new launch date after completing a flight readiness review, or FRR, which included a risk assessment for the four-person crew.
“At the conclusion of the FRR, all the teams polled go to launch and fly Artemis II around the moon pending completion of some of the work before we roll out to the launch pad,” said Dr. Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator of NASA’s Exploration Systems Development.
A full moon is seen shining over NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft, atop the mobile launcher in the early hours of Feb. 1, 2026, at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Image credit: NASA/Sam Lott)
Artemis II will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day journey around the far side of the moon and back. The mission will test spacecraft systems and help pave the way for future lunar exploration.
“An incredible amount of work has gone into preparing for this test flight by thousands of people across our integrated team,” Glaze said.
Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen were part of the FRR, joining remotely from Houston.
If the April 1 launch is delayed because of technical or weather issues, NASA has additional launch opportunities from April 2 through April 6 and again on April 30 before the mission would slip until later this spring.
When will humans return to the moon?
NASA's Artemis II crew Jeremy Hansen (L), Christina Koch, Victor Glover (2nd-R) and Reid Wiseman respond to questions from the media as NASA's Space Launch System rocket is transported from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. on January 17. (Photo Credit: Joe Marino/UPI)
The Artemis II launch follows the uncrewed Artemis I flight, the first launch of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft around the moon in 2022.
A third mission had been slated to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo program more than 50 years ago. However, under the leadership of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, some of those mission parameters have changed.
Under the new plan, Artemis III, targeted for mid-2027, will still include a crewed flight but will focus on demonstrating rendezvous and docking capabilities involving Orion and commercial partners SpaceX and Blue Origin instead of a moon landing.
Artemis IV, planned for 2028, could mark the first human moon landing since Apollo 17 in 1972. NASA also plans to begin building a lunar base by late 2028.
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