The launch is nearly here

The clock is ticking at Kennedy Space Center for Artemis II, the mission that will send four astronauts around the moon and back in the first crewed lunar flight since 1972.

After a mission management team meeting on Monday, NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya said the mission is ready for launch on Wednesday. At this point, the weather is the main thing standing between NASA and a very expensive, very carefully arranged rocket departure.

NASA says the forecast gives an 80 percent chance of favourable conditions, with cloud cover and possible high winds the main concerns.

When Artemis II is scheduled to lift off

The launch is currently set for 6:24pm local time on Wednesday in Florida, which is 22:24 GMT. A two-hour window will open at Kennedy Space Center for liftoff.

If Wednesday does not work, the window stays open through April 6, with two-hour launch opportunities each day after sunset. NASA says the mission can only launch when the moon, orbital paths, weather and Earth’s rotation all line up safely. Spaceflight remains stubbornly dependent on astronomy and weather, as if those were somehow not enough.

Artemis II has already been delayed twice from its original early 2026 launch window.

  • In early February, the first launch attempt was scrubbed after engineers found a liquid hydrogen leak during a practice countdown.
  • A second attempt in early March was cancelled after a helium flow issue turned up in the rocket’s upper stage.

How to watch

NASA will livestream the launch on YouTube, including coverage of the spacecraft’s journey from the vehicle assembly building to Launch Pad 39.

What the Artemis programme is meant to do

Artemis is NASA’s long-term plan to bring humans back to the moon for the first time since 1972, build a sustained presence there and eventually help set up future missions to Mars.

The programme is split into five missions: Artemis I, II, III, IV and V.

Artemis I was the first uncrewed test flight. It launched on November 16, 2022 and lasted 25 days, successfully sending the Orion spacecraft into Earth’s orbit and giving NASA important data for the next stage.

What Artemis II actually is

Artemis II is the programme’s first human mission. Artemis I carried mannequins and sensors. Artemis II will carry people, which remains NASA’s preferred method when it wants to find out whether a spacecraft works with a crew on board.

It will also be the first time since 1972 that astronauts travel beyond low Earth orbit.

Will it land on the moon?

No. Artemis II will not touch down on the lunar surface.

Instead, the four astronauts will complete a lunar flyby, looping around the far side of the moon before heading home to Earth.

What NASA wants to learn from the mission

At its core, Artemis II is a systems validation mission. NASA will use the flight to test Orion’s life support systems, navigation, communications and overall performance in deep space with a crew aboard.

Those are conditions that cannot be fully recreated on Earth, which is inconvenient but also rather central to the exercise.

If Artemis II goes well, it will clear the way for the missions that follow. NASA says the programme is intended to build toward a sustained human presence beyond Earth.

Why the mission matters beyond the flight itself

NASA’s larger goal is to establish a long-term human presence on and around the moon, especially near the lunar south pole, where water ice is believed to exist.

That is part of the agency’s broader push toward eventual crewed missions to Mars.

There is also a geopolitical layer to all this. Artemis is unfolding as the United States tries to preserve its lead in space exploration while competition grows, especially from China.

The crew aboard Artemis II

The mission will carry four astronauts:

  • Reid Wiseman, 50, commander: A NASA veteran and former International Space Station commander, he is leading the mission and brings test pilot and deep spaceflight experience.
  • Victor Glover, 49, pilot: A U.S. Navy aviator and the first Black astronaut assigned to a lunar mission, he previously flew on SpaceX Crew-1.
  • Christina Koch, 47, mission specialist: She holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman at 328 days and has experience with spacewalks and scientific work.
  • Jeremy Hansen, 50, mission specialist: A former fighter pilot, he will become the first Canadian to travel to the moon and represents the international side of the mission.

What the astronauts will do during the 10-day flight

During the mission, the crew will test the spacecraft, evaluate their own responses to radiation and onboard fires, and carry out a suit pressurisation test.

They will also perform medical and scientific experiments and make detailed observations of the lunar surface during the flyby.

How Artemis differs from Apollo

The name comes from Greek mythology. Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo and the goddess of the moon, which makes the branding neat enough to survive a committee meeting.

The Apollo missions ran from 1961 to 1972. The best-known is Apollo 11, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon on July 20, 1969.

The last Apollo mission was Apollo 17, when Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt left the lunar surface on December 14, 1972, becoming the last people to walk on the moon.

What comes next after Artemis II

Artemis III, 2027

NASA has recently overhauled the Artemis III mission profile. Scheduled for next year, it will no longer land on the moon. Instead, it will send a crew into low Earth orbit to test integrated operations between Orion and one or both commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Artemis IV, early 2028

NASA says Artemis IV will be the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17. The plan is to send the crew into lunar orbit and have two astronauts descend to the lunar south pole.

Artemis V, late 2028

The fifth mission is expected to bring a second crewed lunar landing and begin work on a lunar base.

For now, though, all eyes are on Wednesday and the weather forecast, which has become the final gatekeeper for a mission years in the making.