Nasa could launch Artemis-II astronauts to the Moon by February 2026

Amid delays, pushbacks, budget cuts and shifting focus away from the Moon towards Mars, Nasa is confident of a lunar landing by 2027.
The American space agency is preparing to make lunar history with Artemis-II, the agency’s first crewed mission around the Moon under the Artemis program. It could potentially launch as soon as February 5, 2026, pending final safety reviews and operational developments, if they are completed on schedule.
While the mission remains officially scheduled for no later than April 2026, Nasa officials revealed during a press briefing at Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston, that a much earlier liftoff is on the cards if preparatory work and hardware validation proceed without major obstacles.
Artemis II is a critical 10-day mission designed to send four astronauts around the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft, marking the first time in more than 50 years that humans will venture into deep space.
The multinational crew is led by Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman and includes pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Their journey will utilise a “free-return” trajectory, sending them beyond the Moon, at distances exceeding 9,200 kilometres from the lunar surface, before bringing them safely back to Earth without entering lunar orbit. The launch will be carried out atop Nasa’s Space Launch System (SLS), a heavy-lift rocket specifically designed for deep space exploration. The Orion capsule and SLS boosters have been steadily advancing in assembly at Kennedy Space Center, where final integration with the crew module is expected in the coming weeks.