Current Artemis 2 Launch Date Status
NASA and its prime contractor have consistently targeted a late 2025 launch window for Artemis 2, with the most recent public statements reaffirming no earlier than November 2025, pending final readiness reviews and flight readiness reviews at Kennedy Space Center. The launch date for Artemis 2 depends on completion of the integrated vehicle checkouts, countdown demonstrations, and resolution of any anomalies found during testing of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The mission will mark the first crewed flight of the Orion capsule beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo program, sending astronauts on a lunar flyby trajectory that will take them thousands of miles beyond the Moon and back to Earth over a mission duration of roughly ten days. The current planning reflects a schedule that balances hardware readiness with the agency's need to maintain a cadence of milestone reviews, including the Flight Readiness Review and Launch Readiness Review, before the rocket rolls to the pad at Launch Pad 39B. For the latest official target and any schedule shifts, see NASA's Artemis overview page.
The launch provider for Artemis 2 remains the Space Launch System, a heavy-lift rocket developed by Boeing in partnership with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, with launch operations managed from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The SLS Block 1 configuration used for Artemis 2 is designed to deliver approximately 57,000 pounds to translunar injection, providing the energy needed for the crewed Orion spacecraft to reach a distant retrograde lunar orbit and return. The rocket's core stage, powered by four RS-25 engines, and the twin solid rocket boosters have undergone multiple static fire tests and wet dress rehearsals to verify launch readiness. The European Service Module, built by Airbus Defence and Space, provides propulsion, power, thermal control, and life support for Orion during the Artemis 2 mission, and its performance during the uncrewed Artemis I flight in 2022 validated the baseline design for the crewed mission. The current launch date for Artemis 2 is tied to the completion of these vehicle-level tests, the integration of the crew capsule with the service module, and the qualification of all ground systems at Kennedy Space Center.
Artemis 2 Crew, Objectives, and Mission Profile
The Artemis 2 crew is composed of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, making Hansen the first non-American to fly on a lunar mission. The crew assignments reflect NASA's emphasis on international partnership and diversity, with each member bringing specific expertise in piloting, robotics, spacewalking, and systems operations that will be critical during the lunar flyby. The primary objectives of Artemis 2 include demonstrating Orion's life support systems with a crew aboard, validating the spacecraft's performance in deep space, and gathering data on radiation exposure, communications, and navigation beyond the Van Allen belts. The mission profile includes a trans-lunar injection burn, a lunar flyby at a closest approach of several thousand miles, a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon, and a high-speed return to Earth with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The launch date for Artemis 2 is set around the completion of these integrated crew and vehicle readiness milestones, with the exact target date to be finalized after the Flight Readiness Review.
During the Artemis 2 mission, the crew will operate Orion's systems in real time, test docking and undocking procedures with a mock payload adapter, and conduct a series of science and technology demonstrations inside and outside the spacecraft. The mission is designed to validate the performance of the European Service Module's main engine, which will perform critical burns for lunar flyby and return trajectory corrections. The crew will also evaluate Orion's heat shield performance during the high-speed reentry, which will exceed 24,000 miles per hour, providing data essential