NASA's Artemis II mission lifted off successfully on April 1, 2026, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen aboard the Orion spacecraft for the first crewed Moon flyby since Apollo 17. Powered by the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the 10-day test flight will validate critical systems for future lunar landings and Mars missions, looping around the Moon's far side.
The 322-foot SLS blasted off from Launch Pad 39B at 6:35 p.m. EDT (22:35 UTC) under favorable weather, its four RS-25 engines and two solid rocket boosters generating 8.8 million pounds of thrust—surpassing the Saturn V. Boosters separated after two minutes at 150,000 feet, the core stage after eight minutes, and the upper stage's RL10 engine inserted Orion into low-Earth orbit.
The crew—all with prior spaceflight experience—deployed solar arrays shortly after launch and began system checks. Nearly 3.5 hours post-launch, pilot Victor Glover manually flew Orion to re-approach the upper stage within 30 feet, with Jeremy Hansen assisting on visuals, demonstrating six-degree-of-freedom handling. Objectives include life support validation, high-speed laser communications, manual navigation, and health studies like AVATAR during the April 6 flyby.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman hailed it as a 'defining moment,' building on the Artemis vision to return humanity to the Moon. Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya noted: 'Artemis II is a test flight, and the test has just begun.' Named 'Integrity' by the crew, Orion will perform a translunar injection burn on April 2, reaching ~253,000 miles out. The upper stage will release four international CubeSats for science demos before the flyby, where astronauts will photograph the far side.
Using the Moon's gravity for a free-return trajectory, Orion will splash down in the Pacific Ocean around April 10 off California. Following uncrewed Artemis I, this precedes Artemis III in 2027 targeting the lunar South Pole with the first woman and person of color. The ~$100 billion Artemis program aims for sustained lunar presence amid global competition and Mars preparation.
