Artemis 2

NASA waves off February launch for Artemis II moon mission; now targeting early March

February 3, 2026 William Harwood

Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, in pre-flight medical quarantine at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, had hope to fly to Florida Tuesday to begin final preparations for launch. Instead, they will remain in Houston and rejoin family, friends and co-workers.

Countdown underway for critical moon rocket fueling test Monday

February 1, 2026 William Harwood

The countdown began Saturday evening and will continue through the start of a simulated launch window opening at 9 p.m. EST Monday. The test started two days late because of predicted arctic weather along Florida’s Space Coast.

Cold weather delays earliest Artemis 2 launch opportunity

January 30, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The agency is looking at Feb. 11 as the earliest date for launching the SpaceX Crew-12 mission. However, it hinges entirely on the status of Artemis 2 and whether or not it has launched.

Astronauts, launch teams practice Artemis 2 countdown

December 21, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The run-through simulated day-of-launch activities, included suit up, ingress into the Orion spacecraft and a countdown that stopped just shy of T-0.

Orion hatch ‘blemish’ delays launch day rehearsal for Artemis 2 astronauts

December 4, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The hatch issue caused NASA to modify its prelaunch preparations within the Vehicle Assembly Building but it continues to target an early February launch of the mission to carry four astronauts on a loop around the Moon.

Orion spacecraft arrives at VAB ahead of stacking for Artemis 2

October 17, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

This is the first spacecraft that will carry humans on a mission to the Moon since 1972. The Artemis 2 mission is scheduled for no earlier than Feb. 5, 2026.

NASA leaders, Artemis contractors argue importance of architecture continuity for returning to the Moon

February 7, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

Representatives from NASA, Boeing and Lockheed Martin argued that the United States shouldn’t skip past the Moon in favor of Mars when it comes to crewed deep space exploration. The discussion came up during a panel at the SpaceCom conference concerning the forthcoming Artemis 2 mission.