First crewed lunar flyby since 1972
Targeted 2028
(named Integrity)
(SLS Block 1)
Blue Origin Blue Moon
(China not included)
For 54 years, the Moon waited. After Apollo 17 splashed down in December 1972, no human being left Earth orbit again. The Space Shuttle stayed close to home. The International Space Station orbits at just 400 kilometres up — barely past the edge of the atmosphere on cosmic scales. The Moon, 384,000 kilometres away, was left to robots.
That changed on 1 April 2026, when four astronauts climbed aboard a 98-metre rocket, rode 8.8 million pounds of thrust into orbit, and kept going. Ten days later, after flying around the Moon and watching Earth rise over the lunar limb, they splashed down in the Pacific. The era of human deep space exploration had restarted.
Artemis II was a flyby, not a landing. But the landing is coming — in 2028, NASA plans to put boots on the lunar south pole for the first time in history. After that, the goal is not to leave. This is the complete guide to how we get there.
The Artemis Mission Timeline
Artemis is a phased programme, with each mission building on the last. The pace has accelerated significantly since Artemis II — the SLS rocket for Artemis III arrived at Kennedy Space Center in April 2026, less than three weeks after Artemis II landed.
Artemis I — Uncrewed Test Flight ✅
The first flight of the Space Launch System and Orion capsule, uncrewed. Orion flew a 25-day mission around the Moon and returned, surviving re-entry at lunar return speeds of around 38,000 km/h. All systems performed nominally. NASA declared Orion flight-ready for crew.
Artemis II — First Crewed Lunar Flyby ✅
Four astronauts — Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen — flew around the Moon aboard Orion (named Integrity). A 10-day mission covering approximately 2.25 million kilometres. First humans beyond low Earth orbit since 1972. First woman and first Canadian on a lunar trajectory. Splashed down in the Pacific on 10 April 2026.
Artemis III — Crewed Lander Test in Earth Orbit
Not a lunar landing. Artemis III will launch Orion with crew to Earth orbit, where they will rendezvous and dock with SpaceX's Starship HLS and Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander — both launched separately. The mission tests docking procedures, pressure suit operations (AxEMU suits), and crew transfer between vehicles. Essential rehearsal for Artemis IV. SLS core stage already at Kennedy Space Center as of April 2026.
Artemis IV — First Crewed Lunar Landing Since 1972 🎯
The headline mission. Orion launches with crew, a separately-launched lander (Starship HLS or Blue Moon) is waiting near the Moon, and astronauts descend to the lunar south pole. At least two EVAs planned — the first humans to walk on the Moon since Gene Cernan stepped off the surface in December 1972. Landing site will be the south polar region, where water ice has been confirmed.
Artemis V — Second Crewed Landing
Planned for the same year as Artemis IV — an accelerated tempo that reflects the urgency NASA feels given China's 2029–2030 crewed landing target. Artemis V and subsequent missions will incrementally expand surface operations and begin delivery of Project Ignition infrastructure.
Project Ignition — Up to 30 Robotic Missions
Running in parallel with the crewed Artemis missions, Project Ignition will send up to 30 robotic landers to the lunar south pole beginning in 2027. These missions deliver power systems, communications relays, habitat modules, and science equipment ahead of a permanent crewed outpost. Target: operational surface base by 2030.
Sustained Presence — Regular Crewed Missions
From 2030 onwards, NASA envisions annual or more frequent crewed missions to a growing south pole outpost, using the Moon as a testbed for life support, propulsion, and in-situ resource utilisation ahead of eventual Mars missions.
The Hardware: SLS, Orion, and the Landers
Artemis uses a combination of NASA-developed and commercially built vehicles — a deliberate architecture that spreads risk, drives down cost over time, and leverages the capabilities of the private space industry that has grown enormously since Apollo.
| Height | 98 metres (Block 1 configuration) |
| Thrust at liftoff | 8.8 million pounds (39 MN) |
| Trans-lunar payload | 27,000 kg (Block 1) |
| Core stage engines | 4 × RS-25 (shuttle heritage) |
| Boosters | 2 × five-segment solid rocket boosters |
| Flights to date | 2 (Artemis I & II) |
| Crew capacity | 4 astronauts |
| Mission duration | Up to 21 days |
| Heat shield | AVCOAT ablative — rated for 2,760°C re-entry |
| Service module | Built by ESA (European Service Module) |
| Artemis II name | Integrity |
| Status | Flight proven — 2 successful missions |
| Role | Crew descent to and ascent from lunar surface |
| Launch vehicle | Starship (launches separately from Orion/SLS) |
| Unique requirement | Propellant transfer in orbit (not yet demonstrated) |
| Selected | April 2021 — sole HLS provider initially |
| Competition added | October 2025 (Blue Origin added following delays) |
| Status (mid-2026) | Awaiting propellant transfer demo + design cert review |
| Role | Alternative crewed lunar lander |
| Current variant | Mark 1.5 (in development, based on Blue Moon Mark 1) |
| Why added | Competition introduced after Starship HLS delays |
| Status (mid-2026) | Preliminary development underway |
The two-lander competition is a significant shift from NASA's original approach. In 2021, NASA controversially selected only SpaceX's Starship as its human landing system, triggering a protest from Blue Origin. In October 2025, facing mounting concerns about Starship HLS timelines, NASA opened the competition again — essentially creating a backup option if Starship is not ready for Artemis IV. Both landers are now expected to be tested in Earth orbit during Artemis III in late 2027.
Project Ignition: The Permanent Moon Base Plan
In April 2026 — within days of Artemis II splashing down — NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced the cancellation of the Lunar Gateway space station and its replacement with something more ambitious: Project Ignition.
"We're not going to the Moon to plant a flag and leave. We're going to stay."
— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, April 2026Gateway was a planned small space station in lunar orbit that astronauts would dock with before descending to the surface. It had been in development for years, and ESA had already delivered the HALO habitation module — a €1 billion piece of hardware — when the cancellation was announced. Three European astronaut seats that had been tied to Gateway missions are now uncertain.
Project Ignition replaces Gateway with a fundamentally different vision: get to the surface faster, build infrastructure there, and establish a permanent presence before China does. The plan involves up to 30 robotic lander missions beginning in 2027, delivering power systems, communications, habitat components, and science equipment to the south pole in advance of crews. The target is an operational surface outpost by 2030.
Why cancelled Gateway?
Speed and CompetitionGateway added complexity and time to every crewed mission — astronauts had to rendezvous with the station before descending, adding days and mission risk. Project Ignition puts infrastructure on the surface directly, cutting the mission profile. The pivot was also explicitly driven by the race against China's 2035 ILRS target.
30 robotic missions
Infrastructure FirstStarting 2027, robotic landers will deliver power systems, communications arrays, science packages, and eventually habitat modules to the south pole ahead of crews. This mirrors how the International Space Station was built — robots and cargo first, then long-duration human habitation.
ESA's HALO module
The Cost of CancellationESA had already delivered its HALO habitation module to NASA — built by Thales Alenia Space in Italy — before Gateway was cancelled. Three European astronaut seats that had been allocated to Gateway missions are now unconfirmed. ESA chief Josef Aschbacher said he must 'negotiate' with NASA over their future. This remains an open diplomatic issue within the Artemis partnership.
$20 billion
Project Ignition BudgetThe scale of Project Ignition reflects the political urgency behind Artemis. $20 billion committed to lunar surface infrastructure over the rest of the decade — the largest NASA budget commitment to lunar exploration since Apollo.
The Artemis Accords: 56 Nations, One Framework
Artemis is not just a NASA programme — it is a geopolitical coalition. The Artemis Accords, first established in 2020, are a set of principles governing responsible behaviour in space. By mid-2026, 56 countries have signed them, making the Accords the largest multilateral space agreement ever assembled.
| Transparency | Signatories commit to open publication of their space plans and activities |
| Interoperability | Systems and infrastructure should be designed to work with other nations' equipment |
| Safety zones | Operations should establish zones around active missions to prevent interference |
| Resource rights | Extraction of space resources is permissible under the Outer Space Treaty framework |
| Deconfliction | Nations should notify others if their activities could cause interference |
| China's position | Not a signatory. Has described the Accords as a US tool for space hegemony |
The Accords are significant not as binding law — they are not a treaty — but as a statement of which nations are operating in the American-led framework and which are not. China and Russia are notably absent. The 56 signatories form the diplomatic backing for US lunar activities, and in practice represent the partner pool from which future mission participants will be drawn.
The resource rights section is particularly consequential. By affirming that space resource extraction is permissible, the Accords establish a US-backed legal interpretation that water ice mined from lunar craters can be owned and used by the entity that extracts it. China, which also intends to use lunar water ice, has not accepted this framework.
The Artemis II Crew: Who Flew Around the Moon
Reid Wiseman
Commander — US Navy, NASA AstronautMission commander. A US Navy test pilot and NASA astronaut who previously served as commander of ISS Expedition 41. Selected as Artemis II commander in 2023. Led the crew through the first crewed deep space mission in 54 years.
Victor Glover
Pilot — First African American Beyond LEOPilot of Orion. US Navy aviator and NASA astronaut. The first African American to travel beyond low Earth orbit in history. Previously flew to the ISS on SpaceX Crew Dragon in 2020.
Christina Koch
Mission Specialist — First Woman on Lunar TrajectoryThe first woman to travel on a lunar trajectory. Koch holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman (328 days on the ISS in 2019–2020). Selected as the first woman to fly toward the Moon.
Jeremy Hansen
Mission Specialist — First Non-American on Lunar MissionCanadian Space Agency astronaut. The first non-American to fly on a lunar trajectory — a historic milestone for international space collaboration. Selected as Canada's contribution to the Artemis partnership.
What the US Wants From the Moon
Artemis has layered objectives — some scientific, some economic, some strategically geopolitical. Understanding all of them is essential to understanding why the programme exists and why it is accelerating.
Return to scientific leadership in space exploration. NASA has not landed humans on the Moon since 1972. The scientific questions that remain — the history of the inner Solar System, the origin of Earth's water, the geology of the south polar region — require human explorers, not just robots. Artemis will allow astronauts to conduct field geology, collect diverse samples, and deploy long-duration surface instruments.
Develop and prove deep space technology for Mars. The Moon is 3 days away; Mars is up to 9 months away. Artemis is explicitly framed by NASA as the proving ground for life support, propulsion, in-situ resource utilisation, and crew health technologies that will eventually be needed for a Mars mission. Every lunar surface operation is a Mars analogue test.
Secure water ice access at the south pole. Water ice can be electrolysed into hydrogen and oxygen — rocket propellant. A Moon base that can produce its own propellant becomes a refuelling depot for missions to Mars and beyond, transforming the economics of deep space exploration. The south pole deposits are the key enabler for everything that follows.
Maintain strategic leadership in space against China. This is the least-discussed but most politically powerful driver. NASA's accelerated timeline — two crewed landings in 2028, Project Ignition at $20 billion, the cancellation of Gateway to save time — all reflect a direct response to China's stated 2029–2030 crewed landing target. Administrator Isaacman has explicitly referenced the China factor when explaining Programme Ignition's scope and urgency.
How Does Artemis Compare to China's Programme?
As of June 2026, the US has a meaningful but not decisive lead. Artemis II has flown; China's equivalent crewed mission (a lunar flyby) has not yet been scheduled. NASA is targeting its first crewed landing approximately one to two years ahead of China. But the gap is not as wide as the historical Apollo era — and on long-term infrastructure, China has more specific commitments.
| Crewed Moon flyby | US ✅ Complete (Artemis II, April 2026) — China: not yet flown |
| First crewed landing | US targets 2028 (Artemis IV) — China targets 2029–2030 |
| Permanent base target | US: 2030 (Project Ignition) — China: 2035 (ILRS Phase 1) |
| Landing site | Both targeting lunar south pole |
| Power plans | US: solar primary — China/Russia: nuclear reactor |
| International backing | US: 56 Artemis Accords signatories — China: 17 ILRS countries |
| Key risk | US: Starship HLS certification — China: Long March 10 development |
The most important uncertainty for the US timeline is Starship HLS. As of mid-2026, SpaceX has not yet completed an orbital propellant transfer demonstration — a technically demanding process of moving liquid oxygen and methane between spacecraft in orbit, which is required before Starship can be certified to carry crew to the Moon. The design certification review has also not been completed. If Starship HLS slips further, Blue Moon's readiness becomes critical to keeping Artemis IV in 2028.
What to Watch For
The next 18 months are critical. The Starship HLS propellant transfer demonstration — likely in 2026 — will tell us whether the primary lunar lander is on track for Artemis III in late 2027. Blue Origin's progress on Blue Moon Mark 1.5 will tell us how robust the backup option is. And Project Ignition's first robotic missions, starting 2027, will show whether the surface infrastructure programme is real or aspirational.
For China's side of the race, Chang'e 7 launching in August 2026 is the most important near-term event — it will characterise the lunar south pole in detail and directly identify the site where China plans to build its base. The two programmes are converging on the same patch of lunar real estate, and neither has clear right of way.
WatchTheStars will be covering every mission and milestone as they happen. See the China Moon Program deep-dive and the Moon Race hub page for the full picture of both sides of the race.
--- **Sources and Further Reading:** - [Artemis II — Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_II) - [Artemis III — Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_III) - [Artemis program — Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_program) - [Artemis II mission page — NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/) - [NASA welcomes Artemis II crew back to Earth — NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-welcomes-record-setting-artemis-ii-moonfarers-back-to-earth/) - [Starship HLS — Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_HLS) - [Human Landing Systems — NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/reference/human-landing-systems-2/) - [NASA OIG HLS Contracts Report — NASA](https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/final-report-ig-26-004-nasas-management-of-the-human-landing-system-contracts.pdf) - [What's next for NASA after Artemis II — Space.com](https://www.space.com/space-exploration/artemis/artemis-3-and-beyond-whats-next-for-nasa-after-artemis-2-moon-success) - [US–China space race accelerates — Christian Science Monitor](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2026/0409/artemis-II-china-space-race)