Artemis Programme
Architecture and Goals
The Artemis programme is NASA's flagship human exploration initiative, named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology. Its primary goal is to return humans to the Moon — for the first time since Apollo 17 in December 1972 — establish a sustained human presence in the lunar environment, and use the Moon as a proving ground for eventual crewed missions to Mars.
- Artemis I (November 2022): Uncrewed test flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion capsule, which completed a lunar flyby and returned to Earth — validating the core architecture.
- Artemis II (scheduled April 2026): The first crewed mission — four astronauts on a lunar flyby without landing, the first humans beyond Earth orbit since Apollo 17. Crew: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch (NASA), Jeremy Hansen (CSA).
- Artemis III (revised, mid-2027): Now an Earth-orbit rendezvous and docking test with commercial landers — no Moon landing attempt.
- Artemis IV (early 2028): Targeted first crewed lunar landing, using one of the two commercial landers.
- The SLS (Space Launch System) rocket is the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built, capable of lifting 95 tonnes to low Earth orbit in its Block 1 configuration — comparable to the Saturn V used during Apollo.
- The Orion spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin (crew module) and Airbus Defence and Space (European Service Module), serves as the crew transport vehicle between Earth and lunar orbit.
● Tracked since February 20, 2026 · last seen April 11, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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