For the first time in half a century, NASA is poised to send astronauts to the lunar environment. The Artemis 2 mission has faced years of delays, fueling anticipation and uncertainty—but it appears the long wait could end in a matter of weeks.
While speaking at the annual meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group on Tuesday, NASA’s Acting Associate Administrator, Lori Glaze, reportedly said the agency is planning to roll out the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket within about 10 days. Doing so would put Artemis 2 on track to lift off during the earliest possible launch window: February 5 to 11.
NASA has set an April deadline for the launch of Artemis 2, but an early SLS rollout would be a strong indicator that we won’t have to wait that long. As China races to beat the U.S. to a lunar landing, the agency has been under mounting pressure to get this flyby mission off the ground. Its success is an essential stepping stone to Artemis 3, which will put American boots on the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era.
What is Artemis 2?
Artemis 2 is the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis program. If all goes according to plan on launch day, SLS will lift off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the Orion spacecraft and its crew of four astronauts to space. The crew consists of mission commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.
After separating from SLS, Orion will perform multiple maneuvers to set itself on a lunar free return trajectory. This will send the astronauts on a 10-day, slingshot-like journey around the Moon, using Earth’s gravity to naturally pull Orion back home.
Although the Artemis 2 astronauts won’t set foot on the Moon, their mission is critical to ensuring that the Artemis 3 crew can. As the first crewed test flight of the Orion capsule, Artemis 2 will validate the capsule for human spaceflight by rigorously testing its life support, propulsion, navigation, and communication systems under the highest stakes possible.
What still needs to happen before launch?
SLS and the Orion spacecraft are fully stacked together inside NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center. Once final tests are complete, the launch vehicle will be rolled out onto the pad at Launch Complex-39A, which should take about 10 hours.
After SLS and Orion are on the launchpad, NASA engineers will run a series of final checks, the last of which will be a wet dress rehearsal. During this test, both the rocket and capsule will be powered on, and SLS will be loaded with propellant. Engineers will then conduct a launch countdown but won’t fire the rocket’s boosters. Instead, they will practice safely draining the propellant from SLS.
Speaking of propellant, SLS runs on liquid hydrogen, a notoriously tricky fuel to manage during loading. Expect hiccups and delays, similar to those seen during preparations for Artemis 1 in 2022.
If all of this goes off without a hitch in 10 days, there’s a good chance Artemis 2 will lift off during the February launch window—but that’s still a big if. Newly installed NASA administrator Jared Isaacman has said the agency “will be very transparent about technical readiness and timelines after rollout.” Now, we just have to wait and see.