NASA's Artemis II — the first crewed lunar flyby since Apollo — is now targeted to launch no earlier than February 2026. The four-person crew will undertake a roughly 10-day lunar flyby aboard Orion to validate crew operations, imaging systems and an early docking practice.
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Briefing
Artemis II is the first crewed return to lunar vicinity in over five decades, targeting no earlier than Feb 2026 with a four-person crew on a ~10-day mission to validate crew operations, imaging and docking procedures.
The mission’s technical readiness is tied to recent spacecraft integration milestones — notably Orion being stacked on the SLS — which advance flight hardware toward launch preparations. (See recent coverage of Orion being stacked on the SLS).
Artemis II’s schedule and verification work directly affect follow-on plans; ongoing processing issues (including an Orion hatch "blemish") and parallel delays in heavy-lift/lander readiness create near-term program risk for Artemis III and later missions (see reporting on the Orion hatch blemish and Starship delays).
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NASA’s Artemis Returns Americans to the Moon with First Crewed Missions Since Apollo • India Defense News
Orion’s First Crew Completes Countdown Demonstration Test Ahead of Next Year’s Lunar Mission • human-spaceflight.blogspot.com
Artemis II — Which Cameras Will the Astronauts Carry? • talkoftitusville.com
Cameras and Imaging Equipment Planned for NASA’s Artemis II Crew Mission • floridamedianow.com
WATCH: NASA Astronauts of Apollo 8 Moon Mission Deliver Christmas Eve Message In 1968 • spacecoastdaily.com
Apollo 8's Christmas Eve greetings (seen by 1 billion on earth) revisited • rocketcitynow.com
Today In Aviation History: Apollo 8 Orbits the Moon • vintageaviationnews.com
Space.com
• Roger Guillemette