Overview

• NASA says Artemis II preparations are moving fast enough to support a launch as early as February 2026, up from the official no-later-than April date.
• The crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen—will orbit the Moon to test flight systems, with Koch set to become the first woman to do so.
• Artemis III remains targeted for mid-2027 for a lunar surface return using SpaceX’s Starship lander, which NASA safety advisors caution could take years longer than planned.
• NASA opened a public campaign to fly submitted names aboard Artemis II, expanding outreach as officials frame the program within U.S.–China competition for lunar leadership.
• Administrator Sean Duffy outlined a plan for a permanent lunar ‘village’ by 2035 and a fission reactor on the Moon by 2030, even as a proposed 24% budget cut faces resistance in Congress.