BREAKING — ARTEMIS II LAUNCHES TODAY · APRIL 1, 2026 · 6:24 PM EDT · KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
⚡ LIVE
🔴 ARTEMIS II — LAUNCH WINDOW: 6:24 PM EDT TODAY Commander: Reid Wiseman · NASA Pilot: Victor Glover — First person of color beyond LEO Mission Specialist: Christina Koch — First woman beyond LEO Mission Specialist: Jeremy Hansen — First non-US astronaut near the Moon Rocket: Space Launch System (SLS) · 322 feet tall · LC-39B KSC Spacecraft: Orion "Integrity" · 10-day mission · Lunar flyby in 3 days First crewed mission beyond LEO since Apollo 17 — December 1972 · 53 years Countdown started: 4:44 PM EDT Monday March 30 · No technical holds reported Watch on NASA+, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube · Coverage starts 12:50 PM EDT 🔴 ARTEMIS II — LAUNCH WINDOW: 6:24 PM EDT TODAY Commander: Reid Wiseman · NASA Pilot: Victor Glover — First person of color beyond LEO Mission Specialist: Christina Koch — First woman beyond LEO Mission Specialist: Jeremy Hansen — First non-US astronaut near the Moon Rocket: Space Launch System (SLS) · 322 feet tall · LC-39B KSC Spacecraft: Orion "Integrity" · 10-day mission · Lunar flyby in 3 days First crewed mission beyond LEO since Apollo 17 — December 1972 · 53 years Countdown started: 4:44 PM EDT Monday March 30 · No technical holds reported Watch on NASA+, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube · Coverage starts 12:50 PM EDT
NASA
NASA · April 1, 2026 · Kennedy Space Center LC-39B

ARTEMIS
II

ARTEMIS · II · MMXXVI

First humans to the Moon's vicinity since 1972

T-minus to launch window
00 Hours
00 Minutes
00 Seconds
LAUNCH WINDOW OPENS: 6:24 PM EDT · APRIL 1, 2026
🚀 WE ARE GO — ARTEMIS II HAS LAUNCHED
The Last Time
53
Years Since Apollo 17
December 14, 1972 → April 1, 2026 · The wait is over.

Gene Cernan was the last human to stand on the Moon. He said: "We leave as we came, and, God willing, as we shall return." Tonight, we return.

Flight Crew · Mission SLS-2

The Four

Commander
Reid Wiseman
NASA · United States
FIRST: Oldest person to leave low Earth orbit

U.S. Navy captain and veteran astronaut who spent 165 days aboard the ISS in 2014. Now leads the most important crewed mission since Apollo. He has trained this crew for this moment.

Pilot
Victor Glover
NASA · United States
FIRST: Person of color to travel beyond low Earth orbit

Navy test pilot and ISS veteran. His mission today carries the weight of history — a threshold that has never been crossed. The universe doesn't see color. Tonight, neither do we. He goes for everyone.

Mission Specialist
Christina Koch
NASA · United States
FIRST: Woman to travel beyond low Earth orbit

Holder of the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman (328 days). Electrical engineer, Antarctic researcher, astronaut. Tonight she becomes the first woman in human history to leave Earth's gravitational neighborhood.

Mission Specialist
Jeremy Hansen
Canadian Space Agency
FIRST: Non-US citizen to travel to the Moon's vicinity

Royal Canadian Air Force colonel and fighter pilot. The first Canadian — and first non-American — to venture to the Moon's vicinity. Canada's place in history is secured. The border doesn't extend this far.

Mission Parameters

Launch Date April 1, 2026 · LIVE
Launch Window 6:24 PM EDT · 2 hrs
Launch Site LC-39B · KSC · Florida
Rocket SLS Block 1 · 322 ft
Spacecraft Orion "Integrity"
Duration ~10 days
Destination Lunar flyby
Moon Arrival ~3 days post-launch
Splashdown Pacific Ocean · San Diego
Weather 80% GO · KSC

Mission Objectives

01 First crewed flight test of the Orion spacecraft and its deep-space life support and navigation systems.
02 Validate SLS Block 1 performance with crew aboard — stress test the launch vehicle beyond LEO.
03 Lunar flyby — not a landing. Orbit the Moon, observe the far side, return safely. Pave the way for Artemis III.
04 Manual piloting demonstration by Wiseman and Glover — prove human ability to fly Orion without automation.
05 Test abort systems, thermal protection, communication arrays, and crew health monitoring in deep space.
06 Prove the Artemis architecture is human-rated and ready for the Moon landing. This mission IS the gate.
On Record
"The vehicle is ready. The system is ready. The crew is ready."
— Amit Kshatriya · NASA Associate Administrator · April 1, 2026
Watch Live

Where to Watch

NASA+
Free · nasa.gov/nasaplus
Amazon Prime
Prime Video · Artemis channel
YouTube
NASA Official · youtube.com/nasa
Coverage Starts
12:50 PM EDT · April 1