NASA to launch crewed moon mission, Artemis II, by February 2026

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is planning to launch its crewed mission around the Moon by February 6, 2026. The space agency plans to expedite the launch of the Artemis 2 mega moon rocket by next month.

NASA’s Artemis program plans to once again land humans on the moon again for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. The program also aims to land the first woman on the Moon.

Artemis II will take four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the moon and back to Earth to test the systems before the launch of the Artemis 3 mission in 2028, which will deliver astronauts to the lunar surface.

In a statement issued on January 9, 2026, NASA said, “We are moving closer to Artemis II, with rollout just around the corner.”

The acting associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, Lori Glaze, stated that the crew’s safety remains their top priority as the agency is on track to return humans to the moon.

The Artemis II mission would proceed according to a previously released schedule which stated the window of launch could be as soon as February 5, 2026 and no later than April 2026.

This comes amid the escalating space race between the United States (U.S.) and China. China plans to send humans back to the Moon by 2030 and establish a permanent lunar base, International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), by 2035.