Artemis II – Back to the Moon!

Artemis II will build on the success of Artemis I and stacking operations have begun in the Vertical Assembly Building (VAB) at The Kennedy Space Center.

Artemis II will be the first crewed flight of the Space Launch System Rocket and will venture around the moon with a crew of four astronauts.

Below are some current images and information about Artemis II. Future updates will be provided as we get closer to a launch date now scheduled for April of 2026!

Enjoy some photos below of Artemis II preparations and the meet the crew for the next flight of Artemis.

Photo Above: Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program lift the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) core stage for the Artemis II mission from horizonal to vertical inside the transfer aisle at the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. The one-of-a kind lifting beam is designed to move the core stage from the transfer aisle to High Bay 2 where it will remain while teams stack the two solid rocket boosters for the SLS core stage. PHOTO Credit and caption: NASA/Adeline Morgan.

Information of the photo above: Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems integrate the SLS (Space Launch System) Moon rocket core stage with the solid rocket boosters onto mobile launcher 1 inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in March 2025. Artemis II is the first crewed test flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign and is another step toward missions on the lunar surface and helping the agency prepare for future human missions to Mars. NASA/Frank Michaux.