Artemis program

Artemis program
Artemis program
	An artist's picture of Orion spacecraft arriving the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (right) in lunar orbit.
Purpose/focus	Crewed lunar exploration
Budget	$50 billion (2024; estimate)

The Artemis program is an international human space-flight program.^[1]

As of 2025's second quarter, the next flight is scheduled for no earlier than April 2026. A Space Launch System rocket is to send an Orion spacecraft to orbit the Moon before returning to Earth with a crew.

History

The Artemis program began in December 2017. It was created by bringing together many programs that had been started since 2009 by the United States as it tries to return to the moon.

Flights

Artemis 1 flew in December 2022 without crew.
Artemis 2 is planned for 2026.
Artemis 3 is supposed to happen in [2027].^[2]
Artemis 4
Artemis 5
Artemis 6, earliest possible launch is 2031; An Airlock module is being built as of 2024.^[3]

Other information

It will involve the first woman and thirteenth man to land on the moon. It is led by the United States and planned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It will be the first lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972, which was the final lunar mission of the Apollo program.

As a result of Artemis, the United States hopes that there will always be humans on the moon. One day the program might take humans to Mars and other places in the Solar System.^[4] As well as NASA, the Artemis program work is done by companies and other international organisations like European Space Agency.

Artemis Program Media

Planned missions of Artemis program
Currently operational crewed spacecraft (at least orbital class)
An artist's rendering of the lunar module (left) and space capsule of the Constellation program
An artist's impression of an SLS launch
Artemis I successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center on November 16, 2022.
Orion shortly after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on December 11, 2022.
Models of the first three commercial robotic landers selected for CLPS. From left: Peregrine by Astrobotic Technology, Nova-C by Intuitive Machines, and Z-01 by OrbitBeyond.
The planned evolution of the Space Launch System, the primary launch vehicle for Orion
The SLS for Artemis I on its mobile launcher, getting ready for a wet dress rehearsal ahead of launch
NASA's Orion spacecraft undergoing final tests