Artemis is NASA’s campaign to build a sustained human exploration capability around and on the Moon, using Orion, the Space Launch System, commercial lunar landers, surface systems and international partnerships.
What Artemis is designed to do
Artemis is not a single mission. It is a sequence of increasingly complex missions intended to test deep-space transportation, lunar landers, navigation, communications, surface operations and long-duration human exploration. NASA also treats the Moon as a proving ground for capabilities needed for future Mars missions.
The architecture combines government systems such as the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System with commercial landers, spacesuits and logistics, plus contributions from international partners.
Artemis I and Artemis II
Artemis I flew without a crew in 2022, sending Orion around the Moon to test the integrated spacecraft and heat shield. Artemis II launched on April 1, 2026 with four astronauts, flew a nearly 10-day mission around the Moon, and returned to Earth on April 10.
That flight was the first crewed Orion mission and tested human operations, navigation, communications and spacecraft systems in deep space.
The updated Artemis III and Artemis IV sequence
NASA’s current program plan has Artemis III as a 2027 demonstration mission in low Earth orbit. It is intended to test rendezvous and docking between Orion and one or both commercial human landing systems, reducing risk before a crewed lunar landing.
NASA currently plans Artemis IV in 2028 as the mission targeting a crewed landing near the lunar South Pole. Because program schedules and vehicle readiness can change, these dates should be treated as current plans rather than fixed historical facts.
Why the lunar South Pole matters
Permanently shadowed regions near the poles can preserve water ice and other volatiles. Those resources are scientifically valuable records of lunar history and could eventually support exploration if they can be extracted responsibly.
The polar environment is also difficult: low Sun angles, extreme temperatures, rugged terrain and long communications paths make landing and surface operations demanding.
What comes after individual missions
Artemis aims to develop repeatable transportation and surface operations rather than a one-off flag-and-footprints mission. Elements such as Gateway, commercial landers, surface mobility and infrastructure are intended to evolve over multiple flights.
The exact sequence can change as hardware is tested, budgets shift and safety reviews identify new work, so NASA’s current program page is the best source for mission status.
