KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (AP) — NASA's Artemis II mission edged closer to launch on Jan. 17, 2026, when workers rolled the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B. The stack completed a 4-mile journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building in about 12 hours. The mission aims to send four astronauts on a lunar flyby, the first crewed U.S. trip around the moon since 1972.
The rollout sets up final tests before a possible launch as early as Feb. 5 or 6, 2026. Officials accelerated the timeline from an original target later in the year, with no launches planned beyond April 2026. The mission will test the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft in deep space, building on the uncrewed Artemis I flight in 2022. It will validate systems for radiation protection and life support during a roughly 10-day journey.
Workers used Crawler-Transporter 2 to move the 322-foot-tall stack at less than 1 mph, arriving at 6:42 p.m. EST, NASA reported in a blog post. Next steps include a wet dress rehearsal, where teams will load liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellants and simulate a countdown. Successful tests could clear the way for the February window, which offers four to eight days of launch opportunities, mostly in the evenings.
"The first crewed Artemis flight marks a key step toward long-term return to the Moon and future missions to Mars," NASA stated on its official website.
Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover trained in simulators at Johnson Space Center, NASA confirmed. Glover, in a NASA podcast, said: "Pushing ourselves to explore is just core to who we are. That's a part of being a human." The full crew includes four astronauts, with mission specialists not detailed in recent updates. Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, in the same podcast, compared the mission to Apollo 8 in 1968, which orbited the moon and captured the "Earthrise" photo.
Blackwell-Thompson added: "Artemis will do the same thing [as Apollo]. The world will stop and look up in wonder, in intrigue, and will feel a sense of accomplishment."
Preparations continued despite challenges, including a 2023 government shutdown. Teams mated the Orion spacecraft to the SLS rocket on Oct. 20, 2023. Current operations remain exempt from furloughs, but executives warned that prolonged disruptions could delay progress.
Lori Glaze, NASA's acting associate administrator, told SpaceNews on Jan. 6, 2026: "Right now, we could still make the February launch. We've got to have a lot of things go smoothly and go well, but it's still feasible."
The mission echoes Apollo-era achievements, with Blackwell-Thompson recalling her childhood memories of those launches in the podcast. It serves as a modern equivalent to Apollo 8, fostering global interest. The Artemis program aims to establish sustainable lunar exploration, including a Gateway station and resource use like water ice at the lunar south pole.
Artemis II validates hardware for Artemis III, targeted for 2027 or later, which plans a crewed landing at the lunar south pole. The program positions the moon as a stepping stone for Mars missions, with international partners involved, including Canada.
Lockheed Martin manages the Orion program, with Vice President Kirk Shireman noting the spacecraft's deep space capabilities in company statements. The SLS Block 1 rocket includes a core stage that burns hydrogen, as demonstrated in Artemis I.
Recent updates from NASA and SpaceNews align on the early 2026 push, with the February window viable if tests succeed. Older projections listed a net launch in March 2026, but acceleration shifted it forward by up to two months.
The rollout announcement came on Jan. 9, 2026, followed by the actual move eight days later. Visuals from the event show the stack under floodlights, evoking historical images from Kennedy Space Center.
Artemis II occurs amid a commercial space boom, with contrasts to SpaceX's Crew Dragon missions noted in agency discussions. U.S. government funding risks highlight political factors, but operations pressed on through prior shutdowns.
NASA rates the mission's credibility high, with strong agreement on goals and milestones across sources. The agency urges real-time verification of launch dates via its Artemis II webpage.
If launched in February, Artemis II would mark the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years. The program draws on Apollo's legacy while advancing new technologies for extended human presence beyond Earth orbit.
