If the rollout happens on NASA’s current schedule, astronauts could be headed back to the Moon next month.
For the first time in half a century, NASA is poised to send astronauts to the lunar environment. The Artemis 2 mission has faced years of delays, fueling anticipation and uncertainty—but it appears the long wait could end in a matter of weeks.
While speaking at the annual meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group on Tuesday, NASA’s Acting Associate Administrator, Lori Glaze, reportedly said the agency is planning to roll out the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket within about 10 days. Doing so would put Artemis 2 on track to lift off during the earliest possible launch window: February 5 to 11.
NASA has set an April deadline for the launch of Artemis 2, but an early SLS rollout would be a strong indicator that we won’t have to wait that long. As China races to beat the U.S. to a lunar landing, the agency has been under mounting pressure to get this flyby mission off the ground. Its success is an essential stepping stone to Artemis 3, which will put American boots on the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era.
