Following countless delays plaguing its efforts to return the first astronauts to the lunar surface in over half a century, NASA could finally be bucking the trend.
NASA officials revealed today that the agency’s Artemis 2 mission, which will see a crew of four astronauts travel around the Moon and back, could launch as soon as February 5, roughly two months earlier than previously anticipated.
Back in December, NASA’s administrator at the time Bill Nelson announced that Artemis 2 would be pushed from late 2025 to April 2026, while Artemis 3, the first planned mission to the lunar surface, would slip to mid-2027.
But during a mission update from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, acting deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate Lakiesha Hawkins revealed that the agency may consider taking advantage of launch windows as early as February for Artemis 2.
“As we get closer, we’ll be able to more clearly communicate what those periods could be,” she said, as quoted by the Orlando Sentinel.
While there’s no guarantee of a February lift-off, it’s a breath of fresh air, considering previous delays. Lawmakers are also becoming increasingly concerned that China could beat the United States back to the Moon as the space agency’s Artemis program continues to lag behind.
While NASA is currently aiming no earlier than mid-2027 for its Artemis 3 mission, China has made significant progress towards its own lunar landing mission, aiming to land the first Chinese astronauts on the Moon “before 2030.”
In that tight race, launching Artemis 2 several months earlier could give NASA precious additional time.
“Let me emphasize that this is a test flight, and so the activities that we do together, we are going to learn from them,” Hawkins said during today’s mission update. “While Artemis 1 was a great success, there are new systems and new capabilities that we will be demonstrating on Artemis 2, including the life support systems, the display capabilities, software, etc.”
The news comes after the Trump administration signaled that it’s willing to keep NASA’s space exploration budget largely unchanged for next year, while also making dramatic cuts to the agency’s science directorate.
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