NASA Targets March 6 for Artemis II Moon Mission

Agency official Lori Glaze says the space agency is in ‘very good position’ to launch early next month.

Jack Daleo

Saturday, February 21, 2026 at 09:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

NASA’s Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft stand vertical at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 10. [Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky]

Key Takeaways:

NASA is now targeting March 6 for the Artemis II mission, which will send four astronauts on a journey around the Moon and back.
This target became feasible after a recent wet dress rehearsal (WDR) for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule "went very, very smoothly," resolving issues from an earlier test.
Despite the successful WDR, significant pad work and a multi-day flight readiness review must still be completed before the mission can launch.
Artemis II marks the first crewed flight of SLS and Orion, designed to validate systems and practice critical maneuvers for future lunar landing missions.

See a mistake? Contact us.

After moving off an early February launch window for Artemis II—a four-person sojourn around the moon and back—NASA on Friday said it hopes to launch the mission on March 6.

Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, said that a wet dress rehearsal (WDR) for Artemis II “went very, very smoothly”—smooth enough that it could launch within two weeks.