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

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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 targeting March 6 for the Artemis II crewed mission, which will send four astronauts around the moon, following a successful wet dress rehearsal.
The mission marks the first human flight for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule, aiming to validate systems for deep space exploration ahead of Artemis III.
Although pending work and reviews remain, the successful rehearsal, which resolved previous technical challenges, puts NASA in a strong position for the March launch, with backup windows extending into April.
The Artemis program, despite broad support, faces criticism for the high costs associated with the SLS and Orion systems.

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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.