NASA announced on Tuesday, the 23rd of September, 2025, that it remains on schedule to send astronauts to orbit the Moon in early 2026, as the United States competes with China to revisit the lunar surface.
The manned mission, named Artemis 2, has faced several delays. It is now planned for April 2026 at the latest, though it could launch as early as February.
“We intend to keep that commitment,” said Lakiesha Hawkins, a top NASA official, during a press briefing Tuesday.
The crew will include three US astronauts and one Canadian, marking the first Moon-orbiting mission in over fifty years.
However, Artemis 2 will not involve a lunar landing. That milestone is reserved for Artemis 3.
Through the Artemis program, NASA aims to return humans to the Moon while China advances a competing project targeting a first crewed mission by 2030 at the latest.
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US President Donald Trump’s second term has pushed NASA to speed up its plans. The Republican leader, who launched the Artemis program in his first term, seeks a rapid return to the Moon and eventual voyages to Mars.
Both initiatives envision establishing bases on the Moon in the long term.
The Trump administration has described this push as a “second space race,” echoing the Cold War-era rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union.
“There is a desire for us to return to the surface of the moon and to be the first to return to the surface of the moon,” Hawkins said, stressing that “NASA’s objective” is “to do so safely.”