Artemis is NASA’s program to return humans to the Moon and eventually send astronauts to Mars. Named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, the program picks up where the Apollo missions left off more than 50 years ago, this time with plans to build a lasting human presence on and around the Moon rather than make brief visits.
The Core Mission
Artemis sends astronauts on progressively harder missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefit, and as a proving ground for the technologies needed to reach Mars. The short version: land on the Moon, stay there, learn to live and work in deep space, then use that knowledge to go farther.
The program also carries cultural significance. Artemis II will send the first Black astronaut, Victor Glover, and the first woman, Christina Koch, to fly around the Moon. As Glover put it in a 2024 NASA video, “What really means something to me is the inspiration that will come from it, inspiring future generations to reach for the moon, literally.”
How Astronauts Get There
Three major pieces of hardware work together to move crew from Earth to the lunar surface.
The Space Launch System (SLS) is the rocket. It’s a super heavy-lift vehicle that produces 8.8 million pounds of thrust at launch, with future upgrades pushing that to 9.5 million. Two solid rocket boosters provide more than 75% of that thrust during the first two minutes of flight, while four engines on the 212-foot core stage burn super-cooled liquid hydrogen and oxygen for the eight-minute climb to orbit. SLS is currently the only rocket that can send the crew capsule, four astronauts, and large cargo to the Moon on a single launch.
The Orion spacecraft sits on top. It’s the capsule where the crew lives during the multi-day trip between Earth and lunar orbit. Once in orbit around the Moon, astronauts transfer to a separate landing vehicle for the trip down to the surface.
That landing vehicle is the Human Landing System (HLS). NASA awarded SpaceX a contract to develop a version of its Starship for this role. The lander will carry astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface, where an elevator transports crew and cargo between the vehicle and the ground. After surface operations, the lander flies back up to orbit for the crew to reboard Orion and head home. Blue Origin is also developing a competing lander for later missions.
Gateway: A Space Station Around the Moon
One of Artemis’s most ambitious elements is Gateway, the first space station to orbit the Moon. It will follow a unique polar orbit that swings as far as 43,500 miles from the lunar surface at its farthest point and much closer at its nearest, giving astronauts access to a wide range of landing sites below.
Gateway starts with two core modules. The Power and Propulsion Element is a solar electric spacecraft that supplies 60 kilowatts of power, handles communications, and maintains the station’s orbit. The Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) is the first pressurized living space where astronauts manage operations, conduct research, and prepare for trips to the surface. A second habitation module, Lunar I-Hab, will expand crew capacity later.
The station also includes a telecommunications system with dual antennas capable of supporting live video between the lunar surface and the station, plus an airlock for spacewalks and external science experiments. Landing vehicles will dock directly to Gateway for crew transfer, making it a hub for repeated surface missions rather than requiring a full Earth-to-Moon trip every time.
Why the Lunar South Pole
Artemis targets landing sites near the Moon’s south pole, a region no human has ever visited. Ancient rocks and minerals there have been shielded from sunlight for billions of years, potentially preserving a record of the solar system’s early history. Scientists believe these samples could contain clues about how Earth and other planets formed.
The south pole also holds trapped water ice in permanently shadowed craters. That ice matters for two reasons: it’s a scientific record of how water arrived in the inner solar system, and it’s a practical resource. Water can be split into hydrogen and oxygen for breathing air and rocket fuel, which could eventually make long-duration missions far more sustainable than shipping everything from Earth.
The Mission Timeline
Artemis I already flew in late 2022, sending an uncrewed Orion capsule around the Moon and back to test the SLS rocket and heat shield. Artemis II is next, carrying four astronauts on a flyby around the Moon without landing. As of early 2025, the SLS and Orion for that mission were being prepared at Kennedy Space Center with launch opportunities in April.
The architecture beyond that was recently updated. Artemis III, now targeted for 2027, will test systems and operational capabilities in low Earth orbit rather than landing on the surface. The first crewed lunar landing has shifted to Artemis IV, planned for 2028. SpaceX must complete one uncrewed demonstration landing of Starship HLS before it carries astronauts.
An International Effort
Artemis isn’t a solo American project. Fifty-five nations have signed the Artemis Accords, a set of principles governing how countries cooperate in space. The accords cover peaceful use, transparency about national space plans, interoperability of equipment, emergency assistance obligations, sharing of scientific data, and protection of historic sites like the Apollo landing areas. They also address the use of space resources, establishing that harvesting materials like water ice should comply with international treaties and benefit humanity broadly.
European, Japanese, and Canadian space agencies contribute hardware and crew to the program. The Gateway station’s habitation module and telecommunications system come from the European Space Agency, and Canada is building a robotic arm for the station.
A Stepping Stone to Mars
Everything Artemis builds on the Moon serves a second purpose: preparing for human missions to Mars. The Moon is close enough that a rescue or abort is feasible, making it the safest place to test life support systems, surface habitats, resource extraction, and long-duration crew health in a deep-space environment. NASA describes Mars as its “horizon goal” for human exploration, in part because Mars is one of the few places in the solar system where life may have once existed. Gateway, the landing systems, and the operational experience gained from repeated lunar surface missions are all designed to scale up for that eventual journey.