Artemis program

Artemis program

Program overview
Country	United States
Organization	NASA and partners: ESA, JAXA, DLR, ASI, ISA and CSA
Purpose	Sustainable crewed lunar exploration
Status	Ongoing
Program history
Cost	US$93+ billion (2012–2025), $53 billion in 2021-2025[1]
Duration	2017; 7 years ago (2017)–present[2]
First flight	Artemis 1 (16 November 2022, 06:47:44 UTC)[3][4]
First crewed flight	Artemis 2 (NET September 2025).[5]
Launch site(s)	Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Kennedy Space Center Starbase
Vehicle information
Crewed vehicle(s)	Orion Starship HLS Lunar Gateway
Launch vehicle(s)	Space Launch System[6] Starship Falcon Heavy[7] Commercial launch vehicles[8]

Part of a series on the
United States space program
NASA U.S. Space Force
Human spaceflight programs Mercury Gemini Apollo Skylab Space Shuttle Shuttle–Mir International Space Station Commercial Crew Constellation Artemis Lunar Gateway
Robotic spaceflight programs CRS Explorers GLS Large Strategic Lunar Orbiter Lunar Precursor Mariner Mars Exploration New Millennium Pioneer Planetary Missions Discovery New Frontiers Solar System Exploration Planetary Observer Ranger Surveyor Vanguard Viking Voyager X-37
NASA Astronaut Corps Mercury Gemini Apollo Space Shuttle
Spaceports Eastern Range Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Kennedy Space Center Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska Western Range Vandenberg Space Force Base
Space launch vehicles Alpha Antares Atlas V Delta IV Heavy Electron Falcon 9 Full Thrust Falcon Heavy LauncherOne Minotaur I III IV V C New Glenn New Shepard Pegasus Space Launch System Starship Vulcan Centaur
National security space United States Space Force National Reconnaissance Office United States Space Command
Civil space Department of Energy national laboratories Federal Aviation Administration Office of Commercial Space Transportation National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service Office of Space Commerce Space Weather Prediction Center Department of State Office of Space Affairs Office of Science and Technology Policy
Commercial space industry Astra Ball Aerospace Bigelow Aerospace Blue Origin Boeing Firefly Aerospace Lockheed Martin Raytheon Rocket Lab Northrop Grumman Sierra Nevada Corporation SpaceX SSL United Launch Alliance Virgin Galactic Virgin Orbit
v t e

The Artemis program is a Moon exploration program that is led by the United States' NASA and was formally established in 2017 via Space Policy Directive 1. The Artemis program is intended to reestablish a human presence on the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. The program's stated long-term goal is to establish a permanent base on the Moon to facilitate human missions to Mars.

Two principal elements of the Artemis program are derived from the now-cancelled Constellation program: the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (as a reincarnation of Ares V). Other elements of the program, such as the Lunar Gateway space station and the Human Landing System, are in development by government space agencies and private spaceflight companies. This collaboration is bound together by the Artemis Accords and governmental contracts.

The Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft and the Human Landing System form the main spaceflight infrastructure for Artemis, and the Lunar Gateway plays a supporting role in human habitation. Supporting infrastructures for Artemis include the Commercial Lunar Payload Services, VIPER rover, development of ground infrastructures, Artemis Base Camp on the Moon, Moon rovers and spacesuits. Some aspects of the program have been criticized, such as the use of near-rectilinear halo orbit and the sustainability of the space program.

Orion's first launch on the Space Launch System was originally set in 2016, but was rescheduled and launched on 16 November 2022 as the Artemis 1 mission, with robots and mannequins aboard. According to plan, the crewed Artemis 2 launch will take place in late 2025, the Artemis 3 crewed lunar landing in 2026, the Artemis 4 docking with the Lunar Gateway in 2028, and future yearly landings on the Moon thereafter.