NASA has given a new boost to the lunar race it currently maintains with China by announcing that it will try to advance its Artemis 2 mission to February 5, 2026, from the initial date set for April. In this journey, four astronauts - three Americans and one Canadian - will orbit the Moon for about 10 days, without attempting a landing, aboard the spacecraft Orion.
This was announced at a press conference by the Acting Deputy Director of the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, Lakiesha Hawkins. As detailed at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, they are working to "accelerate the preparation of this mission as much as possible," although she emphasized that "the safety of the astronauts" is the priority, so this new schedule could undergo further modifications.
"We have a front-row seat to history: we are returning to the Moon after more than 50 years," noted Hawkins, who provided a specific date for Artemis 2: February 5, 2026, would be the first launch window for the first manned flight of the program with which the US aims to return to the Moon as a stepping stone to reaching Mars.
China, on the other hand, aims to send humans to our satellite before 2030 and also has joint plans with Russia to establish a future lunar colony. Both Americans and Chinese aim to land at the south pole, where abundant water is believed to be present. Although according to NASA's current roadmap, Americans would arrive first, delays in the Artemis program suggest that the Asian giant could advance and plant its flag first.
The first mission of the new US lunar program, Artemis 1, was completed between November and December 2022, consisting of an unmanned flight lasting exactly 25 days, 10 hours, and 53 minutes. The Orion capsule took off from Cape Canaveral aboard the SLS rocket, and although the flight was considered a success, damages occurred at the launch pad, and several anomalies were detected in the spacecraft, such as issues with the thermal shield during reentry into the atmosphere.
These issues have been addressed for the upcoming launch of the Orion capsule, carrying Reid Wiseman as mission commander, pilot Victor Glover, and specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, the latter belonging to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The spacecraft will orbit the Moon at a distance of between 6,500 to 10,000 kilometers before returning to Earth.
This manned mission aims to test and validate the systems of the Orion spacecraft in preparation for the much more complex Artemis 3 mission, which will mark the return of humans to the lunar surface after more than five decades without anyone setting foot on it. According to the current projected timeline, the launch of Artemis 3 will not take place before 2027.
A key component of the Artemis 3 architecture is a lunar version of the Starship being developed by SpaceX. Still in the testing phase, it is called Starship HLS (Human Landing System). Although Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, had hoped to conduct 25 tests in 2025, three consecutive explosions have delayed progress for the Starship spacecraft, which consists of two parts: the Super Heavy rocket and the Starship spacecraft. The Starship is the rocket with which Elon Musk also intends to send missions to Mars.
The tenth flight test, conducted on August 26, was deemed successful by the company, as both the Super Heavy rocket and the StarShip spacecraft met the landing objectives (Super Heavy in the Gulf of Mexico and StarShip in the Indian Ocean). The upper stage deployed eight dummy versions of SpaceX's Starlink satellites, a novelty for a test flight.
Despite this successful SpaceX test being a breath of fresh air after multiple consecutive anomalies, industry experts consider it very optimistic for Artemis 3 to launch in 2027 given the mission's technical complexity, which includes maneuvers as challenging as refueling in orbit.
The astronauts will launch aboard the Orion spacecraft and will dock in orbit with the lunar module Starship HLS, which will have been launched beforehand. This module will land on the Moon with at least two astronauts, while the other crew members will remain in lunar orbit. After completing their assigned tasks on the lunar surface, the module will take off from the Moon and dock with the Orion capsule to begin the return journey to Earth.
Before sending people on the spacecraft to the Moon, NASA and SpaceX will have to conduct a full unmanned system test to demonstrate its viability.
On another note, the US space agency presented on Monday the 10 astronaut candidates from its 2025 class, including six women and four Americans. Most likely, among them are the future protagonists of the missions to the Moon and Mars.
Over the next two years, they will train for space travel. In addition to learning to operate and perform activities aboard the International Space Station (ISS), their training will also focus on preparing for the Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond, as stated by NASA in a press release.
More than 8,000 candidates applied for the selection process, including "scientists, pilots, engineers, and dreamers from all corners of the country," as noted by the Acting NASA Administrator, Sean Duffy.
"This generation of astronaut candidates will mark the beginning of the Golden Age of innovation and exploration as we move towards the Moon and Mars," stated Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The selected candidates are Ben Bailey, 38; Lauren Edgar, 40; Adam Fuhrmann, 35; Cameron Jones, 35; Yuri Kubo, 40; Rebecca Lawler, 38; Anna Menon, 34; Imelda Muller, 34; Erin Overcash, 34; and Katherine Spies, 43.
Some of the chosen candidates have served in the military, while others have worked with NASA or SpaceX on various projects. In fact, one of the candidates is already an astronaut at SpaceX and has flown to space once: Anna Menon was part of the Polaris Dawn private mission in September 2024 alongside billionaire Jared Isaacman and crew members Sarah Gillis and Scott Poteet.
The mission took place aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and lasted five days, during which they achieved several milestones, such as traveling 1,400 kilometers from Earth, the farthest distance traveled by humans since the last Apollo astronauts returned in 1972. However, the most significant achievement was the spacewalks carried out by Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis, the first spacewalks conducted by private astronauts in the history of space exploration.
Isaacman was initially set to become the NASA Administrator, but Donald Trump, who had nominated him for the position, abruptly withdrew his candidacy following his dispute with Elon Musk.
During the time when SpaceX's owner led the Government Efficiency Commission, he pushed for the US to prioritize a manned mission to Mars over the lunar program. However, following the breakdown in relations between Trump and Musk, it seems that the Moon is once again the primary target on NASA's roadmap, threatened by significant budget cuts proposed by the Trump Administration, especially for its scientific program, and by the president's changing views on space policy.
Although the fiscal law approved last July by the US Congress included funding for the future lunar space station Gateway, which was under threat of being canceled for months, and for the launch of Artemis 4 and 5 missions with the US rocket SLS, the future of the lunar program will remain uncertain until Congress approves the final budgets for 2026 in the coming weeks.