NASA announced this Tuesday that it was on the right track to return astronauts to the moon orbit in early 2026. An encouraging perspective … but that it is advisable to take with tweezers, knowing that the Artemis program has chained major disturbances for several years.
As a reminder, the very first mission of the Lunar Reconquest Program Artemis was supposed to take off in 2016. It was finally left until six years later, in 2022, after several major reports linked to technical concerns.
Fortunately, the mission went relatively well – but it was only a preliminary step, where the Orion capsule made a trip around the moon without crew on board. The hardest part was to come, and NASA was quick to get it bitter experience.
Shovel delays
The objective was to continue as quickly as possible with Artemis II, the first inhabited mission of the program. Unfortunately, the calendar has been upset several times. Because of the delay of Artemis I, the launch was first postponed to January 2024, then to September 2025, before being set in spring 2026.
But in the meantime, the major obstacles that have led to these delays have only worsened. For example, new concerns have emerged as to the reliability of the Orion capsule and the huge SLS launcher, which still does not respond to the specifications of the agency despite an explosion of costs and deadlines. We can also cite the new space combinations, which found themselves at the heart of a worrying financial imbroglio.
Add to that the countless delays in the development of the starship, the huge SpaceX launcher which will have to be available to serve as a lunar anterior, and you get a highly problematic situation which forced NASA to reconsider certain parts of the program.
In recent times, the agency has therefore taken care to be extremely cautious in its communication – a discretion which has pushed many observers to predict yet another postponement. But NASA finally decided to reassure everyone at a conference held this Tuesday: despite all the uncertainties, Artemis II remains officially scheduled for early 2026. The agency even targets the very first fortnight in February, with a safety margin that extends until April.
What is encouraging is that for the first time for a long time, this calendar seems to be the subject of a certain consensus interne. Even if the slightest technical anomaly could still rebound the cards, the Artemis program finally seems on the right track.
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A key step in a critical program
This is excellent news for lovers of space, who have been giving up their brake for several years … but also for the Trump administration, which has made Artemis one of its priorities. Indeed, Artemis II is the last step which separates us from the great return of astronauts to the Moon, provided for during the Artemis III mission.
Beyond the scientific dimension, this mission is also of major strategic and political importance. In addition to bringing astronauts to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years, it must initiate the implementation of a lasting presence on our satellitein particular by posing certain logistics bases which will eventually allow the construction of permanent infrastructure … and perhaps one day of a real lunar base. This is in any case the claimed objective of today’s main space powers, starting with China-and the United States obviously does not intend to play the Valley in this ” New space race ».
We therefore meet you in about six months to see if this new Deadline will finally be honored, or if new unforeseen events will still force NASA to put water in its wine.
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