Artemis program

The Artemis program is a Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), aimed at returning humans to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo program and building a permanent lunar base. It was formally established via Space Policy Directive-1 in 2017.

The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is a partially reusable crewed spacecraft used by NASA for the Artemis lunar exploration program. It consists of a crew module (CM), a space capsule built by Lockheed Martin, and is paired with a European Service Module (ESM) provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) and manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space. Orion supports a crew of four beyond low Earth orbit for up to 21 days undocked or up to six months when docked. It is equipped with a NASA Docking System port and glass cockpit displays. It is intended to be launched atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with a tower-mounted launch escape system.

The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American two-stage super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle used by NASA. The primary launch vehicle for the Artemis program, SLS is designed to launch the four-person Orion spacecraft for missions to the Moon, on a trans-lunar injection trajectory. The rocket first launched on November 16, 2022, carrying the uncrewed Artemis I mission. Its first crewed launch was for the Artemis II lunar flyby on April 1, 2026, becoming the second launch vehicle to carry humans beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), after NASA's Saturn V of the Apollo program, and the third to ever be planned to fly humans past LEO, after the N1.

planned lunar international space station

rocket launch site at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA

building used by NASA to assemble rockets at the Kennedy Space Center

bilateral accords that are part of NASA's Artemis program

NASA program to send robotic landers and rovers to the Moon

CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) is a lunar orbiter that is testing and verifying the calculated orbital stability planned for the now canceled Lunar Gateway space station. The spacecraft is a 12-unit CubeSat that is also testing a navigation system that is measuring its position relative to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) without relying on ground stations. It was launched on 28 June 2022, arrived in lunar orbit on 14 November 2022, and was scheduled to orbit for six months. On 18 May 2023, it completed its primary mis

proposed lunar lander for the Artemis program

launch pad at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39

component of the Orion spacecraft, designed by the European company Airbus Defence & Space for the Artemis program

spacecraft control center at Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas

planned lunar rover

command and communications center of Lunar Gateway

development of the Human Landing System spacecraft