Artemis · the return to the Moon

Artemis IV

The mission that begins assembling Gateway, the small station NASA and its partners will place in orbit around the Moon.

Countdown to the current target

Fri, 30 Jun 2028 00:00:00 GMT

No earlier than 2028 (NASA target — expected to move). This clock moves when NASA moves the date.

Target window	No earlier than 2028 (TBD)
Launch vehicle	SLS Block 1B (Orion)
New this flight	First delivery to lunar Gateway
Crew	Not yet assigned
Lander	Starship HLS

Artemis IV is the flight where the campaign shifts from visiting the Moon to building around it. It is planned to deliver the first pressurized module to Gateway, the small international station that will orbit the Moon and serve as a staging point for surface trips.

It also debuts the upgraded SLS Block 1B, a taller rocket with a more capable upper stage that lets a single launch carry both crew and cargo toward the Moon. As with every mission here, the date is a NASA target and the crew has not been named; this page carries only what has actually been announced.

Dates and status from Launch Library 2; mission facts from NASA’s Artemis pages. Nothing here is asserted as confirmed until NASA announces it.

The rest of Artemis

Artemis III

The first crewed landing on the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 — and the first ever at the lunar south pole, where the permanently shadowed craters hold water ice.

The Artemis program

Where the whole campaign fits — from Apollo’s footprints to a base at the pole.