Is the Artemis II launch today? Time and how to watch live

Four astronauts are set to take part in the historic Artemis II mission, a 685,000-mile historic journey to the moon.

Published on: Apr 1, 2026, 12:49:14 IST

By Sumanti Sen

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Four astronauts are set to take part in a 685,000-mile historic journey to the moon. The Artemis II rocket launch is scheduled for Wednesday evening, April 1. It will mark the first time humans have flown beyond low-Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 mission that landed on the moon in 1972.

NASA's Artemis II lunar flyby mission, with the next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion crew capsule, sits on Pad 39B ahead of the launch of the Artemis II mission at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., March 31, 2026. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid) (REUTERS)

The mission involves a lunar flyby in which the astronauts are set to facilitate the testing of critical spacecraft systems. Aboard the Orion spacecraft, named ‘Integrity,’ will be three Americans and one Canadian – Reid Wiseman, Victor J. Glover Jr., Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen.

“Artemis II builds on the success of the uncrewed Artemis I in 2022, and will demonstrate a broad range of capabilities needed on deep space missions. The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew aboard the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft,” NASA’s website says.

Artemis II launch date and time

The 32-story Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is scheduled to ignite Wednesday evening, April 1. NASA has established a primary launch window for the mission Wednesday evening, with backup opportunities available through the first six days of April.

NASA's onsite countdown clock starts ticking down at 4:44 pm EDT to a targeted launch time of 6:24 pm EDT. on Wednesday, April 1. The SLS rocket is stationed at the launch pad following the arrival of the crew on Friday.

How to watch the Artemis II launch live

Viewers can watch the official NASA broadcast both on YouTube and NASA+ (NASA’s free, no-subscription streaming service). The YouTube coverage starts on Wednesday at 7:45 a.m. EDT with tanking operations. It runs continuously through the 10-day mission.

The NASA+ coverage, however, is a shorter and more curated broadcast. It starts at 12:50 p.m. EDT with crew suit-up and signing off after Orion’s solar array wings deploy post-launch.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sumanti Sen
Sumanti Sen covers everything that’s happening in the US, from politics to entertainment, but her expertise lies in covering crime news. She has comprehensively chronicled the Idaho student murders, the Laken Riley and Iryna Zarutska cases, and the killing of Charlie Kirk, among other incidents. Over the years, she has interviewed several victims/families of victims of crimes seeking justice. She digs up stories that might otherwise remain unheard, and does her bit to ensure that victims and survivors’ voices are heard. Sumanti’s many years of experience also include interviews with Hamas attack survivors and mental health experts, among others. Her coverage of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and interviews with survivors of the tragedy, coupled with her other works including the Titan submersible coverage, earned her the Digi Journo of the Quarter award during her first year at Hindustan Times. Sumanti actively tracks missing person cases in the United States, and peruses Reddit and other social media platforms to bring to light cases that frequently elude public attention. She has extensively covered the disappearances of Nancy Guthrie, Thomas Medlin, Beau Mann, and Sudiksha Konanki, among others. When not at work, you will either find her with her novels, or with her beloved rescue pooches.Read More

Stay updated with US News covering politics, crime, weather, local events, and sports highlights. Get the latest on Donald Trump and American politics along with Horoscope 2026.