How many Artemis missions are there?

Artemis is NASA's program to return crews to the lunar surface. Rather than looking for a fixed number, it's better to count the missions that have already flown or that have a published target and date from the agency, and today there are four. The first, Artemis I, launched from pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 16, 2022, with no one on board: it was the first flight test of the program's rocket, spacecraft, and ground systems. The second, Artemis II, launched on April 1, 2026, with four crew members on a trip of about ten days.

Artemis III is planned for 2027, but it will not descend to the Moon: it will be a low Earth orbit mission to test the systems needed for landings, including rendezvous and docking with one or both commercial landers. The first crewed descent falls to Artemis IV, whose launch NASA places in early 2028, with two astronauts who will spend close to a week near the lunar south pole.

The list has changed and could change again. In February 2026, NASA reorganized the program: Artemis III, originally conceived as the landing mission, became that low-orbit test flight, and the first descent moved to Artemis IV. The agency justified the change by the development and production risk ahead. The numbering stayed the same, but the content of each number changed completely.

There's no set end point either. NASA's stated intention is to carry out at least one landing per year starting with Artemis IV, so the series doesn't stop at the fourth mission. The later ones, however, still have no date or target in the official sources consulted, so any count beyond Artemis IV should be read as a forecast, with the date attached.