Artemis II begins: A new era of human space exploration

NASA’s Artemis II mission roared to life as the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center at 6:35 p.m. EDT. Atop the powerful rocket sat the Orion spacecraft, carrying astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen on humanity’s next journey into deep space.

Moments before liftoff, the twin solid rocket boosters ignited, providing over 75% of the thrust needed to propel the 5.75-million-pound vehicle skyward. Together with the four RS-25 engines already firing at full power, the rocket generated an immense 8.8 million pounds of thrust. As SLS climbed into the sky, the umbilical connections—responsible for supplying power, fuel, and data on the ground—detached and retracted, marking the transition to a fully autonomous flight.

The Artemis II mission, lasting roughly ten days, will send astronauts around the Moon in the first crewed flight of NASA’s Artemis program. This milestone mission is designed to validate critical systems and pave the way for future lunar exploration, scientific discovery, and ultimately, human missions to Mars.

During ascent, several key milestones occur in rapid succession, guiding the rocket toward space:

Tower cleared and roll/pitch manoeuvre begins (T+00:00:07)
Supersonic speed reached (T+00:00:56)
Maximum dynamic pressure (T+00:01:12)
Solid rocket boosters separate (T+00:02:09)
Launch abort system jettisoned (T+00:03:13)
Core stage main engine cutoff (T+00:08:02)
Core stage separation from the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (T+00:08:14)

For real-time updates and behind-the-scenes insights throughout the mission, you can follow NASA’s official live blog:
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/04/01/live-artemis-ii-launch-day-updates/