How to watch the next Artemis launch live

1. When is the next Artemis launch?

Artemis II launches on the SLS rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft from Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A crewed flight uses a precise launch window and a deliberately cautious go/no-go, so the exact time firms up close to launch — and slips are common; on a first crewed mission of this scale, patience is part of the deal. The live schedule shows the current target in your local timezone with a countdown once a time is confirmed. That waiting, honestly, is part of the magic — you're watching a whole team decide, carefully, that it's safe to send people to the Moon.

2. Where to watch it live

An Artemis flight gets the most complete coverage of any mission NASA flies:

• NASA+ and the NASA YouTube channel — the main broadcast, with hours of pre-launch coverage: crew wake-up, suit-up, the walkout, and the drive to the pad, plus continuous commentary through ascent.
• Official mission commentary continues past liftoff through core-stage separation and the burn that sends Orion toward the Moon.

On launch day we surface the official webcast — and embed the player when available — on the flight's page here. For a crewed Moon mission it's worth joining an hour or more before liftoff to catch the walkout and the final go/no-go polls. If any of the jargon on the broadcast trips you up, our launch glossary unpacks the terms in plain language.

3. Who's flying

The assigned Artemis II crew is four astronauts, and this trip is a loop around the Moon — not a landing:

• Reid Wiseman (NASA) — commander.
• Victor Glover (NASA) — pilot.
• Christina Koch (NASA) — mission specialist.
• Jeremy Hansen (CSA) — mission specialist, and the first Canadian to fly to the Moon.

Their roughly ten-day flight follows a free-return path that swings around the far side of the Moon and lets lunar gravity carry Orion back toward Earth. They do not land — Artemis II is the crewed shakedown that proves out the rocket, the spacecraft, and the life-support systems, clearing the way for the later Artemis III landing.

4. What makes an Artemis launch different

SLS is the most powerful rocket NASA has flown, and its launch has a few moments no other mission does:

• Twin solid rocket boosters ignite at T-0 — and once they're lit, they can't be throttled or shut off. That's why the go/no-go before ignition matters so much.
• Core-stage cutoff and separation come minutes in, as the big orange stage falls away.
• The translunar-injection burn is the one to watch — the push that sends Orion out of Earth orbit and onto its path toward the Moon.

Because there's a crew aboard, the flight team weighs weather and systems far more conservatively than on a cargo launch — reading the sky not just over the pad but along the whole ascent. That extra caution is exactly why a crewed scrub, frustrating as it feels, is a good sign.

5. Seeing it from the Space Coast

An Artemis liftoff is a once-in-a-generation sight — the brightest, loudest launch most people will ever witness. The best free public spots ring the water north of the Cape: around Titusville, up on the Max Brewer Bridge, out at Playalinda Beach, and down at Cocoa Beach. Expect the biggest crowds the Space Coast ever sees, so arrive very early, bring water, and plan for slow traffic getting out. Our in-person viewing guide covers the spots, timing, and what to pack, and you can check whether the launch is visible from your location.