Artemis I Now Has a Launch Date, Albeit Tentative
NASA is targeting three days at the end of August and early September for the first launch of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft — Artemis I. Officials stressed today the dates are tentative, but it is at least a marker for when the system, years late and billions over budget, might finally make its first flight.

Jim Free, the head of NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, told reporters the first SLS/Orion launch is now targeted for August 29, September 2, or September 5.
Artemis 1 is an uncrewed test flight that can launch at only certain times, roughly two-week windows each month, to ensure it splashes down in daylight and meets other mission criteria. The late August-early September window is August 23-September 6, but some days (August 30-September 2) are precluded because the Orion spacecraft would be eclipsed by the Sun so its solar arrays would not absorb needed solar energy to power its systems.
Other constraints limit which days within a window are available. For example, it takes 48-72 hours between launch attempts to replenish the propellant.
Free stressed the dates are tentative and “not an agency commitment.” That will come only after the Flight Readiness Review about a week before launch. They are “placeholders,” a point he also emphasized later in a tweet noting they still “have a fair bit of work to do” to get the rocket ready.
While we have a fair bit of work to do on #Artemis I ahead of launch, we’ve put placeholders on the range starting on August 29. The team is focused as we continue to learn through first time operations to prepare for the first flight test of @NASA_SLS & @NASA_Orion. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/xgI9i675Sk
— Jim Free (@JimFree) July 20, 2022
Each launch opportunity dictates how long the mission will last.
- On August 29, the 2 hour launch window opens at 8:33 am EDT and landing would be 42 days later on October 10.
- On September 2, the 2 hour launch window opens at 12:48 pm EDT and landing would be 39 days later on October 11.
- On September 5, the 1.5 hour launch window opens at 5:12 pm EDT and landing would be 42 days later on October 17.
NASA completed a Wet Dress Rehearsal of the system in June and rolled the stack back to the Vehicle Assembly Building to finish launch preparations. The plan is to roll back out to the launch pad on August 18 if they continue to target launch on August 29.
Future launch windows this year are:
- September 20-October 4, but not September 29
- October 17-31, but not October 24, 25, 26 or 28
- November 12-27, but not November 20, 21 or 26
- December 9-23, but not December 10, 14, 18 or 23
Artemis is NASA’s program to return humans to the lunar surface for sustainable exploration and utilization. No one will be aboard Artemis I, which will go around the Moon, but not enter orbit or land. Artemis II, planned for 2024, will be the first flight with a crew and like Artemis I not enter orbit or land. The first landing mission is Artemis III, currently expected in 2025.
In 2014, NASA committed to the first SLS/Orion launch in November 2018. That slipped to December 2019-June 2020, then to mid-late 2021, and now into mid-2022. The Government Accountability Office’s most recent review of NASA’s major programs shows development of SLS as 42 months behind schedule and $2.7 billion (42.5 percent) over cost. The Orion program began in 2006, but its baseline cost and schedule have been revised periodically. Using the most recent revision in August 2021, Orion is 13 months behind schedule and $2.5 billion (37.4 percent) over cost.
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