Four astronauts will orbit the Moon in 2026. NASA opens launch to press.

For the first time in over 50 years, humans are about to return to the Moon. Early 2026 will mark the moment: four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canada's Jeremy Hansen—will strap into NASA's Orion spacecraft, ride the Space Launch System rocket skyward from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and spend 10 days looping around the lunar surface before coming home.

Artemis II isn't a landing mission. It's something more foundational: a test run. Before astronauts set foot on the Moon again, NASA needs to know that the systems work, that the hardware holds, that humans can survive the journey in deep space. This flight does exactly that. It's the bridge between decades of Earth orbit and the next chapter of exploration.

NASA is now inviting journalists to witness the launch. If you're media without U.S. citizenship, applications close Sunday, Nov. 30. U.S. journalists have until Monday, Dec. 8. (If you already hold an annual NASA Kennedy badge, you still need to apply.) Space is tight—high interest means limited spots—but accredited journalists will also get access to pre-launch events, including the rollout of the integrated rocket and spacecraft weeks before liftoff.

Applications go through the NASA Kennedy media website. Once approved, you'll receive confirmation and details about what's actually involved in covering a crewed Moon mission launch.

This moment matters beyond the spectacle. Artemis II is the final checkpoint before lunar surface missions resume, and those surface missions are the real objective: establishing sustained human presence on the Moon, then pushing further to Mars. The infrastructure being tested now—the rockets, the spacecraft, the life support systems—will carry humans deeper into space than we've gone since 1972.

The next window for this kind of human deep space exploration is narrowing. Early 2026 will come fast.