Upcoming Rocket Launches to the Moon, Livestreams & Lunar Events

NASA ULA Vulcan Centaur Maiden Flight (Cert-1) Peregrine Lunar Lander

UPDATED • DELAYED

NET 2023-12-24 06:49 UTC

Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) • Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) • United Launch Alliance (ULA) • Certification-1 Maiden Flight Vulcan Centaur VC2S • Twin Blue Origin BE-4 Engines • Two Northrop Grumman GEM-63XL Graphite-Epoxy Motor (GEM) Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) • Twin Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C-X Engines • Low Earth Orbit (LEO) • Celestis Enterprise Memorial Spaceflight TBC Solar Orbit • NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) • Astrobotic Peregrine Lunar Lander • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Celestis Tranquility Memorial Spaceflight • Moon | Explorer • Press Kit

@ulalaunch ULA's VulcanRocket first certification mission (Cert1) is planned to launch on Sunday, Dec. 24, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

NASA SpaceX IM-1 Nova-C Lunar Lander

UPDATED • DELAYED

NET 2024-01-12 TBC UTC

Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) • Kennedy Space Center (KSC) • Falcon 9 Block 5 TBC Reuseable • TBC Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) • NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) • Intuitive Machines Nova-C Lunar Lander • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) ILO-X • Moon | Explorer • Press Kit

@Int_Machines The successful delivery of our IM-1 mission Nova-C lunar lander to Cape Canaveral, Florida, is a tremendous milestone built on a four-year foundation of technical excellence earned through challenges, failures, and triumphs. In coordination with SpaceX, the liftoff of the IM-1 lunar mission is targeted for a multi-day launch window that opens no earlier than January 12, 2024

NASA Firefly Blue Ghost M1 Lunar Lander to the Moon

Early 2024

Space Launch Complex 2 West (SLC-2W) • Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) • NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) • Italian space agency Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) • Firefly Blue Ghost • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • NASA Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) • Montana State University (MSU) Radiation Tolerant Computer (RadPC-Lunar) • Moon | Explorer

@Firefly_Space Blue Ghost Mission 1 update: Payload #8 has arrived! The team successfully fit-checked Honeybee Robotics's Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER)

NASA SpaceX IM-2 PRIME-1 & Lunar Trailblazer Nova-C Lunar Lander

UPDATED • DELAYED

2024

TBC Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) • Kennedy Space Center (KSC) • NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) • Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) • Falcon 9 Block 5 TBC Reuseable • TBC Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) • AstroForge Brokkr-2 | OrbAstro ORB-50 • NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) • Intuitive Machines Nova-C Lunar Lander | µNova (Micro Nova) Hopper • Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) • California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Lunar Trailblazer • Lunar Outpost Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) • International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) ILO-1 • Moon | Explorer

@NASAKennedy NASA plans to learn more about water on the Moon with the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1). A lander will take it to the lunar South Pole where it will drill into the surface and identify what it finds

NASA SpaceX IM-3 (CP-11) Nova-C Lunar Lander

2024

TBC Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) • Kennedy Space Center (KSC) • NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) • Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) • Falcon 9 Block 5 TBC Reuseable • TBC Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) • NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) | NASA Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) CP-11 • Intuitive Machines Nova-C Lunar Lander • NASA Lunar Vertex (LVx) | Lunar Outpost Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) | Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) [JHUAPL] • Four Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration (CADRE) Lunar Rovers • Moon | Explorer • Reiner Gamma Swirl

@Int_Machines As part of NASA's Artemis lunar exploration efforts we will be investigating lunar swirls as we suspect they may help shield future Artemis astronauts from the intense radiation on the Moon. IM-3 will complete complex lunar operations, including investigating the Reiner Gamma swirl

NASA Artemis II SLS & Crewed Orion Around the Moon

UPDATED • DELAYED • DELAY EXPECTED

November 2024

Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B) • Kennedy Space Center (KSC) • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) • Artemis 2 • Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1 • Four Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 Hydrolox (6:1) Engines • Two Northrop Grumman Five Segment Booster (FSB-1) SLS Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) • Single Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C-3 Hydrolox (5.7:1) Upper Stage • ESA Orion European Service Module • Orion • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Moon | Explorer

@NASA_SLS Artemis II will be the first flight of SLS and NASA Orion spacecraft with crew aboard. During their mission, four astronauts will confirm all of the spacecraft’s systems operate as designed

NASA SpaceX Falcon Heavy PPE & HALO to Lunar Gateway

UPDATED • DELAYED

November 2024

Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) • Kennedy Space Center (KSC) • Falcon Heavy TBC Core • TBC Reusable Side Booster • TBC Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) • TBC Reusable Side Booster • TBC Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) • NASA Artemis Lunar Gateway • Maxar Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) • Northrop Grumman Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Moon | Explorer

@NASA_Gateway Gateway is coming together 🤩 Following structural welding, the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) module will ship from Italy to Gilbert, Arizona, where Northrop Grumman will outfit various components to support future NASA Artemis missions

NASA SpaceX Falcon Heavy Griffin & VIPER Rover to the Lunar South Pole

UPDATED • DELAYED

November 2024

Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) • Kennedy Space Center (KSC) • Falcon Heavy TBC Expendable Core • TBC Reusable Side Booster • TBC Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) • TBC Reusable Side Booster • TBC Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) • NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) • Astrobotic Griffin Lunar Lander • NASA Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Moon | Explorer

@NASAAmes To allow for additional testing of the lunar lander that will deliver our VIPER rover to the lunar South Pole, its arrival to the Moon is now scheduled for 2024

NASA SpaceX Falcon Heavy GLS-1 to Lunar Gateway

UPDATED • DELAYED

December 2024

Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) • Kennedy Space Center (KSC) • Falcon Heavy TBC Core • TBC Reusable Side Booster • TBC Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) • TBC Reusable Side Booster • TBC Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) • Lunar Cargo Dragon XL • NASA Gateway Logistics Services (GLS) • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Moon | Explorer

SpaceX HAKUTO-R M2 Private Lunar Rover

2024

TBC Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) • Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) • Falcon 9 Block 5 TBC Reuseable • TBC Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) • ispace HAKUTO-R • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Moon | Explorer

ispace_inc Assembly, integration, and testing of our HAKUTO-R Mission 2 lunar lander flight model has begun at the JAXA Tsukuba Space Center. M2 will be operated using the same Series 1 model with fine-tuned software design, and early determination of landing requirements and thorough simulation planned. There are no changes to the launch schedule for M2 (scheduled 2024) and M3 (scheduled 2025) at this time

JAXA LUPEX Lunar Rover ISRO Chandrayaan-4 Lunar Lander

2025

Launch Pad 2 (LA-Y2) • Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC) • Japan • Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) • TBC H3-24L | Two LE-9 Engines | Four Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB-3) • Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H3 • Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) Lunar Rover • Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chandrayaan-4 Lunar Lander • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Moon | Explorer

NASA SpaceX Team Draper CP-12 ispace APEX Lunar Lander

UPDATED • DELAYED

2026

Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) • Kennedy Space Center (KSC) • NASA Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) CP-12 • Draper CP-12 • General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) • Karman Systima • ispace APEX 1.0 Lunar Lander • Moon | Explorer • Schrödinger Basin

@DraperLab Draper has been selected by NASA to deliver a suite of three NASA-sponsored science payloads to the Schrödinger basin on the lunar surface, which is on the far side of the Moon—a first for NASA. Our team includes ispace, General Atomics & Karman Systima

NASA Firefly Blue Ghost M2 Lunar Lander to the Moon

2026

Space Launch Complex 2 West (SLC-2W) • Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) • NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) • Firefly Blue Ghost • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Lunar Surface Electromagnetic Experiment at Night (LuSEE-Night) • ESA Lunar Pathfinder | SSTL Lunar Pathfinder • Moon | Explorer

@Firefly_Space Another big lunar win! Firefly was awarded its third NASA CLPS contract to provide radio frequency calibration services from lunar orbit. As part of Blue Ghost Mission 2, these services will allow NASA’s LuSEE-Night radio telescope to further unlock the origins of the universe

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Griffin Lunar Lander to the Lunar South Pole

2026

Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) • Kennedy Space Center (KSC) • Falcon Heavy TBC Expendable Core • TBC Reusable Side Booster • TBC Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) • TBC Reusable Side Booster • TBC Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) • Astrobotic Griffin Lunar Lander | Astrobotic LunaGrid-Lite • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Moon | Explorer

@astrobotic We're heading to the Moon’s South Pole (again) in 2026! 🌔 Today at the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) we announced our purchase: launch services aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for our 3rd upcoming lunar lander mission!

SpaceX Starship AstroLab FLEX Lunar Lander to the Moon

Mid 2026

TBC Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) • Kennedy Space Center (KSC) • Starship Super Heavy TBC • Raptor 2 Engines • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • AstroLab Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) Lunar Rover • Moon | Explorer

@Astrolab_Space Today we announce a launch agreement with SpaceX - Our FLEX rover is headed to the Moon aboard a Starship landing system as soon as mid-2026. Once it completes its mission, FLEX will become the largest and most capable rover to ever travel to the 🌕

JAXA H2A F47 XRISM SLIM (Moon Sniper) Lunar Lander

2023-09-06 23:42 UTC

Launch Pad 1 (LA-Y1) • Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC) • Japan • Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) • Flight 47 JAXA H2A (H-IIA) 202 | Twin Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB-A) | Twin Solid Strap-On Boosters (SSB) • Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H2A (H-IIA) • JAXA X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) | Resolve (Soft X-ray Spectrometer) | Xtend (Soft X-ray Imager) • NASA XRISM • Low Earth Orbit (LEO) • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Moon | Explorer • Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) | Lunar Excursion Vehicle 1 (LEV-1) | SORA-Q Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2) • Press Kit • Press Kit

ISRO Chandrayaan-3 Lunar Landing

2023-08-23 12:33 UTC

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) • Chandrayaan-3 • Moon | Explorer • Press Kit

ISRO LVM3-M4 Chandrayaan-3 Lunar Lander

2023-07-14 09:05 UTC

Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) Second Launch Pad (SLP) • Sriharikota • India • Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) • Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk 3 / LVM3) • Chandrayaan-3 • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Moon | Explorer • Press Kit

HAKUTO-R M1 Private Lunar Landing

ANOMALY

2023-04-25 16:40 UTC

ispace HAKUTO-R Mission 1 • Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) • JAXA Lunar Surface Data Acquisition Mission for Pressurized Rover Exploration (LAMPE) SORA-Q Transformable Lunar Robot • Emirates Lunar Mission (ELM) Rashid Lunar Rover • Lunar Flashlight • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Moon | Explorer • Atlas Crater • Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold) • Landing Anomaly

NASA Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) Spring Meeting

2023-04-24 13:00 UTC

NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative (LSII) • Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) [JHUAPL] Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) • Cislunar Space | Moon | Explorer

NASA Artemis I Uncrewed Orion Splashdown

2022-12-11 17:40 UTC

Moon | Explorer • Lunar Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) • Orion • 25 days • Lockheed Martin Orion Skip Maneuver • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) • Artemis 1 • Realtime Tracking • Press Kit

SpaceX HAKUTO-R M1 Private Lunar Lander

2022-12-11 07:38 UTC

Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) • Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) • Falcon 9 Block 5 B1073.5 Flight 5 Reuseable • Return to Landing Site (RTLS) Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2) • ispace HAKUTO-R Mission 1 • Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) • JAXA Lunar Surface Data Acquisition Mission for Pressurized Rover Exploration (LAMPE) SORA-Q Transformable Lunar Robot • Emirates Lunar Mission (ELM) Rashid Lunar Rover • Lunar Flashlight • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Moon | Explorer • Atlas Crater • Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold) • FCC • Advisory

NASA Artemis I Uncrewed Orion Return Flyby of the Moon

2022-12-05 16:43 UTC

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) • Artemis 1 • Orion • 25 days • Lunar Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) • Moon | Explorer • Realtime Tracking • Press Kit

NASA Artemis I Uncrewed Orion DRO Exit Burn Around the Moon

2022-12-01 21:53 UTC

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) • Artemis 1 • Orion • 25 days • Moon | Explorer • Lunar Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) • Realtime Tracking • Press Kit

NASA Artemis I Uncrewed Orion DRO Insertion Burn Around the Moon

2022-11-25 21:52 UTC

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) • Artemis 1 • Orion • 25 days • Moon | Explorer • Lunar Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) • Realtime Tracking • Press Kit

NASA Artemis I Uncrewed Orion Flyby of the Moon

2022-11-21 12:44 UTC

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) • Artemis 1 • Orion • 25 days • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Moon | Explorer • Lunar Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) • Realtime Tracking • Press Kit

NASA Artemis I SLS & Uncrewed Orion Around the Moon

2022-11-16 06:47 UTC

Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B) • Kennedy Space Center (KSC) • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) • Artemis 1 • Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1 • Four Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 Hydrolox (6:1) Engines • Two Northrop Grumman Five Segment Booster (FSB-1) SLS Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) • Single Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C-3 Hydrolox (5.7:1) Upper Stage • ESA Orion European Service Module • Orion • 25 days • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • BioSentinel • SWRI CubeSat to Study Solar Particles (CuSP) • ASU Luna Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map) • Lunar IceCube • Terran Orbital Lunar InfraRed Imaging (LunIR) • JAXA EQUULEUS • JAXA OMOTENASHI • Lunar Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) • Moon | Explorer • Launch Windows • Realtime Tracking • Press Kit • Advisory

Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipse

2022-11-08 10:17 UTC

NASA Science Live • Total Lunar Eclipse • Totality 85 Minutes • Visible in North & Central America, Western Venezuela & Peru, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand

SpaceX KPLO Danuri Lunar Orbiter

2022-08-04 23:08 UTC

Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) • Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) • Falcon 9 Block 5 B1052.6 Flight 6 Reuseable • Just Read the Instructions (JRTI) Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) • South Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) • South Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) • Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) • Low-Energy Ballistic Lunar Transfer (BLT) / Weak Stability Boundary (WSB) • Selenocentric Lunar Polar Orbit • Moon | Explorer • Advisory

NASA Rocket Lab CAPSTONE Final HyperCurie Burn to the Moon

2022-07-04 06:56 UTC

Photon Upper Stage | HyperCurie Engine • NASA Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) • NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) • NASA Small Spacecraft Technology Program (SSTP) • NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) • Terran Orbital • Advanced Space • Stellar Exploration • Low-Energy Ballistic Lunar Transfer (BLT) • Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) • Moon | Explorer • Press Kit

NASA Rocket Lab CAPSTONE CubeSat to the Moon

2022-06-28 09:55 UTC

Launch Complex 1 Pad B (LC-1B) • Māhia Peninsula New Zealand • Electron Rocket | Nine Rutherford LOX / Kerosene (Kerolox) Electric Pump Fed Engines | Second Stage Single Vacuum Rutherford | Photon Upper Stage | HyperCurie Engine • NASA Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) • NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) • NASA Small Spacecraft Technology Program (SSTP) • NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) • Terran Orbital • Advanced Space • Stellar Exploration • Low-Energy Ballistic Lunar Transfer (BLT) • Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) • Moon | Explorer • Press Kit

Super Flower Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipse

2022-05-16 04:12 UTC

NASA Science Live • Super Blood Moon • Total Lunar Eclipse • Totality 84 Minutes • Visible in Americas, Europe & parts of Africa