Artemis Program

Source: Shangguan Yong, Zheng Peng, Zhang Hua, et al. Research on the Current Status and Technology Development of Cislunar Space Navigation[J]. Telemetry and Remote Control, 2026.

Author: Tianjiang Talk

Source: https://cislunarspace.cn

Overview

The Artemis program is NASA's human spaceflight initiative aimed at landing astronauts on the Moon and establishing a sustainable exploration framework. The early mission phases include:

  • Artemis I: Uncrewed lunar orbit mission
  • Artemis II: First crewed lunar flyby mission
  • Artemis III: Crewed lunar landing mission

In October 2025, SpaceX designed a dedicated lunar Starship for NASA's Artemis program, planning to leverage reusable Starship vehicles to improve the efficiency and safety of lunar landings. The United States targets a crewed lunar landing in 2027.

Relationship with Cislunar Navigation

The Artemis program creates urgent demand for cislunar space navigation technologies. NASA's LNS (Lunar Navigation Satellite) constellation plans and ESA's Moonlight constellation will collaborate to achieve resource sharing and performance complementarity, providing navigation support for the Artemis program's crewed lunar landings and surface operations.

References

  • Shangguan Yong, Zheng Peng, Zhang Hua, et al. Research on the Current Status and Technology Development of Cislunar Space Navigation[J]. Telemetry and Remote Control, 2026.
  • Chen Zeyu, He Yongning, Song Ning, et al. Progress of the U.S. Artemis Human Lunar Landing Program[J]. Space Electronic Technology, 2022, 19(6): 75-84.