Huntsville’s Marshall Center Keeps Artemis II on Track as NASA Prepares for Lunar Return

Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville is playing a central role in preparing NASA’s Artemis II mission, the first crewed lunar flight in decades. At a recent Redstone Arsenal briefing at the Von Braun Center, Marshall associate director Roger Baird outlined the center’s contributions and the campaign’s next steps.

“We’re very excited about the Artemis II target of February 2026,” Baird said, noting that the launch window opens in fewer than eight weeks as of the briefing. He described Marshall’s leadership in the development, integration and operation of the Space Launch System (SLS) — the heavy-lift rocket that will send the crew beyond Earth orbit.

Marshall teams participated in stacking the solid rocket boosters and assembling the launch vehicle, which the crew has nicknamed Integrity. Teams powered up the vehicle, exercised avionics and uploaded flight software to the onboard computers to verify readiness.

Preparing People and Hardware

Baird emphasized that training and simulations are as important as hardware testing. Crews and support teams have been running full mission simulations covering pre-launch, ascent and anomaly responses to ensure personnel are ready for launch day.

“The lessons learned from Artemis I are moving us closer to returning astronauts to the lunar surface,” Baird said, referencing the successful uncrewed Artemis I test flight.

Marshall will perform final integrated vehicle tests inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, followed by a countdown demonstration test and a rollout to Launch Pad 39B early next year for tanking tests and final launch preparations.

Program Funding and Industry Partners

Earlier budget proposals had raised uncertainty about funding beyond Artemis II, but Congress later restored funding through what has been called the “Big Beautiful Bill,” supporting Artemis through at least Artemis V. Artemis III is planned to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Industry partners are advancing human landing systems: SpaceX won the crewed lunar lander contract with Starship and continues flight testing, while Blue Origin is developing Blue Moon and plans a prototype flight next year. During confirmation hearings, NASA nominee Jared Isaacman reiterated support for the congressional budget and said NASA will choose the first company capable of delivering astronauts safely to the lunar surface.

Marshall’s Role Beyond Orbit

Baird said Marshall will continue to be central to the Artemis campaign beyond launch operations: the center will manage industry-led human landing systems that transport crews to and from the lunar surface and coordinate development work that helps prepare for eventual missions to Mars.

Local Notes

The briefing also included brief local headlines about a Madison County district judge nomination, Lockheed Martin’s large missile facility nearing completion in Alabama, an upcoming U.S. Space Command event featuring Pete Hegseth, and Eli Lilly’s $6 billion manufacturing investment in Alabama expected to create 450 jobs.