Space

Artemis 2: towards the Moon fifty years later (this time with Italia)

Tonight, Artemis 2, the first manned lunar flight in more than half a century, gets underway. Meanwhile, in Washington, Minister Urso signs an agreement with NASA: the first living modules and one of the first astronauts to walk among the Selenian moors will be Italian

by Emilio Cozzi

1 April 2026

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

When Apollo 17 ditched in the Pacific Ocean on 19 December 1972, no one suspected it would be more than fifty years before more humans ventured to the Moon. Weather and solar activity permitting, the wait could end tonight, with the departure of Artemis 2, the second mission of the new US lunar programme, but the first with a crew.

With a launch window of two hours from 00:24, from Ramp 39B of the Kennedy Space Center - where Apollo 10, the 'dress rehearsal' for the historic first Moon landing in 1969, took off - the Space Launch System rocket is scheduled to take off towards the Moon with the Orion capsule in the lead and four astronauts on board: commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch, all from NASA, together with Canadian Jeremy Hansen. They will be the first woman, the first black astronaut and the first non-US astronaut to go beyond Earth orbit.

They will not land on the Moon: Artemis 2 will fly around it, on a journey of about nine days during which Orion will make a figure-of-eight trajectory, using gravity to return automatically even in the event of engine failure. The crew will travel up to about 400,000 kilometres from Earth - potentially breaking the record for the greatest distance travelled by human beings, now held by Apollo 13 - fly over the hidden face at an altitude of about 7400 kilometres, then turn back to land off San Diego.

Il razzo SLS sulla rampa (GETTY IMAGES)

The new architecture of Artemis

No new human footprints will remain on the Moon. The goal is a different and far more ambitious one: to achieve mankind's prolonged and continuous stay on the Selenian moors. Because Artemis is not Apollo: the 1960s programme was a show of strength in the midst of the Cold War. Artemis aims to build a stable, habitable, scientifically and one day economically productive infrastructure on the Moon. This was confirmed on 24 March by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, revolutionising the programme's original architecture and promising a permanent base by 2036, with 30 billion in investment and partners such as Japan, Canada and Italia.

Put another way, this time we are not leaving for a banner, but to inaugurate a construction site.

The Orion capsule reflects this different conception: although it looks like a larger version of the Apollo - of which it shares the conical shape, domed bottom and docking mechanism at the tip - it is fully computerised. Its 9 cubic metres of habitable volume - as opposed to the Apollo's 6 - house life support systems, a shielded shelter against solar radiation and biomedical instruments to measure the effects of deep space on the body. It also has, a first, a toilet, accessible through an opening in the cabin floor.

Among its main objectives, which include several scientific experiments and the release of small satellites from international partners, Artemis 2 will also have to prove for the first time the perfect functioning of each apparatus.

L’equipaggio di Artemis 2

Delays, problems, geopolitics

Far from being the finish line, the mission will be a piece in an admittedly not-so-bumpy progression: Artemis 3, which was supposed to return mankind to the Moon, has been redesignated as a test flight in Earth orbit (starting in 2027).

The moon landing will arrive with Artemis 4, at the beginning of 2028, and will be followed by a second landing by the end of the same year.

Among the experts, the causes of the revision have been known for some time: the first relates to the slowness in the development of Starship, the vehicle for which SpaceX was awarded a $2.89 billion contract by NASA with the aim of obtaining a lander, i.e., the vehicle to land astronauts on the lunar surface. To date, however, Starship has not yet completed an orbital flight, and the transfer of fuel into orbit - which has never been attempted and is essential to refuelling the vehicle - is well behind schedule.

That is why, last November, Blue Origin re-entered the game: Jeff Bezos's company will aim to build a lander of a more traditional design, so as to first gain 'the support of the nation', Isaacman said without panegyrics.

The other reason for the reconfiguration of Artemis is no less relevant: China is aiming for the first moon landing with taikonauts by 2030, and given the successes of tests carried out in recent months, it is likely to accelerate. In 2019 and 2024, with the Chang'e 4 and 6 missions, Beijing succeeded in landing a lander on the hidden side of the Moon and bringing samples back to Earth, feats never achieved by others. "With credible competition from our greatest geopolitical adversary growing every day," Isaacman admitted in a statement, a rarity for a space agency, "we must move faster."

Italy on the Moon

Europe is no spectator. Orion's Service Module - which ensures propulsion, energy and the capsule's vital functions - also incorporates components made in Italia.

Leonardo, in its factory in Nerviano (Milan), produced the photovoltaic panels that make up the four 'wings' of the Service Module - each seven metres long, with a total power output of over 11 kilowatts - and the electronic units for controlling and distributing the energy on board. Thales Alenia Space (a joint venture between Thales 67% and Leonardo 33%) was responsible for the module's structure and critical subsystems, including the micrometeorite protection system and thermal control.

Telespazio, another subsidiary of the Leonardo Group, has been selected by Nasa to contribute to the radio tracking of the mission: through the antennas of the Fucino Space Centre in Abruzzo, it will follow every moment of the capsule's trajectory to the Moon and back.

However, it was yesterday's news, Tuesday 31 March, that enhanced the specific weight of the Italian participation: in Washington, the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso signed a Statement of Intent with the NASA administrator on cooperation for the lunar surface - in the presence of the President of the Italian Space Agency (the Asi), Teodoro Valente.

The agreement formalises the involvement of our industry in the design and construction of lunar habitation modules, communication systems and scientific activities on the surface.

At the heart of the agreement is the Multi-Purpose Habitat, a cylindrical-shaped pressurised module under development in the Turin facilities of Thales Alenia Space, as part of a contract with Asi signed in July 2025. It is designed to guarantee an operational life of ten years and operate in synergy with the other elements of the Artemis architecture.

"The astronauts' home will be Made in Italy," said Urso, recalling a tradition that dates back to the San Marco programme, when Italia, after the Soviet Union and the United States, became the third country in the world to operate a satellite autonomously. On X, Valente was more explicit: 'A long space cooperation, now even deeper between NASA and Asi, will lead to the creation of a base camp on the Moon and an Italian astronaut to walk on the lunar surface'.

Therefore, also for Italia, Artemis 2 will not be a finish line, but a new start.