Artemis II Rolls to the Pad — Humanity Returns to Deep Space

Artemis II: March 6 Launch

After years of delays and budget battles, it's finally happening. On January 17, NASA's Space Launch System carrying the Orion capsule rolled out to Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center. The Artemis II mission is now targeting March 6, 2026 for launch.

Four astronauts — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen — will spend 10 days on a trajectory around the Moon and back. They won't land, but they'll travel farther from Earth than any human since Gene Cernan left the lunar surface in December 1972.

For the mining industry, Artemis II matters because it validates the transportation system that will eventually deliver the Artemis III crew to the surface. Every milestone in the Artemis program de-risks the timeline for sustained human presence — and sustained human presence is what makes large-scale resource extraction viable.

Interlune Secures NASA Excavator Contract

In the most directly relevant development for lunar mining this month, Interlune announced a NASA contract to develop a lunar excavator optimized for the harsh lunar environment. The contract focuses on minimizing power consumption while maximizing regolith processing throughput — the two key engineering challenges for any lunar mining operation.

Work on the current phase is due to wrap up by mid-2026. If results are positive, Interlune could advance to building flight-ready hardware. Combined with their multispectral camera launching to the Moon in July 2026 and a full resource development mission in 2027, Interlune continues to have the most credible timeline of any lunar mining company.

China's Chang'e 7: The Competition Sharpens

China's Chang'e 7 mission, scheduled for August 2026, is shaping up to be the most ambitious robotic lunar mission ever attempted. The payload includes an orbiter, a lander, a rover, and — remarkably — a six-legged flying probe designed to hop into permanently shadowed craters to search for water ice.

The lander will target Shackleton Crater's illuminated rim — one of the most coveted real estate locations in the solar system. Shackleton's rim receives near-constant sunlight (for solar power) while its permanently shadowed interior likely contains significant water ice deposits.

China has not signed the Artemis Accords. Their separate International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) program, developed with Russia, represents a parallel governance framework. The implications for resource rights at contested sites like Shackleton remain unresolved.

India Picks Its Landing Site

Fresh off the success of Chandrayaan-3 (the first landing near the lunar south pole in 2023), ISRO has identified MM-4 at Mons Mouton as the target for its next lunar mission. The site was selected for its proximity to permanently shadowed regions and potential water ice access.

India's approach is methodical: use Chandrayaan-4 for sample return, then leverage the data for future resource utilization missions. ISRO joins NASA, ESA, China, and Japan in the growing list of agencies with active south pole ambitions.

The South Pole Convergence

Count the entities now targeting the lunar south pole region:

• NASA / Artemis III — Crewed landing, mid-2027
• China / Chang'e 7 — Robotic, August 2026
• India / Chandrayaan-4 — Sample return, TBD
• Interlune — Resource development mission, 2027
• Intuitive Machines / IM-3 — Robotic lander, H2 2026
• Blue Origin / Blue Moon — Cargo lander, 2026-2027
• Australia — Mining rover, 2026

Seven programs, one destination. The south pole's water ice and near-constant solar illumination make it the logical first mining site — but the crowding raises questions about coordination, interference, and rights that the current legal framework isn't equipped to answer.

Our Take

February 2026 feels like a tipping point. The hardware is real, the missions are funded, and the political will exists across multiple nations. The lunar mining industry is transitioning from "possible in theory" to "probable within the decade."

The companies and nations that invest now in extraction technology, regulatory frameworks, and delivery infrastructure will define the cis-lunar economy for the next century. The grey frontier is getting crowded — and that's exactly what progress looks like.