SLS

American expendable super-heavy lunar rocket

NASA's Space Launch System is the most powerful rocket the agency has flown. Artemis I sent an uncrewed Orion capsule around the Moon and back in late 2022; Artemis II, the first crewed trip to the Moon since Apollo 17, launched in April 2026 and flew around it. Landing astronauts near the Moon's south pole is planned for a later mission.