NASA has revealed a major update to its Moon landing program with the selection of a new lunar lander. Blue Origin’s Blue Moon has been chosen as the second certified Human Landing System for the Artemis program.

The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket began its 1-mph (1.6-kph) creep from Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building at daybreak. Thousands of space center workers and their families gathered in the predawn chill to witness the long-awaited event,

NASA approaches the next phase of its deep space return program. Artemis 2 will be the first crewed mission to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 and will serve as a critical test for new technologies.

NASA is inviting people around the world to send their names on a historic trip around the Moon. As part of the Artemis II mission, the first crewed lunar journey in over 50 years, the space agency will carry a digital memory card containing millions of submitted names aboard the Orion spacecraft.

NASA announced that the earliest launch window for Artemis II is Feb. 6, 2026, with 12 more possible dates available from February-April. The Artemis mission, a followup to the Apollo program, hopes to have astronauts back on the moon’s surface by 2027.