Artemis IV

Artemis IV will rely on a prior support flight to place a Human Landing System (HLS) lunar lander—either SpaceX's Starship HLS or Blue Origin's Blue Moon—into lunar orbit. After the lander is in orbit, the SLS will send an Orion spacecraft carrying the astronaut crew to rendezvous with the lander. The spacecraft could meet in an elliptical polar orbit with coplanar lines of apsides and dock. This orbit has a perilune of , minimizing the number and duration of burns the HLS must perform to reach the lunar surface, and an apolune of to accommodate the limited propulsion of Orion's European Service Module, which cannot depart from a low lunar orbit. Once docked, the crew will transfer to the lander, descend to the lunar surface, conduct extravehicular activities, and then return to Orion in lunar orbit for the journey back to Earth. == Elements ==

Space Launch System The Space Launch System (SLS) is a super-heavy-lift launcher used to launch the Orion spacecraft from Earth to a trans-lunar orbit. This mission's core stage will use RS-25 engines E2044, E2050, E2051, and E2063. This will potentially be the first mission to use the standardized configuration of the SLS, with a Centaur V upper stage in place of the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) flown on the previous SLS launches. However, Artemis IV may instead use the ICPS if NASA elects to not use an ICPS on the Artemis III mission to test the HLS landers in Earth orbit. Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Orion is the crew transport vehicle used by all Artemis missions. It comprises the Orion Crew Module and the European Service Module and will transport the crew from Earth to Lunar orbit, dock to the lander, and return them to Earth. The European Service Module (ESM) for Artemis IV, ESM-4, was delivered to NASA from the Airbus facility in Bremen, Germany, in December 2025. Human Landing System Artemis IV will use one of NASA's two Human Landing System lunar landers: SpaceX's Starship HLS or Blue Origin's Blue Moon. The choice of lander depends on the results of the low-Earth orbit rendezvous and docking tests conducted during Artemis III in mid-2027, as well as each company's readiness to deliver the spacecraft for the mission. == See also ==