The National Aeronautical Space Administration-NASA has said it hopes to send astronauts on a ten-day trip around the Moon as soon as February 2026.
The US space agency had previously committed to launching no later than the end of April but said it aims to bring the mission forward.
It has been 50 years since any country has flown a crewed lunar mission. NASA will send four astronauts there and back in ten days to test systems.
The Artemis II mission is the second launch of the Artemis programme, whose aim is to land astronauts and eventually establish a long-term presence on the lunar surface.
Lakiesha Hawkins, Nasa's acting deputy associate administrator said it would be an important momment in the human exploration of space.
"The launch window could open as early as the 5th of February, but we want to emphasize that safety is our top priority,” Lakiesha added.
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the Artemis Launch Director, explained that the powerful rocket system built to take the astronauts to the Moon, the Space Launch System (SLS) was "pretty much stacked and ready to go".
All that remained was to complete the crew capsule, called Orion, connected to SLS and to complete ground tests.
The first Artemis mission lasted 25 days and saw the launch of an uncrewed spacecraft in November 2022.
It saw a spacecraft travel around the Moon and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
The mission was overwhelmingly successful, though there were issues with the heatshield as the spacecraft re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.
The Artemis II launch will see four astronauts go on a ten-day round trip to the Moon and back to the Earth.
The astronauts, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, of Nasa and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency, will not land on the Moon, though they will be the first crew to travel beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Jeff Radigan, The lead Artemis II flight director, explained that the crew would be flying further into space than anyone had been before.
The aim of the mission is to test the rocket and spacecraft's systems to lay the ground for a lunar landing.
The astronauts will enter the Orion capsule, which will be their home for the duration of their journey, which sits on top of Space Launch System-SLS.
This will be carried initially into Earth orbit with the help of two solid rocket boosters, which will fall back to Earth two minutes after launch once they have done the heavy lifting.
