NASA’s newest moon rocket, standing on the pad in Florida, is an impressive sight. It is also a reminder that big federal projects tend to grow in cost, delay in schedule, and drift in purpose, but now Jared Issacman is making sure that NASA is staying tied to the public interest instead of political symbolism.
The Artemis II mission is now slated to send four astronauts on a roughly ten-day trip around the Moon as early as February, the first crewed lunar flight since 1972. The crew will not orbit or land on the surface. Their job is to loop around, test systems, and come home. That is a legitimate step in a longer program, but Americans should be clear about what this is: a very expensive dress rehearsal for a landing that has already been pushed back to at least 2027. This was caused in no small part by the inept leadership of the Biden administration.
Artemis has already suffered multiple delays. The fly-around was once targeted for 2024, then slid to 2025, and is now on the calendar for 2026. A later landing mission slipped from 2026 to at least 2027. Each delay is explained as a matter of safety and testing. Those concerns are real. The first Artemis flight in 2022 brought the Orion capsule back with a heat shield that burned and cracked more than expected during reentry, forcing a long review and new modeling before anyone was willing to put a crew on board.
What has not changed is the price tag. Government watchdogs estimate each Artemis launch at roughly $4.2 billion. That figure does not include the decades of spending that built the new rocket and capsule. Orion alone has cost more than twenty billion dollars and two decades of development, even as critics inside the space community point to newer commercial vehicles that aim to do more for less. Which is why Jared Issacman was put in charge of NASA to streamline budgetary concerns.
🚨: This isn't an aerial photo taken by a helicopter or drone. This is a high-resolution satellite image taken from orbit, looking down at the Artemis I rocket as it prepares to leave Earth.
— Curiosity (@MAstronomers) January 21, 2026
Technology looking at technology. pic.twitter.com/GSfl7jaS8t
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None of this means the United States should walk away from the Moon. A serious country that wants to lead in space cannot permanently outsource deep space exploration to private companies or foreign governments. But we also do not need a space program that mainly serves as a jobs program for favored districts and a canvas for diversity talking points. NASA has highlighted that Artemis II will carry the first woman and the first person of color on a lunar mission. That is a minor milestone, but it cannot be the main justification for a program that spends tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer money.
On February 6th, the Artemis II mission will launch. But the most interesting part isn't the rocket; it's the path it takes.
— Black Hole (@konstructivizm) January 23, 2026
In orbital mechanics, this is called a Free Return Trajectory.
Navigating to the Moon isn't just about pointing and shooting. The launch window is… pic.twitter.com/zCkaGbdIV1
A conservative approach would start with three questions. Does Artemis meaningfully advance technology and national security in ways the private sector will not do on its own? Does it open the door to sustained exploration and economic activity rather than one-off stunts? And is NASA willing to reform a cost-plus culture that rewards delay instead of results? Right now, the answers are mixed at best. But with Issacman in charge, expect a streamlining of NASA's budget and restoring NASA to what it's supposed to be, which is being a leader for space exploration.
Americans are generous with their awe. We want to be proud when we see a new moon rocket roll out at Kennedy Space Center. That pride is earned, not automatic. Artemis will be worth the price only if it is measured by concrete achievements, tighter accountability, and a clear sense that the mission exists to serve the nation’s long-term interests, not the other way around.
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