NASA Just Launched Four Astronauts to the Moon — Here’s What It Means for Space Stocks

TLDR

• NASA’s Artemis II launched April 1, 2026, sending four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the Moon
• The crew will travel roughly 700,000 miles — farther than any humans in history
• Space stocks like Redwire and Rocket Lab rose up to 9% following the launch
• SpaceX is valued at $1.3 trillion and is planning an IPO that could raise up to $75 billion
• NASA is targeting 2028 for Artemis IV, the first Moon landing since 1972

NASA’s Artemis II mission lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1, 2026, just after 6:35 p.m. Eastern time. The launch carried four astronauts — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen — aboard an Orion spacecraft atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket.

The rocket stands roughly 320 feet tall, slightly shorter than SpaceX’s Starship. More than 900,000 people watched the live stream.

The crew is now orbiting Earth while running system tests. If all goes as planned, the spacecraft will head toward the Moon on Thursday and complete a full loop around it before returning home.

The mission is the first crewed Artemis flight and the first time humans have traveled beyond Earth’s orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. The current distance record was set by Apollo 13 in 1970 at roughly 248,000 miles. This crew is expected to travel farther.

The Orion capsule was built by Lockheed Martin and Airbus. Boeing and Northrop Grumman supplied parts for the SLS rocket. Honeywell and L3Harris Technologies also provide systems for the spacecraft.

Redwire, which supplies imaging and navigation technology used on the mission, saw its stock rise 7% on launch day. The S&P 500 gained 0.7% on the same day.

Rocket Lab, AST SpaceMobile, Intuitive Machines, Firefly Aerospace, York Space Systems, and Redwire all rose between 1% and 9%. Together, those six companies have a combined market value of more than $80 billion.

Space Stocks Get a Boost

The launch reminded investors that space activity is increasing. The six smaller space companies have a combined market value over $80 billion, or about 23 times estimated 2026 sales. Their 2026 revenues are expected to roughly double year over year.

SpaceX, which is privately held, is valued at around $1.3 trillion. It is reportedly planning an IPO that could raise up to $75 billion. SpaceX controls more than half of all orbital launches worldwide. Its Starlink service has over 10 million subscribers and more than 10,000 satellites in orbit.

NASA has spent over $30 billion developing the SLS rocket and more than $25 billion on Orion. SpaceX raised an estimated $12 billion over its entire history to build a comparable operation.

What Comes Next for Artemis

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the launch is the opening act for a series of missions aimed at building a permanent Moon base. Artemis III, previously planned as the first lunar landing, now includes an extra test mission before astronauts touch down.

Artemis IV is currently targeted for 2028 and would land astronauts at the Moon’s South Pole — ahead of China’s planned crewed mission to the same region, expected no earlier than 2030.

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