Artemis II carried America250 branding on its rocket during the 2026 anniversary year.
NASA technicians applied the semiquincentennial logo to the solid rocket boosters of the Space Launch System vehicle prepared for Artemis II. The mission launched in April 2026 and carried four astronauts on a trip around the Moon.
Artemis II was historically significant because it became the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since the end of the Apollo program in 1972. The flight therefore linked America250’s national commemoration with a major milestone in American space exploration.
Artemis I was an earlier uncrewed test flight, while Artemis III is a later mission in the Artemis program. Apollo 17 was the final crewed lunar-landing mission of the Apollo era, not the mission associated with the America250 rocket branding.