NASA's Space Launch System rocket lifted off carrying the Orion spacecraft and a four-person crew on the Artemis II mission.
After another last-minute technical problem, mission controllers gave the go-ahead and the rocket launched at 1.33am on Thursday, Greek time, following repeated postponements.
The mission is intended to take the astronauts around the Moon during a flight lasting approximately ten days.
The crew
Commander Reid Wiseman is an experienced NASA astronaut who has spent 165 days aboard the International Space Station and is known for his leadership.
Pilot Victor Glover, previously a pilot on SpaceX's Crew-1 mission, is set to become the first African American astronaut to travel towards the Moon.
Mission specialist Christina Koch holds the record for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman and is set to become the first woman to make a lunar journey.
Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen represents the Canadian Space Agency and is set to become the first non-American to travel to the Moon's vicinity.
Together, the crew represents a new era of exploration, including the first woman, first African American and first Canadian on such a journey.
It is the first crewed visit to the Moon's neighbourhood since NASA's final Apollo lunar mission in 1972.
Repeated changes to the programme
Under earlier Artemis plans, Artemis II had been scheduled to launch in late 2024.
Its crew would perform preparations intended to make Artemis III, then planned for 2025, simpler and easier.
Under that earlier timetable, Artemis III would land astronauts on the Moon, beginning a sustained human return after half a century.
Repeated obstacles and technical problems delayed Artemis II. NASA subsequently announced a launch for February, but a further SLS fuel-supply problem required the rocket to return to its hangar for checks.
The report describes another programme redesign under which Artemis III would no longer be the landing mission.
If Artemis II proceeded successfully in 2026, Artemis III would fly in 2027 to undertake further preparations for two crewed lunar landings planned for 2028.
The report also notes NASA's announced move away from constructing the Lunar Gateway orbital station, with equipment and modules already developed for it to be redirected towards a crewed base on the Moon's surface.
