Stakeholders in the Artemis lunar exploration program advocate for maintaining the current architecture, believing it offers the most efficient path to returning humans to the moon. While the new administration hasn't publicly altered Artemis since its inauguration, figures such as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk have voiced criticism, describing it as "a jobs-maximizing program, not a results-maximizing program," necessitating, in his view, "something entirely new."

At the SpaceCom conference, Kirk Shireman, Orion program manager at Lockheed Martin, acknowledged the inherent uncertainties accompanying administrative changes, advising employees to remain focused on their tasks. "The best thing we can do is keep your head down and work as hard as you can," he stated. He defended NASA's current Artemis strategy, utilizing the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the lunar Gateway, and landers developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX, asserting its effectiveness despite cost and delay concerns. He emphasized, "What we need to do is tell the people in the new administration and anyone we can talk to this about is, hey, the fastest way to get humans back on the moon is to stay the course. Things take a long time to build and certify and, if you throw them away every four years and start over, that’s probably the slowest and most expensive thing we could do.” He concluded, "Stay the course. Let’s put humans back on the moon and let’s go do the things that we’ve been tasked to go do."

While other panelists, including representatives from NASA, Boeing, and Amentum, concurred, they offered no further insights. The panel highlighted progress on Artemis 2, the first crewed SLS and Orion flight, including preparations for the rocket, spacecraft, and ground systems. However, the launch, initially slated for late 2024, has been postponed to April 2026 at the earliest, following analysis of Orion's heat shield erosion from the Artemis 1 mission. Matt Ramsay, Artemis 2 mission manager at NASA, clarified that April 2026 is a "no-later-than" date, adding, "The agency has challenged us to do better and we’re in the process of figuring out what better looks like," with a finalized launch date expected shortly.

Following resolution of the heat shield issue, the launch date hinges on vehicle assembly. Brad McCain, deputy program manager for ground operations at Amentum, reported that crews are currently stacking the SLS's twin solid rocket boosters, a process anticipated to conclude within two to three weeks. Upon completion of assembly, the vehicle will undergo a tanking test at Launch Complex 39B, a process with a tentative timeframe of no earlier than autumn, according to Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, NASA Artemis launch director. Ramsay acknowledged the ongoing daily challenges, stating, "There’s a whac-a-mole every day where we find problems, fix problems and move on to the next day."