By the time you read this, the Artemis II mission will be roughly 5,000 miles from the Moon – nearly the distance between Los Angeles and Tokyo. There were many august quotes before and after last week’s Artemis II launch, but an unidentified boy interviewed by CNN likely summed it up best: “we’re going back to the friggin’ moon!” You can track the mission here.

Back on Earth, NASA’s gaze is fixed on the Moon, the Artemis program overhaul and the transition to commercial space stations, even as the U.S. and Russian governments explore extending the ISS mission beyond 2028. The ESA is recalibrating its role in the Artemis program after the announced suspension of the Lunar Gateway, and the U.S. – China space race is heating up in some unlikely places as both countries eye the Dominican Republic’s emerging space infrastructure.

All this and more in this edition of Akin’s Space Law, Regulation and Policy Update.