Figure.7.Artemis.8.on.the.launch.pad…Credit¿.NASA―John.Kraus
March 27, 2026—When the Artemis 2 mission with four astronauts departs for deep space
sometime in April, a team of ARISS and AMSAT volunteers will be “watching” from afar.
Specifically, our experts will use a multinational network of ground station receivers to
capture the Orion capsule’s one-way S-band communications with mission control as a
secondary means of tracking the spacecraft.
While NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program will primarily
depend on the Near Space and Deep Space Network for primary tracking of the Orion
during its 10-day mission around the moon and back, it has also selected 34 individuals
and groups (including an ARISS and AMSAT consortium) across 14 countries to provide an
independent source of tracking data using the radio waves generated by normal
communications.
The concept works. For Artemis 1, an unmanned launch into low-Earth orbit in 2022, 10
individuals successfully tracked Orion throughout its mission. Based on lessons learned
from that experience, SCaN now has data standards that Artemis 2 passive trackers will
use when sending the data to NASA.