Artemis II launched on April 1, 2026 — and for the first time in over 50 years, human voices are traveling beyond low-Earth orbit. The mission is in flight right now, with splashdown expected around April 10. Whether you hold a ham license or just have a browser and curiosity, there are ways to follow it by radio today.
The Days of Apollo Are Gone — and That Is Actually Interesting
Those of us who remember the Apollo era might instinctively reach for a shortwave receiver when a crewed lunar mission is underway. The reality of Artemis II is more demanding — and in many ways, more rewarding for the technically minded.
The Orion spacecraft’s primary link to Earth runs through NASA’s Near Space Network and Deep Space Network on S-band, centered around 2210.5 MHz. A second experimental channel uses the O2O optical communications system, an infrared laser link capable of throughput up to 260 Mbps. On top of that, voice and telemetry are transmitted using digital encoding that makes direct decoding impossible for civilian receivers.
That said, Artemis II is absolutely a radio event — and three of the four crew members are licensed amateur radio operators: Commander Reid Wiseman (KF5LKT), Pilot Victor Glover (KI5BKC), and CSA Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen (KF5LKU). For the ham community, this is not just a space mission to observe — it is colleagues flying to the Moon.
What You Can Actually Receive: Setting Expectations
Before reaching for a receiver, it is worth being direct about what is and is not possible.
Artemis II voice and telemetry are digitally processed and encrypted — you cannot tune in and hear the crew the way you might have with Apollo. What advanced amateur stations can do is detect the S-band carrier and measure its Doppler shift as Orion moves toward or away from Earth. This is not casual listening; it is a precision measurement that NASA’s SCaN program actively recruits volunteers to perform, because the data genuinely contributes to spacecraft navigation.
For most listeners — including many experienced hams — the most rewarding path to Artemis II audio runs through official public channels, not a dish in the garden. More on that below.
For Ham Radio Operators: Three Levels of Engagement
Level 1 — Local Rebroadcast at Launch and Splashdown
Near Kennedy Space Center, launch and mission audio is rebroadcast by the KSC Amateur Radio Club on 444.925 MHz FM (UHF) and by the LISAT system on 146.940 MHz FM (VHF). Similar rebroadcasts appear on local repeaters near NASA Johnson (~146.640 MHz) and Goddard (~147.450 MHz) during critical mission phases. No special equipment needed — a standard dual-band handheld is enough if you are in range.
Level 2 — Passive Doppler Tracking of Orion
During trajectory correction burns and other navigation events, Orion emits a distinct residual carrier that can be detected — though not decoded — by well-equipped ground stations. ARISS and AMSAT assembled a consortium of 34 groups across 14 countries to do exactly this for Artemis II, building on the successful Artemis I campaign of 2022.
The minimum viable setup for meaningful participation:
| Component | Recommended Hardware | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Antenna | 60 cm–2.0 m offset parabolic dish | Concentrates weak S-band signal |
| Feed | 5-turn LHCP helix | Captures circular polarization |
| Filter | S-band bandpass filter | Rejects Wi-Fi/LTE interference |
| LNA | NooElec SawBird or equivalent | Lowers noise figure at feed point |
| SDR Receiver | USRP B200 mini, Adalm Pluto, or HackRF | Digitizes wideband I/Q data |
For signal analysis, the community standard is the STRF toolkit (Satellite Tracking toolkit for Radio observations): rffft generates timestamped spectrograms from raw I/Q data, while rfplot visualizes the Doppler curves. The DXZone Software Defined Radio directory and Satellite Tracking Software category are solid starting points for building this tool chain. If you want to build or upgrade your antenna setup, the DXZone Antennas directory lists projects and resources from operators worldwide.
Level 3 — The ISS as a Practical Entry Point
If the S-band challenge is a step too far for now, the International Space Station is the best training ground in orbit. It transmits on standard VHF/UHF amateur frequencies, its signal footprint is enormous, and a modest station can copy it on a good pass.
Current ARISS frequencies:
- 145.800 MHz FM — voice, educational contacts, SSTV downlink
- 145.825 MHz — 1200 baud APRS packet digipeater
- 437.800 MHz FM — crossband repeater downlink (uplink 145.990 MHz, 67 Hz PL tone)
A dual-band handheld with a simple Yagi or even a whip can catch the ISS on a strong overhead pass. For scheduling passes, NASA’s Spot the Station tool provides alerts down to your location. The ISS resources on DXZone cover operating modes, ARISS contacts, tracking tools, and everything needed to get started. For satellite operations in general, the DXZone Satellites category covers AMSAT, OSCAR, and the broader world of amateur spacecraft.
A practical pass prediction and Doppler compensation toolkit:
| Application | Platform | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Gpredict | Win / Mac / Linux | Real-time tracking, Hamlib integration for auto-tuning and rotator control |
| ISS Detector | Android / iOS | Pass alerts, Doppler readouts, amateur satellite extensions |
| Ham Satting | Multi-platform | Pass prediction, QSO logging, integrated SSTV decoding |
| Orbitron | Windows | World mapping, List of all satellites |
Public Resources: Listening Without a Radio
For space enthusiasts the internet has made space audio more accessible than ever.
SPACE RoIP — The Easiest Live Path
The SPACE Amateur Radio over Internet Protocol system streams live public audio from NASA Mission Control and ISS astronauts directly to linked radio nodes. One of the most direct and accessible methods is through the EchoLink network: by connecting to the dedicated SPACE conference node (GSM codec), listeners can stream live audio feeds from the ISS public audio channel 2 and NASA’s Artemis II mission.
EchoLink App (requires registration and amateur radio licence) can run either on your device (desktop or mobile) of using the convenient Web Client
You can connect via:
- EchoLink — conference node *SPACE* (GSM codec)
- IRLP — reflector 0100
- AllStar — node 516221
Transmissions are most active during astronaut working hours, generally 07:00–19:00 UTC, and during critical events such as EVAs or mission milestones. Expect authentic space communications conditions: long periods of silence, occasional interference, and temporary outages when NASA audio sources are unavailable. That silence is part of the experience.
Public audio recording, available to everyone:
For daily archived recordings in .ogg and .m3u8 formats — playable directly in a browser or VLC — the complete repository is catalogued on DXZone: SPACE Audio Recordings: Artemis II Mission and ISS Public Audio.
Other Public Tools
- NASA+ and NASA TV — continuous mission coverage with live Orion camera feeds
- AROW (Artemis Real-time Orbit Website) — interactive map showing Orion’s live position, distance from Earth and Moon, and mission elapsed time
- DSN Now — shows which Deep Space Network antennas are active and which spacecraft they are supporting in real time
- SatNOGS — open-source global network of automated ground stations that record satellite passes and publish decoded telemetry publicly; active for Artemis II tracking
- WebSDR — browser-accessible receivers worldwide; the DXZone WebSDR directory lists hundreds of stations globally
Quick Reference
| If you want to… | Tool | Frequency / Access |
|---|---|---|
| Follow the mission now | NASA+ / AROW | NasaPlus Web — nasa.gov |
| Hear mission audio via radio network | SPACE RoIP | EchoLink SPACE / IRLP 0100 / AllStar 516221 |
| Browse archived space audio | Audio SPACE Recordings | ARTEMIS II Mission and ISS Public Audio Link |
| Hear the ISS on a pass | VHF/UHF receiver | 145.800 MHz FM downlink |
| Work the ISS repeater | Dual-band transceiver | 437.800 MHz down / 145.990 MHz up, 67 Hz PL |
| Receive APRS from ISS | Packet TNC or app | 145.825 MHz |
| Track Orion S-band | SDR + dish ≥1.2 m | ~2210.5 MHz |
Frequently Asked Questions
Not directly. Orion’s voice and data links are transmitted on S-band (~2210.5 MHz) using digital encoding that cannot be decoded by standard amateur equipment. The audio you can hear is mission control audio rebroadcast via public streams like SPACE RoIP, NASA+, or local repeaters near Kennedy Space Center and NASA Johnson. A small number of globally distributed stations with microwave dishes and SDRs can detect the Orion carrier and measure its Doppler signature, but this is a specialized activity, not casual listening.
Reid Wiseman (KF5LKT), Victor Glover (KI5BKC), and Jeremy Hansen (KF5LKU) are all licensed operators. There are no scheduled ham contacts during the Artemis II mission, and Orion is not equipped with amateur radio gear the way the ISS is. However, the community is watching — and the precedent of surprise contacts from space is well established in ham radio history.
The ISS is the ideal entry point. During a strong overhead pass, the 145.800 MHz FM downlink can be received with a dual-band handheld and a simple antenna — sometimes even with a rubber duck in the right location. Use Gpredict or ISS Detector to find upcoming passes from your QTH, point your antenna toward the sky, and listen. SSTV events on 145.800 MHz, announced by ARISS, are particularly rewarding because you receive an actual image transmitted from orbit.
SatNOGS (Satellite Networked Open Ground Station) is a global, open-source network of automated satellite-tracking ground stations. Any operator can build a SatNOGS node and contribute received data to the public database at network.satnogs.org. For Artemis II, several SatNOGS stations contributed tracking data during Artemis I and are active for this mission too. It is also an excellent educational project for hams who want to build a proper satellite receive station without starting from scratch.
Start with three tools: NASA+ for live mission video and audio, AROW (search “Track Artemis” on nasa.gov) for real-time Orion position and telemetry, and EchoLink connected to the SPACE conference node for live mission audio through the SPACE RoIP network. The EchoLink app is free on iOS and Android — connect to the SPACE conference, and you are listening to the same audio feed used by amateur radio operators worldwide. If you prefer archived recordings, the DXZone SPACE Audio page publishes daily .ogg files you can play in any browser.
Artemis II is in flight now. The window to follow this mission as it happens closes around April 10. After that, the habits it inspires — tracking passes, listening on 145.800, building an SDR setup — will still be there. That is where amateur radio takes over from spectating.