NASA's Artemis II rocket punched 3,100-mile-long holes in Earth's atmosphere, disrupted GPS signals: Study

NASA's Artemis II mission created two enormous holes of about 3,100-miles in the ionosphere and disrupted GPS signals, according to a new study. The historic mission, launched in April 2026, sent four astronauts on the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years. However, researchers have now found that the rocket's powerful launch produced atmospheric disturbances far greater than those recorded during previous rocket launches.

According to a report by Space.com, a team of researchers from Taiwan's National Cheng Kung University found that the atmospheric impact of the Artemis II launch was significantly more intense than that of earlier rocket launches. The researchers said the disturbances were up to 10 times more intense than those observed after SpaceX's Starship test launches, despite Starship having roughly twice the liftoff thrust of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

Artemis II launch disrupted GPS signals

Ground-based GPS stations detected changes in electron density in Earth's ionosphere during the launch. These disturbances were equivalent to positioning errors of several metres. Such inaccuracies could have serious implications for technologies that depend on precise location data, including self-driving cars and drones.


Charles Lin, an Earth science professor at National Cheng Kung University and one of the study's co-authors, warned that even a small positioning error could affect autonomous vehicles. "A positioning error of a couple of meters is enough to cause an autonomous car to change lanes," Lin told Space.com. He added that the disturbances could also affect drone positioning.

Researchers identified two large atmospheric disturbances following the launch. The first was associated with the rocket's 212-foot-long (65-metre) core stage, while the second followed two subsequent thruster burns by the upper stage. Both disturbances extended across the American continent from east to west, covering distances of approximately 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometres).

Why did Artemis II create holes in Earth's atmosphere?

The disturbances occurred in the ionosphere, an electrically charged region of Earth's upper atmosphere that plays an important role in radio communication and satellite-based navigation.

As a rocket travels through the atmosphere at supersonic speeds, it generates shock waves that can disturb the ionosphere's charged particles. These disturbances can create temporary regions of reduced electron density, often described as holes in the atmosphere.

Unlike severe solar storms, which can disrupt GPS signals for days by injecting charged particles and energy into the atmosphere, rocket-induced disturbances are generally short-lived.

However, the scale of the disturbances associated with Artemis II has raised questions about how increasingly powerful rocket launches could affect satellite navigation and other technologies.

Artemis II: A historic mission to the Moon

NASA's Artemis II mission carried four astronauts — Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen and Reid Wiseman — on a journey around the Moon. The crew included the first woman, the first person of colour and the first non-American astronaut to participate in a crewed lunar mission.

The mission also set a new record for the greatest distance humans have travelled from Earth. The astronauts reached approximately 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometres), surpassing the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970 by more than 4,000 miles.

Another highlight was the crew's photographs of Earth from space, including an image dubbed 'Earthset', which showed the planet appearing to disappear behind the Moon.

The astronauts also witnessed a solar eclipse from space and reported flashes of light believed to be meteorite impacts on the lunar surface.

They flew around the Moon's far side at an altitude of approximately 4,000 miles, offering a different perspective of the lunar landscape from the one available to the Apollo astronauts.

### What comes next for NASA's Artemis programme?

Artemis II was the first crewed flight of NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The mission was designed to test the systems and procedures needed for future human lunar exploration.

NASA's broader Artemis programme aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface and establish a sustained human presence on the Moon, potentially creating a foundation for future crewed missions to Mars.

The programme is also unfolding against renewed competition in space exploration, with China aiming to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030.

The findings on the Artemis II launch add another dimension to the challenges of increasingly powerful space missions. While rocket-induced atmospheric disturbances are temporary, their potential effects on GPS-dependent technologies could become an important consideration as launch activity increases.