Artemis II tore “hole” in Earth’s atmosphere, raising GPS concerns

NASA‘s Artemis II mission in April 2026 created unusually large disturbances in Earth’s upper atmosphere during its historic journey around the Moon, which researchers say could affect the accuracy of precision technologies such as GPS, drones, and self-driving cars. The findings raise questions about the potential impact on GPS and other navigation technologies in the future as increasingly powerful rocket launches become more frequent.

The mission launched from Florida on April 1 aboard NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, carrying astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. The nine-day flight was the first time in more than 50 years that astronauts had traveled around the Moon.

In a pre-print study published in July in Geophysical Research Letters, researchers, including corresponding author Charles C. H. Lin, found that the launch and later rocket exhaust burns caused three separate disturbances: one during lift-off, another about two hours later, and a third over 24 hours later. The disturbances occurred in the ionosphere, a region of Earth’s upper atmosphere through which GPS signals travel. Changes in this region can often affect the speed of GPS signals and, therefore, positioning accuracy.

What Did the Artemis II Launch Do to Earth’s Atmosphere?

The initial launch sent waves through the upper atmosphere. But researchers found some of the largest changes happened later, when the spacecraft fired its engines while already high above Earth.

The engine burn about two hours after launch produced shock waves and what the researchers described as “unprecedented large-scale disturbances.” The other engine burn, about 25 hours after launch, created a similar, but weaker, effect.

Artemis II didn’t physically punch a hole in the atmosphere. Its exhaust caused a temporary drop in the concentration of charged particles in part of the ionosphere, creating what scientists call an “ionosphere hole,” which can temporarily affect technologies that rely on signals (like GPS) traveling through the ionosphere.

How Big Was the Artemis II ‘Hole’ in the Atmosphere?

The largest disturbance stretched across about 50 degrees of longitude (equivalent to roughly 2,500 miles at typical U.S. latitudes) over North America, according to the researchers.

But the size of the “hole” wasn’t the only unusual feature.

Researchers said Artemis II was the first single space mission known to have produced three separate ionospheric disturbances over the same region during a series of maneuvers.

Did Artemis II Disrupt GPS?

While researchers found changes in the part of the atmosphere that can affect GPS accuracy, they didn’t report a widespread GPS outage caused by the mission.

GPS works by using signals sent from satellites in space to receivers on Earth. A phone or other GPS-enabled device then uses these signals to work out its location.

But those signals must pass through Earth’s atmosphere. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says GPS signals can slow down as they travel through the ionosphere and lower parts of the atmosphere, which can affect location readings. The agency says that basic GPS is usually accurate to within about 7 meters, around 95 percent of the time.

For someone using their phone for everyday directions, a small temporary change in accuracy might not be that noticeable. But the issue becomes more important when technology needs to know its location very precisely.

Could Rocket Launches Affect Self-Driving Cars and Drones?

Many modern technologies depend on accurate satellite positioning, including drones and autonomous vehicles.

However, there’s no evidence from the study that the Artemis II mission caused self-driving cars to malfunction, sent drones off course, or caused any traffic accidents. The significance is what the findings could mean for technologies that require very precise positioning if similar atmospheric disturbances become more common.

That leads to a bigger question.

If one single mission can create large disturbances in the area of Earth’s atmosphere through which GPS signals travel, what happens if powerful rockets are launched far more frequently in the future?

Could SpaceX Starship Cause Similar Atmospheric Disturbances?

The question is particularly relevant as companies develop larger rockets designed to fly much more frequently.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX describes Starship as the “world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed,” and it’s intended to carry people and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, and eventually Mars.

SpaceX has said it wants reusable rockets to eventually make access to space as routine as air travel.

But being more powerful doesn’t automatically mean Starship will create a larger disturbance than Artemis II.

The Artemis II research suggests that the size and strength of these disturbances can depend on factors including where an engine burn takes place, how long it lasts, and how much energy it releases into the ionosphere.

The findings therefore point to a wider issue as humanity increases its presence in space: if one moon mission can temporarily change a part of Earth’s atmosphere important to satellite navigation, scientists may need to understand what happens when launches and rocket burns become more powerful, more common and more routine.

Newsweek has contacted Charles C. H. Lin, from the National Cheng Kung University, who is the corresponding author on the Artemis II ionosphere research, and NASA for comment.

Reference

Lin, Charles, Choi, Jong-Min, et al, Rare reoccurring ionosphere disturbances observed during the Artemis-II Lunar flyby voyage, Geophysical Research Letters, July 22, 2026, https://essopenarchive.org/doi/full/10.22541/essoar.15006449/v1

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Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Emma Lee-Sang