NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman earlier this week announced that astronauts will soon be allowed to travel into space with “the latest smartphones.” Astronauts will be able to bring their iPhone (or Android devices, SIGH!) beginning with the SpaceX Crew-12 and Artemis II missions that launch over the next few months.
NASA astronauts will soon fly with the latest smartphones, beginning with Crew-12 and Artemis II. We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world. Just as important, we challenged long-standing…
— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) February 5, 2026
NASA says it is “… giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world. Just as important, we challenged long-standing processes and qualified modern hardware for spaceflight on an expedited timeline.”
In an email, an Apple spokesperson said this will mark the first time the iPhone has been fully qualified for extended use in orbit and beyond.
Artemis II is planned for a March 2026 launch, and it will be the first crewed flight to venture beyond low Earth orbit in more than fifty years. The plan is to launch four astronauts on a figure-eight flyby around the Moon. (So, basically what they were doing back in the late 1960s, before the July 20, 1969 Apollo Moon Landing. I mean really! Were were supposed to be living on Mars by now!)
Prior to this, NASA astronauts were not allowed to carry their own personal smartphones on missions, although they were allowed to bring some NASA-approved DSLR cameras and other equipment.
So far, it hasn’t been announced which smartphone models have been approved for space travel.
(Image By NASA)
