Artemis II caused the largest measured ionospheric disturbance

Where did the atmospheric holes form?

After the launch, researchers observed two temporary holes. One followed the 212-foot-long (65-meter) SLS core stage, the rocket's main lower section; the other followed two subsequent thruster burns of the upper stage, the section that continued carrying Orion upward. Each hole stretched east to west across the American continent for about 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers), resembling giant contrails.

Despite the core stage's enormous power, the disturbance from the second-stage burns was far more prominent. Those burns occurred directly inside the ionosphere, at altitudes around 115 miles (185 kilometers), more than an hour after liftoff.

The burns allowed NASA's Orion capsule to break free from Earth's gravity and head for the moon.

How can a rocket disturb navigation signals?

When a rocket climbs through high-altitude air at supersonic speed, meaning faster than sound, its body creates a shock wave that virtually punches a hole in the ionosphere. The disturbance temporarily changes the concentration of free electrons there.

That change alters radio-signal propagation. A signal can reach Earth faster or more slowly, which makes GPS receivers calculate inaccurate distances and positions.

At any single moment, a receiver determines its location by measuring distances to four different GPS satellites. GPS satellites and those of other global navigation satellite systems orbit around 12,550 miles (20,200 kilometers) above Earth, well above the ionosphere. Their positioning, navigation and timing signals must pass through the charged layer.

Severe solar storms can disrupt GPS for days by releasing energy into the atmosphere as charged particles from the sun. The rocket-induced effect is much more short-lived.

What could the errors mean for vehicles?

Charles Lin, an earth science professor at NCKU and a co-author of the paper, told Space.com: “A positioning error of a couple of meters is enough to cause an autonomous car to change lanes. It could have a strong impact not only on self-driving cars but also on drone positioning.”

The report says errors of several meters could send self-driving cars off track and potentially cause traffic collisions. It offered no documented examples of such accidents, framing them instead as possible consequences of temporary, localized navigation shifts.

Lin described such launch-driven interference as space weather, meaning changes in the upper atmosphere that can affect radio signals.

What does this mean for future missions?

Artemis II returned humans to lunar space for the first time in more than 50 years. NASA hopes the mission will pave the way for lunar landings and an eventual sustained human presence on the moon.

Lin also said: “Rocket launches from the ground to space produce that kind of effect, but we have never seen this kind of orbital maneuver in an interplanetary mission. In the future, as we are going to see many more missions going to the moon and to Mars, these space weather effects will become much more significant.”

The clearest conclusion is narrower: Artemis II left measurable, continent-scale ionospheric signatures, while the risks to cars and drones remain plausible rather than demonstrated.