NAS North Island

Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI) sits on the northern tip of Coronado Island in San Diego Bay and is one of the US Navy's largest air installations. It is the home base of Helicopter Sea Combat Wing Pacific and multiple carrier air wings. The station was established in 1917 and is regarded as the birthplace of naval aviation in the United States. As of April 2026 it is home to roughly 200 aircraft and 17,000 military and civilian personnel.

NASNI contributed the helicopter recovery squadron tasked to track the Orion capsule through re-entry on Artemis II and be first on-site at splashdown. The helicopters work in conjunction with the recovery vessel USS John P. Murtha, which departed Naval Base San Diego on 7 April and positioned 50-80 miles offshore. The Navy recovery mission follows a procedure established during Artemis I in 2022, adapted for crewed operations that require faster medical access than the uncrewed test flight.

The proximity of NASNI to the primary Artemis II splashdown zone in the Pacific off San Diego makes it the logical rotary-wing platform for capsule tracking and crew extraction. If a Pacific cold front forces recovery south to the Guadalupe Island zone as it did on Artemis I, the helicopter range requirement extends significantly, though the station's assets are capable of either scenario.