NEM is not associated with NXT. NEM took its own path by programming the whole project from scratch after it first was announced as a copy of NXT. But yeah, old guys like me who saw the beginnings of NEM and how it evolved still compare NEM and NXT a lot. NXT was and maybe still is the inspiration for the NEM project.

But NEM and NXT are two separat projects and are not associated with each other. I think t is important to highlight this.

I can't wait for Ardor Mainnet to launch too :) Unfortunately there is no exact date yet. But I expect an announcement very soon.