NASA remains on track to launch the four Artemis III astronauts in summer 2027 from Kennedy Space Center on a 14-day mission in low-Earth orbit, where they will dock with and test lunar landers engineered by Blue Origin and SpaceX, the agency announced.
Artemis III is considered a key proving-ground mission before NASA sends astronauts to land on the moon's harsh surface during Artemis IV in 2028. The mission will involve interplay between three massive rockets: NASA's Space Launch System, Blue Origin's New Glenn, and SpaceX's Starship.
"We're launching three of the most powerful rockets in the world and undertaking what is likely the most complicated launch campaign ever undertaken," Jeremy Parsons, NASA’s Artemis program manager, told reporters Friday during a news conference at the KSC Press Site.
NASA aims to return American astronauts to the lunar surface before China and create infrastructure for a moon base capable of supporting permanent human habitation. The Artemis III mission will unfold in this sequence:
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Blue Origin launches a Blue Moon Mark 2 test lander into orbit from Launch Complex 36A at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This lander can loiter in orbit for up to a month, Parsons said.
NASA launches the crew aboard the SLS and Orion spacecraft from pad 39B at KSC. The Orion docks with the Blue Moon lander on the third day of flight, and astronauts open the hatch and enter the crew cabin to test life-support systems and other controls.
After those operations wrap up, SpaceX launches a Starship test lander into orbit from pad 39A at KSC. Orion undocks from the Blue Moon and docks with the Starship's nose cone for about two hours on Day Eight of the mission.
Orion later reenters Earth's atmosphere and splashes down in the sea.
The Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center is shown in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Sept. 30.
"Beyond the two docking demonstrations, the crew will conduct Orion systems and crew-survival-suit evaluations, human research, science experiments, and technology demonstrations — validating the coordination of multiple launch systems ahead of future lunar landings," a NASA summary said.
NASA's landmark Artemis II mission in April sent four astronauts swinging around the far side of the moon and back during a nine-day trek inside an Orion spacecraft.
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen shattered the record for the furthest distance humans have reached into space by traveling 252,756 miles from Earth.
NASA, Blue Origin, SpaceX preparing for Artemis III
Last week, NASA announced engineering analysis confirmed the Artemis II Orion's heat shield performed as expected, with "a significant reduction in the amount of cracks and char loss as compared to Artemis I."
Blue Origin crews are progressing the Artemis III Blue Moon lander toward integration early next year. Blue Origin also plans to launch Endurance, an uncrewed Mark 1 cargo lander, to the moon in 2027.
SpaceX is targeting its 15th Starship test flight for a November launch from Starbase in Texas. NASA reported SpaceX teams are developing hardware for an in-space propellant-transfer demonstration in early 2027, along with work on lunar crew cabins and docking systems.
Parsons said spacesuit provider Axiom Space is developing a second, lighter design called the "Sortie Suit" for moonwalks. This will not replace Axiom's primary spacesuit for longer, more demanding missions, but it clocks in at half the weight at about 250 pounds — reducing mass each lander must carry to the moon.
Moon rovers to help develop NASA's lunar outpost
NASA plans to place data-gathering equipment across hundreds of square miles of the moon's surface near the lunar south pole. During the opening phase of moon-base development, robotic rovers will play a large role in exploration and scientific discovery.
Next year, NASA's box-shaped VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) should launch from KSC to the moon, where the robotic vehicle will roll into permanently shadowed craters and search for ice and other resources during an 18-plus-mile trek near the south pole.
To someday transport astronauts across the moon's rugged surface, NASA awarded contracts to Astrolab and Lunar Outpost to build lunar terrain vehicles. In this program's first phase, early LTV versions capable of traveling up to six miles per day will launch to the Moon. The vehicles will remotely receive driving instructions from Earth.
These LTVs should create high-resolution maps of moon terrain, helping guide future crewed missions. According to NASA, Astrolab and Lunar Outpost remain on schedule to deliver flight-ready hardware to NASA at the end of 2027.
"These missions will do far more than lay the first kind of figurative brick of America's moon base. Every mission is going to provide invaluable engineering data, reduce risk and build confidence in the crewed landings ahead," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said.
"And when American astronauts do take their first steps on the lunar surface in 2028, a rover and the first elements of an enduring human presence on the moon will already be waiting for them," Isaacman said.
