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NASA Updates Artemis Timeline At Kennedy Space Center, Targets Two Lunar Landings In 2028
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NASA targets 2028 for crewed lunar landing under Artemis program. SpaceX and Blue Origin must complete lunar lander milestones ahead of 2028.
Artemis Timeline Shift
NASA announced an updated timeline for its Artemis program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with Jared Isaacman detailing changes to returning humans to the lunar surface and building long-term infrastructure. NASA said Artemis III, originally planned as the first mission to return astronauts to the lunar surface, has been redesigned and will launch in 2027 as a low Earth orbit mission to test critical systems such as rendezvous and docking between Orion and private lunar landers. NASA also said Artemis IV is slated for early 2028 and aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface near the moon’s south pole, with one or both landers potentially supporting the landing.
“Artemis III, originally planned as the first mission to return astronauts to the lunar surface, has been redesigned.”
NASA’s briefing framed the shift as a way to increase launch frequency and maintain workforce skills, and it targeted a launch cadence of less than one year between missions. NASA said it plans to attempt two lunar landings in 2028 if schedules and technical milestones are met, while it continues regular updates as international competition intensifies.
Docking Architecture Details
NASA laid out how it plans to return astronauts to the lunar surface as soon as 2028, and it described the revised architecture for docking in high-Earth orbit before transiting to the Moon. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, "This is an achievable path we are on right now," as he tied the plan to resources and stakeholder support for executing the Artemis changes. NASA’s presentation said SpaceX’s Starship plan calls for Orion to dock with the Starship lunar lander in high-Earth orbit before transiting to the Moon, while Blue Origin’s mission architecture includes four launches of the New Glenn rocket.
NASA said it continues to anticipate launching Artemis III by "summer" 2027, with the mission described as a demonstration involving docking with both Blue Moon and Starship near Earth. NASA’s Artemis program manager Jeremy Parsons said, "We have the mandate, we have the resources, and the support from our stakeholders to be able to execute," reinforcing the agency’s intent to follow the revised schedule.
Artemis III as the Test
Jared Isaacman said Artemis III will act as the tiebreaker between two potential lunar landers for future crewed missions to the moon’s surface, and he said NASA will wait as long as possible before selecting which company flies on Artemis IV. Jeremy Parsons said both companies "are planning for lunar landing missions in 2028," and he described Artemis III as the step that must come before any lunar landing attempt. NASA said Artemis III will involve Orion docking with both Blue Origin’s Blue Moon and a version of SpaceX’s Starship, and it said the mission is expected to lift off in the summer of 2027.
NASA said Orion will attempt to dock with Blue Moon, then detach and attempt a second docking with Starship, while the Artemis III test is described as lasting just two hours for the Starship operation. Parsons said, "Every day of this mission is built around specific tests that reduce risk, give us valuable science and allow us to test out our capabilities before we go and undertake the lunar landing," as NASA said work has already begun on assembling and testing Orion crew and service modules for Artemis IV.