Artemis III Stays in Earth Orbit in 2027 as NASA Targets 2028 Moon Landing

NASA’s Artemis III mission will stay in Earth orbit when it launches in 2027, and the agency still plans to land astronauts on the Moon in 2028 and build a Moon Base, Administrator Jared Isaacman said at a news conference at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. Here is what NASA laid out, mission by mission.

Image: NASA’s Space Launch System rocket for Artemis II at Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in February 2026. Photo: NASA/Ben Smegelsky, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

Artemis III: a 14-day test in low Earth orbit

Artemis III is no longer a Moon landing. NASA says it will send four astronauts, NASA’s Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas and the European Space Agency’s Luca Parmitano, aboard the Orion spacecraft into low Earth orbit for about 14 days. There they will practice rendezvous, docking, habitation and operating procedures with test versions of the lunar landers being built by Blue Origin and SpaceX. The Associated Press reported that Isaacman said the mission remains on track for next summer.

NASA calls it one of the most ambitious and complex test missions in its history. Earlier Artemis flights used only the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion. Artemis III involves three spacecraft launched on three different heavy-lift rockets within a short window. The campaign starts with Blue Origin launching a test article of its Blue Moon Mark 2 lander into a circular orbit about 273 miles above Earth, where it can wait up to 30 days. Orion would then launch on SLS from Kennedy only days after the lander is confirmed healthy, NASA said.

The goal, according to NASA, is to reduce risk, validate hardware and build operational experience before astronauts attempt to land near the Moon’s south pole.

Artemis IV: the 2028 Moon landing

Artemis IV, targeted for 2028, would be the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo. As in the original plan, astronauts will launch on SLS and Orion, link up with a commercial lander, and two crew members will descend to the surface while two stay aboard Orion. NASA said it is targeting two Moonwalks of about two hours each on the first surface missions, using spacesuits from Axiom Space to collect samples and test equipment.

To speed things up, NASA said the landers and Orion will no longer meet in the near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon that was planned earlier. Instead they will rendezvous in orbits tailored to each company’s system. Blue Origin, for its accelerated 2028 mission, will defer in-space propellant transfer and use three transfer stages to send its Blue Moon Mark 2 Alpha lander to the Moon. Both companies must fly an uncrewed demonstration before carrying astronauts, and NASA will certify the landers first. Based on readiness, NASA will choose which company lands the first crew, with a second landing opportunity to follow.

“We are executing President Trump’s National Space Policy to complete the long-awaited return of American astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028 and establish a Moon Base,” Isaacman said in a NASA release. “NASA has no intention of sitting idly by as all the pieces come together. That is not how Apollo succeeded.”

The Moon Base plan in three phases

NASA’s longer-term goal is a permanent presence. According to the Space Foundation’s summary of the briefing, the proposed Moon Base would be built in three phases. Phase one, from 2026 to 2029, calls for 21 lunar landings to secure reliable access to the surface. Phase two, from 2029 to 2032, adds 27 landings to establish initial base operations. Phase three, after 2032, includes 28 more landings and a semi-permanent human presence.

Robotic missions come first. NASA works with more than a dozen American companies through its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program to scout sites, test instruments and lay groundwork. “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, as quoted by the Space Foundation.

Why the Artemis timeline matters

The schedule depends on two commercial landers that are still in development, and SpaceX’s Starship lander relies on refueling in orbit. For background on that rocket, see our explainer on Starship Flight 14 and its first orbit. Keeping both Blue Origin and SpaceX in the running gives NASA a backup if one falls behind.

The Moon push is part of a busy season for space science. Last week we reported on three black holes found in one early galaxy by the James Webb Space Telescope.

The next milestones to watch are the uncrewed lander demonstrations, the Blue Moon test article’s launch and the stacking of SLS for Artemis III next year.

Sources

• NASA: NASA Shares Artemis Acceleration Plans for Moon Missions
• NASA: NASA’s Artemis III Mission to Test Future Moon Lander Operations
• NASA: NASA, Partners Accelerate Lander Development for 2028 Moon Missions
• Space Foundation: Artemis III On Track for Triple-Launch in 2027
• AP News: NASA moving fast to build moon base, return astronauts to lunar surface
• Wikimedia Commons: Artemis II on Launch Pad, NASA/Ben Smegelsky (public domain)