NASA is laying out more details for Artemis III, targeting a 2027 launch that would test how Orion meets commercial lunar landers in Earth orbit—an essential step before astronauts attempt a first moon landing in decades as early as 2028.
For a mission that won’t reach the moon’s surface. Artemis III is already being treated as a make-or-break technical proving ground. NASA’s own deputy administrator. Jeremy Parsons. called it “one of the most highly complex missions NASA has undertaken. ” pointing to the challenge of coordinating multiple launches and multiple spacecraft that have to link up in space.
After Artemis II sent four astronauts around the moon, the next step in NASA’s lunar program is planned for 2027. If everything goes well, Artemis III would set the stage for a historic moon landing in 2028—the first since NASA’s iconic Apollo era ended half-a-century ago.
Parsons said Artemis III is designed to integrate “more partners and interrelated operations” so NASA can learn how Orion. the crew. and ground teams work together with hardware and teams from both lander providers before astronauts ever head to the moon’s surface. The mission is expected to test the choreography that will be required to build a lasting presence near the lunar south pole.
Artemis III is targeted for 2027 and is NASA’s third mission under its new Artemis lunar program and the second mission with a crew. NASA has described the mission as a vital test flight before astronauts attempt to land on the moon’s surface as early as 2028 for the first time since 1972.
Under NASA’s broader Artemis campaign. the agency plans to use a series of uncrewed and human moon landings to construct a $20 billion moon base near the lunar south pole. where astronauts can live and work indefinitely. Those missions are also meant to prepare for future ventures deeper into the solar system. including the first human expeditions to Mars.
The heart of Artemis III centers on dockings in orbit rather than moonwalks. The primary objective is for astronauts aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft to meet and dock in orbit with one or both commercial lunar landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin. Once Orion is in low-Earth orbit—a path around the planet relatively close to Earth’s atmosphere—it would rendezvous with at least one lunar lander.
The specific landers named by NASA are SpaceX’s Starship human landing system and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2. both of which are still in development. NASA has not yet decided whether any astronauts on the Artemis III crew would enter either lander after docking operations are successfully demonstrated. That uncertainty. laid out in a May 13 press release. underscores how much of the mission is still about validating interfaces and procedures.
NASA has also not selected an Artemis III crew. For comparison, Artemis II sent four astronauts a record 252,756 miles away from Earth. Artemis III would keep astronauts closer to home. but the mission still promises more time in space than Artemis II did during a 10-day trip around the moon and back.
Even though NASA has not indicated how long Artemis III would last. the crew would be tasked with docking with one or two lunar landers while testing life support systems and potentially extravehicular spacesuits being developed by Houston-based space technology company Axiom Space. NASA also plans to test an upgraded heat shield during Orion’s return through Earth’s atmosphere. describing the update as intended “to enable more flexible and robust reentry profiles for future missions.”.
Getting the crew into space again depends on NASA’s Space Launch System. Artemis III would once more rely on the SLS rocket—standing 322 feet tall, NASA’s most powerful rocket. The agency is already assembling the rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in anticipation of Artemis III.
But when SLS launches again potentially in 2027, it will not be identical to the configuration that flew Artemis II. On the first two Artemis missions. SLS used a piece of hardware called the interim cryogenic propulsion stage as the upper stage. It provided propulsion in space after other components separated. For Artemis III, NASA says it will instead use a spacer on the rocket that does not have an engine.
The sequence of decisions is already shaping the mission’s risk profile: Artemis III shifts the most critical work into space-to-space coordination between Orion and commercial lander systems. while also updating core return hardware through an upgraded heat shield and altering the SLS upper-stage configuration by replacing the interim cryogenic propulsion stage with an engine-less spacer.
As NASA moves toward Artemis III in 2027. the main question is not whether the mission will leave the ground—it will. It’s whether all of the complex. partner-heavy operations planned for orbital docking and testing will come together cleanly enough to unlock the next deadline: a crewed moon landing attempt in 2028. the first since 1972.
Artemis III NASA Orion SLS SpaceX Starship Blue Origin Blue Moon Mark 2 Axiom Space lunar program lunar base Artemis II 2027 launch