NASA teases – NASA has released new details about Artemis III, now planned as a late-2027 Earth-orbit test for docking and astronaut transfer maneuvers using Orion and lunar lander vehicles from Blue Origin and SpaceX, even as the crew identities and other key mission speci
After Artemis II’s near-flawless round trip last month. NASA is turning its focus to Artemis III—the last planned step before humans land on the Moon.. This week. the agency shared additional details about what that mission will look like in late 2027. but left one of the biggest questions hanging: who will fly.
Artemis III is expected to launch in late 2027.. The mission was originally conceived as a lunar landing test. but in February NASA scrapped that approach in favor of a test performed in Earth’s orbit.. In that new plan. NASA’s Orion crew capsule—used to house the Artemis II astronauts—will attempt to dock with one or both of two vehicles NASA wants to use later to land astronauts on the Moon.
The lander candidates are versions of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander and SpaceX’s Starship. and neither has been tested in a scenario like this.. NASA says the Artemis III astronauts could attempt not only to dock with the lander but also to leave the Orion capsule and enter the vehicle.. NASA frames that as a way to simulate the transfer between spacecraft that will be required during a human landing.
NASA also emphasized the operational complexity of the test.. “For the first time. NASA will coordinate a launch campaign involving multiple spacecraft integrating new capabilities into Artemis operations. ” said Jeremy Parsons. acting assistant deputy associate administrator of NASA’s Moon to Mars Program Office. in a statement.. “We’re integrating more partners and interrelated operations into this mission by design. which will help us learn how Orion. the crew. and ground teams all interact together with hardware and teams from both lander providers before we send astronauts to the moon’s surface and build a moon base there.”
Beyond docking and transfer attempts, NASA provided new specifics about Orion.. The capsule will have an updated heat shield design that NASA says will reduce some of the risk involved in reentering the atmosphere.. The crew will also spend longer in the Orion capsule than they did in Artemis II, which lasted around 10 days.
NASA’s rough sequence runs on one main track: the Space Launch System rocket will loft an Orion capsule carrying an undisclosed number of astronauts into Earth orbit.. Once there. the astronauts will attempt to dock the capsule with a lunar lander vehicle and perform a series of other tests meant to measure NASA’s readiness for a human moon landing.. NASA compares the scope of the new outline to Apollo 9. a 1969 mission in which a three-astronaut crew spent 10 days testing spacecraft ability to land on the moon from low-Earth orbit.
There’s a lot NASA still hasn’t filled in.. The target launch date remains unspecified, as does the identity of the crew and the duration of the mission.. Earlier. when Artemis III was still aimed at a lunar landing test. the European Space Agency expected it to last three to four weeks—but that timeline “doesn’t necessarily apply” to the mission’s updated Earth-orbit goals.. NASA also has not said whether the crew will conduct other science experiments while in space or whether Orion will receive additional internal modifications for that purpose.
Even the orbit is not pinned down beyond the broad statement that it will be in low-Earth orbit. like Apollo 9—though “that could mean any altitude under 2. 000 kilometers or so from Earth’s surface.” Another unanswered question is whether Starship and Blue Moon will be ready to execute the docking test by late 2027.. Both have faced delays. and so have Axiom Space’s next-gen space suits. which the Artemis III crew are supposed to test in a spacewalk outside their capsule.. All three companies have repeatedly insisted they will be ready when the time comes.
The picture that emerges from NASA’s details is tightly linked: the agency reshaped Artemis III from a lunar landing test into an Earth-orbit docking and transfer exercise. and that shift flows directly into a campaign designed to tie Orion. lander providers. and ground teams together—along with an Orion heat shield update meant to lower reentry risk and a longer stay in the capsule than Artemis II.. At the same time. the new focus on multiple spacecraft integration keeps the biggest variables unresolved. including who flies. how long the mission runs. and whether the landers and suits will meet the late-2027 test schedule.
For now. NASA says more information will come soon about Artemis III’s open questions—including the crew. timing. and other mission particulars.. Until then. the plan is clear enough to describe the test’s goal—coordinated docking and transfer maneuvers in Earth orbit—while still leaving the hardest details out of reach.
NASA Artemis III Artemis II Orion Space Launch System Blue Origin Blue Moon SpaceX Starship Moon to Mars Program Office lunar landers docking test heat shield Axiom Space suits Artemis missions