NASA outlines Artemis III 2027 plan

NASA is recasting Artemis III as a test mission in Earth orbit rather than the program’s first crewed lunar landing. In updates published in March and May, the agency said the 2027 flight will use Orion and the Space Launch System to practice rendezvous and docking with commercial human landing systems being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin. NASA said the revised sequence is meant to test systems closer to home before sending astronauts to the Moon on Artemis IV in 2028. Florida Today first detailed the emerging 2027 mission profile on May 21. ### Why is Artemis III no longer the first landing mission? NASA said in a March architecture update that Artemis III, now targeted for 2027, will be designed to test systems and operational capabilities in low Earth orbit ahead of an Artemis IV landing in 2028. The agency said it added a new mission to the campaign and refined the broader architecture as teams prepared for Artemis II. NASA’s Artemis III mission page now describes the flight as a low Earth orbit demonstration mission. The page says Orion will launch on the Space Launch System and test integrated operations with one or both commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin. ### What exactly would the 2027 mission test? NASA said on May 15 that Artemis III is being defined as a crewed Earth-orbit flight to test rendezvous and docking between Orion and commercial landers from Blue Origin and SpaceX. (nasa.gov) The agency said the mission would test “one or both” vehicles and conduct in-space operations with the docked spacecraft. (nasa.gov) The same NASA update said the mission is intended to prove the operations needed before a surface attempt. Florida Today reported that the early outline could include astronauts going to Earth orbit to test two commercial lunar landers, one from each company. ### Which companies are involved, and what are they building? (nasa.gov) SpaceX and Blue Origin are NASA’s two human landing system providers for later Artemis missions. NASA’s mission materials identify SpaceX and Blue Origin as the commercial partners whose landers could participate in Artemis III docking tests. NASA’s training and campaign updates tie Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 cabin to 2027 docking preparations, while outside reporting has described SpaceX’s vehicle as Starship HLS. (nasa.gov) NASA itself has not framed the Artemis III test as selecting a winner; it has said the flight could involve one or both providers. (nasa.gov) ### Why test in Earth orbit instead of going straight to the Moon? NASA said the revised architecture is intended to test capabilities “closer to home” before attempting a crewed lunar landing. The March update said standardizing SLS and related systems now is part of a plan to support one lunar mission per year after the first landing attempt. (nasa.gov) SpacePolicyOnline, citing NASA’s planning, reported that the 2027 mission will focus on integrated operations between Orion and the human landing systems needed to carry astronauts to and from the lunar surface. That makes Artemis III a proving mission for the docking, transfer and in-space procedures the agency will need later. (nasa.gov) ### What does this change mean for the Artemis timeline? NASA’s current public schedule points to Artemis III in 2027 and Artemis IV as the first lunar landing mission in 2028. The agency’s Artemis III news page says NASA continues to target early 2028 for the first Artemis lunar landing, a target it says has remained unchanged since mid-2025. The next concrete milestones are tied to flight preparation rather than a landing attempt. (spacepolicyonline.com) NASA’s event and mission pages list Artemis III as a 2027 demonstration mission involving Orion, SLS and one or both commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin, with Artemis IV set to carry the program back toward the Moon in 2028. (nasa.gov 1) (nasa.gov 2)