NASA scraps 2027 Artemis III moon landing in favor of 2028 mission

"NASA will not land astronauts on the moon in 2027, the space agency's administrator Jared Isaacman announced on Friday. Instead the agency will rejigger its planned Artemis III mission to test in-orbit capabilities such as using the astronauts' space suits in microgravity and rendezvousing with at least one of the spacecraft that NASA hopes to use as a lunar lander."

"The decision represents a major schedule shift for the agency, which has been pushing for years to make Artemis III the mission that will land astronauts on the moon for the first time in more than half a century. The announcement comes after NASA's upcoming Artemis II mission encountered more problems with its rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), last week."

"The SLS, which now has helium flow issues, had already encountered hydrogen leaks and other problems that had caused its launch window to slip earlier this year—and similar issues had caused months of delays for the rocket's first launch in the uncrewed Artemis I mission."

NASA administrator Jared Isaacman announced that the agency will not land astronauts on the moon in 2027 as previously planned. Instead, Artemis III will be restructured to test in-orbit capabilities, including spacesuit operations in microgravity and spacecraft rendezvous procedures. Two crewed lunar landings are now scheduled for 2028 through Artemis IV and Artemis V missions. This significant schedule shift follows persistent technical problems with the Space Launch System rocket, including helium flow issues, hydrogen leaks, and other complications that forced NASA to abandon its March launch target for Artemis II. The next launch window opens in early April.

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