NASA canceled 2027 Artemis III Moon landing in favor of 2028 mission
Announcement that NASA will reorganize Artemis III The agency has come forward about not landing on the moon in 2027. Artemis II The mission encountered problems, delaying its launch.
NASA will not land astronauts on the Moon in 2027, space agency Administrator Jared Isaacman announced Friday. Instead the agency will alter its plan Artemis III Missions to test in-orbit capabilities such as using astronauts’ space suits in microgravity and to rendezvous with at least one spacecraft that NASA hopes to use as a lunar lander.
NASA will then attempt two crewed lunar landings in 2028 Artemis IV And Artemis V. The decision represents a major schedule change for the agency, which it has been trying to make for years Artemis III The mission that will land astronauts on the Moon for the first time in more than half a century.
This announcement comes after NASA’s upcoming announcement Artemis II The mission encountered more problems last week with its rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). As a result, NASA had to cancel the March target launch, which already represented a delay from its initial deadline. The SLS, which now has helium flow issues, had already suffered hydrogen leaks and other problems that caused its launch window to slip earlier this year — and similar issues caused the Artemis I mission to delay the rocket’s first launch by months. Next launch window for Artemis II Opens in early April.
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At a press conference Friday, Isaacman said NASA is confident that increasing the SLS launch cadence to once every 10 months will reduce risk and lead to greater mission success.
“I’m excited because I think we really have a path to getting the job done within the time frame that we’ve targeted right now,” Isaacman said. NASA needs to rebuild its “core competencies,” he said, adding that the agency will work to standardize SLS production to reduce the time between launches as much as possible. Currently, the period between the final SLS launch and upcoming missions for Artemis I will be more than three years.
“There’s just a right and wrong way to do this,” Isaacman said. “Launching every three years and … massive changes in vehicle configuration is not a recipe for success.”
Editor’s note (2/27/26): This is a developing story and may be updated.
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