First Page Design
Site Theme
While NASA is unlikely to communicate it publicly anytime soon, the space company is privately modifying its Artemis mission to land astronauts on the surface of the Moon later this decade.
Several resources have shown that NASA is anticipating the planned Artemis III landing of two astronauts on the Moon, theoretically scheduled for September 2026, due to considerations about hardware readiness and the complexity of the project.
Under one option, astronauts would launch into low-Earth orbit inside an Orion spacecraft and rendezvous with a Starship vehicle, introduced through SpaceX. During this mission, similar to Apollo 9, the precursor to the Apollo 11 moon landing, the team would validate Orion and the starship’s ability to dock and verify the starship’s internal ability. In some other option being considered through NASA, a team would launch into Orion and fly to a small area station near the Moon, the Lunar Gateway, and then return to Earth.
To discuss those options, Ars requested an interview with Catherine Koerner, deputy deputy administrator who oversees the progress of NASA’s exploration systems. Instead, the space firm made a non-binding statement.
“NASA continues to work on the Artemis II team test flight in September 2025 and the Artemis III test flight to land astronauts near the lunar South Pole in September 2026,” he said. “The company evaluates the progress and condition of parts on a daily basis and uses this knowledge to make timely decisions for each project as a component of prudent program and project management. If a specific piece of hardware is not available to assist a project as planned or planned, NASA will evaluate the readiness of the available hardware for features that allow you to make decisions with equipment protection as the number one priority.
The date set by the space company for Artemis II is positive but potentially achievable if NASA manages to solve the heat shield problems of the Orion spacecraft. However, a moon landing in September 2026 is completely unrealistic. The biggest hurdles to Artemis III are the lack of a lander, which SpaceX is unveiling as part of its Starship program, and suits for Axiom Space’s lunar surface incursions. It’s not yet clear when the lander or suits, which NASA has only just begun, will launch. investment in the last two or 3 years, you’ll be ready.
There are also considerations about the complexity of Artemis III. This will require a series of steps not tested in the past, adding an Orion-Starship rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit; humans flying inside the spacecraft in space; Ship descending to the surface and emerging to dock with Orion; and so on. Mission planners would be more comfortable if they could, in NASA’s parlance, “de-risk” Artemis III by validating some of those complicated maneuvers before the lunar landing mission.
That’s why NASA commissioned SpaceX with a project in which Orion would rendezvous with the Starship vehicle in orbit around Earth. Such a project, whether called Artemis IIS or Artemis III, would solve a lot of problems for the space enterprise and turns out to be the preferred option globally. Moment. Basically, this would be to determine the ability of the two ships to dock in an environment where, in the event of a problem, it would be much less difficult for the team to return home safely. It would also validate astronauts. ‘ Ability to live inside the Starship and perform safe ascent and descent maneuvers.
Join the Ars Orbital Transmission email to receive weekly updates in your inbox. Sign up →