.png) Artemis III mission logo | |
| Names | Exploration Mission-3 (2017–2019) |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Crewed lunar landing |
| Operator | NASA |
| Mission duration | ~30 days[1] |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Orion CM-004 Starship HLS |
| Manufacturer |
|
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | NET 2028 (planned) |
| Rocket | Space Launch System Block 1[4] |
| Launch site | Kennedy Space Center,LC-39B |
| End of mission | |
| Landing site | Pacific Ocean (planned) |
| Moon lander | |
| Landing site | South polar region |
Artemis III is planned to be the first crewedMoon landing mission of theArtemis program and the first crewed flight of theStarship HLS lander.[5] Artemis III is planned to be the second crewed Artemis mission and the first crewed lunar landing sinceApollo 17 in December 1972.[6]
As of February 2026[update], NASA officially expects Artemis III to launch no earlier than 2028.[7] Due toheat shield issues onOrion and delays in the development ofStarship, NASA officials have expressed an openness to flying Artemis III without a crewed landing.[8][9] Valve problems were identified in the spacecraft'slife support system.[10][11]
The mission may become a crewed visit to theLunar Gateway.[12] In April 2024, it was reported that alternative mission options being internally evaluated by NASA include a test of docking betweenOrion and the SpaceXStarship HLS in low Earth orbit.[13]
The goal of Artemis III is to land a crew at theMoon's south polar region.[14] The mission would see twoastronauts land on the surface of the Moon for a stay of about one week.[15][16][17] According to NASA, total mission duration including flights will be about 30 days.[18] While up to four astronauts would launch aboardOrion, only two would land on the surface aboardStarship HLS, with the others remaining aboard Orion. Four spacewalks are planned for two astronauts.
The suite of planned scientific observations includes samplinglunar water ice.
The Space Launch System is asuper-heavy-lift launcher used to launch the Orion spacecraft from Earth to a trans-lunar orbit. Itscore stage for this mission will useRS-25 engines E2048, E2052, E2054, and E2057.[19][20] This will be the final mission using the variantSLS Block 1, the design used for the first three missions. Afterward, fromArtemis IV untilArtemis VIII, missions will useSLS Block 1B, with a more capableExploration Upper Stage, and a cargo hold to transport other payloads.
Orion is thecrew transport vehicle used by allArtemis missions. It will transport the crew from Earth to lunar orbit, dock with Starship HLS, and return the crew to Earth.
After amulti-phase design effort, on April 16, 2021, NASA selectedSpaceX to develop Starship HLS and deliver it tonear-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) prior to arrival of the crew for use on the Artemis III mission. The delivery requires that Starship HLS be refueled in Earth orbit before boosting to the NRHO, and this refueling requires a pre-positioned propellant depot in Earth orbit that is filled by multiple (at least 14[21]) tanker flights.[22] Two astronauts will transfer from Orion to Starship HLS, which will descend to the lunar surface and sustain them for several days before returning them to Orion. Following the return of the astronauts, Starship HLS will be disposed of by sending it intoheliocentric orbit.[23]
In October 2025, NASA opened bidding for the Moon landing contract to other companies due to delays encountered by SpaceX in developing a lunar lander.[2]
Upon the December 2017 ratification of thefirst Trump administration'sSpace Policy Directive 1, a crewed lunar campaign – later known as theArtemis program – using theOrion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) and a space station in lunar orbit was established. Originally billed as Exploration Mission-3 (EM-3), the goal of the mission was to send four astronauts into a near-rectilinearhalo orbit around the Moon and deliver theESPRIT and U.S. Utilization Module to the lunar space station, known as theGateway.[24]
By May 2019 however, ESPRIT and the U.S. Utilization Module – now called HALO – were re-manifested to fly separately on a commercial launch vehicle. Artemis III, as it was now billed, was repurposed to accelerate the first crewed lunar landing of the Artemis program by the end of 2024, with a profile that would have seen the Orion MPCV rendezvous with a minimal Gateway space station made up of only thePower and Propulsion Element and a small habitat/docking node with an attached commercially-procured lunar lander known as the Human Landing System (HLS).[25]
By early 2020, plans for Orion and the HLS to rendezvous with the Gateway were abandoned in favor of direct docking of Orion and HLS, and delivery of the Gateway after Artemis III.[26][27]
On August 10, 2021, anOffice of Inspector General audit reported a conclusion that the spacesuits would not be ready until April 2025 at the earliest, likely delaying the mission from the planned late 2024 launch date.[28]Axiom Space will design the space suits, with collaboration from fashion housePrada.[29]
On November 9, 2021, theAdministrator of NASA,Bill Nelson, confirmed that Artemis III will launch no earlier than 2025.[30]
In June 2023, Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems development, said that launch would "probably" be no earlier than 2026.[31][32] Later in December 2023, the GAO reported the mission was unlikely to occur before 2027.[33]
In January 2024, NASA officially delayed Artemis III to no earlier than September 2026.[34]
On itsthird test flight on March 14 2024, Starship reached its desired orbital trajectory for the first time.
In March 2024, NASA announced the scientific instruments to be included on the mission were a compact, autonomous seismometer suite called the Lunar Environment Monitoring Station, or LEMS. LEMS will characterize the regional structure of the Moon's crust and mantle to inform the development of lunar formation and evolution models. Another instrument is Lunar Effects on Agricultural Flora, a.k.a. LEAF, which will investigate the impact of the lunar surface environment on space crops. The third instrument is the Lunar Dielectric Analyzer, or LDA, an internationally contributed payload that will measure the regolith's ability to propagate an electric field.[35]
TheEuropean Service Module for the mission was completed and delivered to NASA in September 2024.[36]
In December 2024, NASA officially delayed Artemis III to no earlier than 2027.[37]
On May 2, 2025, thesecond Trump administration released its fiscal year 2026 budget proposal, which proposed canceling the SLS and Orion spacecraft after Artemis III due to the former's cost of $4 billion per launch.[38]
On July 4, 2025, PresidentDonald Trump signed theOne Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, which included provisions that allocated funding for continued development and operation of the SLS and Orion spacecraft beyond Artemis III.[39]
On August 18, 2025, NASA reported that it had begun processing the SLS core stage's completed bottom fifth (to which the engines will be attached) at the Kennedy Space Center'sVehicle Assembly Building, while the rest of the core stage, nearing completion atMichoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, Louisiana, was due to be shipped to Kennedy Space Center in mid-2026.[40]
In January 2026, NASA officially delayed Artemis III to no earlier than 2028.[41]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.Under the NASA plan, a mission to land on the Moon would take place during the third launch of the Space Launch System. Astronauts, including the first woman to walk on the Moon, Jim Bridenstine said, would first stop at the orbiting lunar outpost. They would then take a lander to the surface near its south pole, wherefrozen water exists within the craters.
NASA has removed the Lunar Gateway from its "critical path" to return humans to the Moon by 2024, according to a SpaceNews report.
... Loverro reiterated previous statements that the Gateway will not be used for the Artemis 3 mission that will attempt to land humans on the Moon to "make that mission have a higher probability of success".
... the suits would not be ready for flight until April 2025 at the earliest ... a lunar landing in late 2024 as NASA currently plans is not feasible.
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