NASA Sets 2027 Lunar Lander Test Mission Before 2028 Moon Landing

NASA has outlined new timelines for SpaceX and Blue Origin to ready their lunar landers for the Artemis program. Steve Creech, acting manager of NASA's Human Landing System Program, presented the development schedules at the Astronautical Congress in Antalya on October 5.

The agency is targeting a crewed lunar landing by the end of 2028. Before that, Artemis III will launch four astronauts aboard Orion to low Earth orbit in the third quarter of 2027 to test both companies' landers.

“We will not delude ourselves into believing that more time, more money, and flying less will somehow make our work safer or more achievable.”

NASA overhauled its Artemis architecture in February to maintain its moon landing goal. Artemis III was moved up a year and repurposed for low-Earth orbit vehicle tests scheduled to fly next year.

The estimated 14-day test mission will involve three massive rockets and multiple docking and undocking operations between Orion and experimental vehicles. Jeremy Parsons, manager of NASA's Artemis Program, called it likely the most complicated launch campaign ever undertaken.

NASA chief Jared Isaacman said the agency will not believe that more time, more money, and flying less will make the work safer or more achievable. He warned vendors that NASA personnel will knock on doors to solve problems when schedules break.

Artemis IV is slated to mark the first astronaut moon landing since Apollo ended in 1972. The moon is 238,855 miles, or 384,400 kilometers, away from Earth.

SpaceX and Blue Origin each hold multibillion-dollar contracts to develop vehicles capable of ferrying astronauts from Orion to the lunar surface.