ARTEMIS II COMPLETEARTEMIS III IN DEVELOPMENT
Artemis Program Tracker
When will Artemis III land on the Moon? It will not. As of 24 Sep 2026, Artemis III is a crewed docking test with lander pathfinders in Earth orbit, dated 2027 (NASA target: mid-2027), and not a landing. The first crewed landing since 1972 is Artemis IV, dated 2028 (NASA target: early 2028). What Artemis III does instead
NASA's return-to-the-Moon program, tracked live: the full mission timeline, Artemis III's restructured Earth-orbit demonstration, hardware milestones, and a continuously-updating feed of Artemis-related news, refreshed automatically as new coverage publishes.
Next MissionYear-Level Target: Date Not Firm
Artemis III: Earth-Orbit Lander Docking Test
Orion docks with Blue Origin and SpaceX lander pathfinders in Earth orbit, rehearsing rendezvous and docking ahead of Artemis IV's lunar landing in 2028.
Mission Timeline
Artemis I through the long-horizon Moon program. The dated, sourced version, with the landers, Moon Base and Gateway, is our Artemis program timeline, and China's side is the China Moon landing plan.
Sources: NASA release 26-022 (Feb 27, 2026) and its Mar 3, 2026 architecture update; NASA's Artemis III crew release (Jun 9, 2026); NASA Artemis II flight-day blogs (Apr 2026); GAO-26-108556 (Jul 23, 2026). Dates are NASA's year-level targets, not launch dates. Fact-checked Sep 23, 2026.
- Artemis ICOMPLETENov-Dec 2022
Uncrewed test flight around the Moon
The first integrated flight of SLS and Orion, a 25-day uncrewed mission that sent Orion around the Moon and back, proving the launch vehicle and spacecraft ahead of putting a crew aboard.
- Artemis IICOMPLETEApr 1-10, 2026 (US Eastern), complete
Crewed lunar flyby
The first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen (CSA) launched Apr 1 at 6:35 pm EDT (22:35 UTC), flew around the Moon, and splashed down off San Diego on Apr 10 at 8:07 pm EDT (00:07 UTC, Apr 11). On Apr 6 they reached 252,756 miles (406,771 km) from Earth, the farthest humans have travelled, beating Apollo 13 (NASA).
Read the full live-blog archive - Artemis IIIIN PROGRESS2027 (NASA target: mid-2027)
Earth-orbit lander docking test (restructured)
Restructured by NASA on Feb 27, 2026: instead of a lunar landing, Orion and a crew of four stay in low Earth orbit and dock with a Blue Origin Blue Moon Mark 2 HLS pathfinder (about two days) and a SpaceX Starship HLS pathfinder (about a day), rehearsing rendezvous and docking ahead of the Artemis IV landing. About two weeks in total. Crew (including ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano) announced Jun 9, 2026.
Hardware & readiness milestones
Crew announcedCOMPLETEJun 9, 2026: Commander Randy Bresnik, Pilot Luca Parmitano (ESA), Mission Specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio; backup Bob Hines. Parmitano is the first ESA astronaut assigned to an Artemis mission (Canada's Jeremy Hansen already flew on Artemis II).
SLS booster stacking & core stage enginesIN PROGRESSThe core stage arrived at Kennedy on Apr 27, 2026. Booster segment stacking on the mobile launcher began in early July and was more than halfway done by Aug 27; RS-25 engine installation into the core stage began in late August (NASA).
Orion crew and service modulesIN PROGRESSThe Artemis III Orion crew and service modules were joined by Aug 5, 2026 (NASA); integration continues alongside SLS stacking.
Starship HLS pathfinder in orbitUPCOMINGSpaceX must put a Starship HLS pathfinder in Earth orbit for Orion to dock with. Starship first reached orbit on Flight 14 on Sep 28, 2026, a Starlink flight, SpaceX reported; no HLS pathfinder has flown, and ship-to-ship propellant transfer has not been attempted. The uncrewed lunar landing demo gates the Artemis IV landing, not this test.
Blue Moon Mark 2 pathfinderUPCOMINGBlue Origin must fly a Blue Moon Mark 2 HLS pathfinder on New Glenn. A New Glenn exploded during a static-fire test on May 28, 2026; NASA's Administrator has said it should return to flight by the end of 2026. The Mk1 cargo lander (Moon Base I) is now due in the first part of 2027 (NASA).
- Artemis IVUPCOMING2028 (NASA target: early 2028)
First crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17
The landing originally planned for Artemis III moves here: four astronauts fly Orion to lunar orbit and two descend to the lunar south pole region, the first boots on the Moon in over half a century. NASA has not yet named the lander: "lander readiness will determine which provider" carries the crew, SpaceX's Starship HLS or Blue Origin's Blue Moon (NASA, Mar 3, 2026).
- Artemis V+FUTUREArtemis V by late 2028
Landings about once a year, and the Moon Base
NASA anticipates launching Artemis V "by late 2028, and future missions about once per year thereafter" (NASA, Mar 3, 2026). Surface work runs under the Moon Base plan unveiled at NASA's Ignition event on Mar 24, 2026: Phase 2 (2029-2032) adds power, communications and JAXA's pressurized rover; Phase 3 (2033 and beyond) adds Italian Space Agency multi-purpose habitats and a CSA lunar utility vehicle, aiming at long-duration human presence. The same day NASA paused Gateway, the planned lunar-orbit station.
Moon Base tracker
Latest Artemis News
Live datavia NASA + industry feedsEvery Artemis, Orion, Starship HLS, and Blue Moon story from our live news feed: no manual curation, updated automatically as coverage publishes.
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