The short answer
Artemis III is planned for 2027, and it is not a Moon landing. NASA restructured the mission in February 2026: instead of flying to the Moon, Orion and a crew of four will spend about two weeks in low Earth orbit rehearsing the one thing the programme has never done — rendezvous and docking between Orion and the commercial landers that will carry astronauts to the surface. It docks first with a Blue Origin Blue Moon test article, then with a SpaceX Starship pathfinder, then comes home.
The landing that Artemis III was originally going to be now belongs to Artemis IV, planned for 2028: a crew descends to the lunar south pole aboard the Starship Human Landing System, the first human steps on the Moon since December 1972. NASA has not set an exact date for either mission; both are year-level targets that depend on the hardware milestones listed further down.
What changed in February 2026
The original Artemis III plan — announced years ago and repeated in countless articles that are still online — was a crewed lunar landing using SpaceX's Starship as the lander. Two things made that untenable on the old schedule. The landers were not going to be ready for crew, and Orion had never docked with anything: neither Artemis I nor Artemis II carried a docking system, so the first Orion-to-lander docking would have happened in lunar orbit, on the mission that depended on it, with astronauts aboard.
NASA's answer was to split the risk. Artemis III became an Earth-orbit demonstration where an abort is a deorbit burn and a splashdown rather than a multi-day return from the Moon, and the landing moved to Artemis IV with a rehearsal already behind it. That is the same logic Apollo used: Apollo 9 tested the lunar module in Earth orbit before Apollo 10 and 11 took it to the Moon.
The practical effect for anyone following the programme: a page that says “Artemis III will land astronauts on the Moon” without a February 2026 caveat is describing a plan that no longer exists.
The crew
Named by NASA on June 9, 2026. Bob Hines (NASA) is the backup.
Parmitano's assignment as pilot makes this the first Artemis crew with a non-US astronaut in a flying role, reflecting ESA's contribution of Orion's service module. Bresnik and Rubio are both long-duration ISS veterans; Rubio holds the US single-flight duration record from his unplanned year-long stay in 2022-23.
The mission, step by step
- Launch. The Space Launch System lifts Orion and its four-person crew from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center into low Earth orbit.
- Checkout. Orion runs systems checkouts in orbit — life support, navigation, communications and the docking system it has never used with a crew aboard.
- First docking: Blue Origin. Orion performs a first-ever rendezvous and docking with a Blue Moon lander test article, and stays docked for about two days of joint operations.
- Second docking: SpaceX. After separating, Orion rendezvous and docks with a Starship pathfinder for roughly a day of docked operations.
- Return. Orion undocks, deorbits and splashes down in the Pacific. NASA expects roughly two weeks in total, with the exact length set in real time by how the rendezvous and docked operations go.
What has to happen first
The milestones NASA itself lists, plus the one that sits with the contractors. Any of these slipping moves the launch.
Integration of the crew module and the ESA-built service module at Kennedy.
The hardware that makes this mission possible: Orion has flown twice but has never docked with anything.
The heat shield was the focus of post-Artemis-I scrutiny; Artemis II flew the updated approach successfully in April 2026.
Underway at Kennedy as of summer 2026, with milestones running through the rest of the year.
Both companies must deliver dockable vehicles to orbit on their own rockets — New Glenn and Starship respectively — ahead of Orion's launch.
The Artemis tracker keeps these milestones current alongside the full programme timeline.
So when do humans land on the Moon?
Artemis IV, 2028, on NASA's current plan. A crew rides Orion to lunar orbit, transfers to the Starship Human Landing System, descends to the south polar region, and returns the same way. It is also the first mission of the Gateway era, docking with the lunar space station.
Two things gate that date beyond Artemis III itself: SpaceX must fly an uncrewed Starship HLS demonstration landing on the Moon first, and Starship must demonstrate the in-orbit propellant transfer that a lunar mission requires. Both are tracked on our Starship tracker. Anyone quoting a 2028 landing as settled is ahead of the hardware.
Starship HLS and Blue Moon
NASA deliberately bought two landers. SpaceX's Starship HLS holds the contract for the first landing; it is a lunar variant of the Starship upper stage, refuelled in Earth orbit by tanker flights before departing for the Moon. Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mk2 is the “sustaining” lander for later missions, launched on New Glenn — a second supplier so the programme never again depends on one company for surface access.
Artemis III tests docking with test versions of one or both. Which flies, and in what order, is itself a status signal for the two programmes; our Blue Origin vs SpaceX guide follows both companies' progress with live launch data.
Latest Artemis news (live)
missions
launchesArtemis III: Our Next Step Back to the Moon
For Earth, With Love: Artemis II
Artemis III FAQ
When is Artemis III launching?
NASA's current plan is 2027. The agency has not published a specific date; its June 9, 2026 crew announcement says the mission will "conduct a series of challenging tests in Earth orbit in 2027." Treat any exact date you see elsewhere as speculation until NASA sets one.
Is Artemis III landing on the Moon?
No. In February 2026 NASA restructured Artemis III from a lunar landing into an Earth-orbit demonstration: Orion will rendezvous and dock with the commercial landers from Blue Origin and SpaceX in low Earth orbit. The first crewed landing since Apollo 17 is now planned for Artemis IV.
Why was Artemis III changed?
Because the landers were not going to be ready for a crewed lunar landing on the original schedule, and rendezvous and docking between Orion and a lander had never been demonstrated. Rehearsing those operations in Earth orbit, where an abort is a deorbit burn rather than a multi-day return from the Moon, retires the riskiest unknowns before a landing depends on them.
Who is on the Artemis III crew?
Commander Randy Bresnik (NASA), Pilot Luca Parmitano (ESA), and Mission Specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio (both NASA), announced June 9, 2026. Bob Hines (NASA) is the backup. Parmitano is the first non-US astronaut assigned to an Artemis crew as a pilot.
How long is the Artemis III mission?
About two weeks, according to NASA, with the precise duration decided during the flight based on the launch, the rendezvous and how long the docked operations take.
Where does Artemis III launch from?
Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on the Space Launch System rocket — the same pad and vehicle as Artemis I and II. Our Cape Canaveral launch guide covers how to watch a launch from the Space Coast.
Does Artemis III go to the Moon at all?
No — it stays in low Earth orbit for the whole mission. Artemis II, which flew in April 2026, was the crewed lunar flyby; Artemis III tests the landers in Earth orbit; Artemis IV goes back to the Moon to land.
When will NASA land astronauts on the Moon?
Artemis IV, planned for 2028, is the first crewed landing at the lunar south pole, using the SpaceX Starship Human Landing System. That date depends on Artemis III going well and on Starship completing an uncrewed lunar landing demonstration first.
Which lander will be used for the landing?
The SpaceX Starship HLS is contracted for the first landing on Artemis IV. Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mk2 is the "sustaining" lander NASA bought as a second supplier for later missions. Artemis III tests docking with test versions of one or both.
Did Artemis II succeed?
Yes. Artemis II flew April 1-10, 2026 with Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since 1972. Our Artemis II live-blog archive has the full mission record.
Is the Lunar Gateway part of Artemis III?
No. The restructured Artemis III stays in Earth orbit and does not visit Gateway. Gateway-era operations begin with the landing missions that follow.
Could Artemis III slip past 2027?
It could; every Artemis mission so far has moved. The prerequisites section of this page lists what has to be finished first — Orion integration, SLS stacking, and both companies delivering dockable test vehicles — and the live news rail below will show any change the day it is announced.
Keep going
- Artemis programme tracker — every mission, every milestone, live news.
- Artemis II live-blog archive — the April 2026 lunar flyby, as it happened.
- Starship tracker — the lander's progress.
- Watch a launch from Cape Canaveral — where Artemis III lifts off.
Sources: NASA's Artemis III mission page and its June 9, 2026 crew announcement. Dates are NASA's stated year-level targets, not launch dates; this page is updated when NASA updates them.