NASA’s Artemis III mission is tracking about three months behind schedule, putting pressure on plans for a 2027 launch and subsequent crewed lunar landings in 2028.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman disclosed the setback in an internal message to agency staff. “Right now, we are ~90 days broken against the Artemis III schedule,” he wrote, while stressing that decisions could still be made to recover some of the lost time.
The memo was obtained and published by Keith Cowing, editor of NASA Watch, who monitors the US space agency’s operations. NASA had not publicly commented on the message by Thursday.
Artemis III mission remains focused on orbital tests
Artemis III is no longer intended to put astronauts on the lunar surface. Instead, the mission is planned as a crewed test flight in Earth orbit, where NASA will assess rendezvous and docking procedures with lunar lander systems being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin.
The mission is designed to demonstrate technologies and operations needed for Artemis IV, which NASA identifies as the first planned crewed mission to the lunar South Pole.
NASA’s official Artemis III plans call for four astronauts to launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Orion spacecraft, carried by the Space Launch System rocket. The crew would test one or both commercial lander systems before returning to Earth.
The schedule is dependent on the readiness of hardware being developed by the two contractors. A NASA inspector general’s report published in March said technical and development problems affecting the human landing systems would delay planned Artemis launch dates.
Cowing said the landers could be contributing to the current difficulties, although he described NASA as the most prepared of the three main parties involved because it already has a functioning spacecraft and is assembling the rocket.
Summer 2027 launch remains NASA’s best-case scenario
Isaacman told staff that the most favourable outcome would still see Artemis III launch in the summer of 2027, preserving as many as two opportunities for lunar landings the following year.
He also acknowledged that only one lunar landing might be possible in 2028 if that offered the safest route to completing the programme. NASA’s leadership has said it will not launch until the agency and its commercial partners are ready.
The new timetable adds to the pressure on the United States as it seeks to maintain its lead in lunar exploration amid growing competition from China. For now, the agency faces a race to solve the remaining technical and scheduling problems without compromising the safety of the astronauts.
