NASA Lays Out Three-Rocket Schedule Ahead of Crewed Moon Landing

Before NASA sends astronauts to the lunar surface, the agency plans a 14-day flight to check whether commercial landers can safely carry a crew. The mission would use three rockets and involve two landers, with a splashdown in the ocean after the flight. NASA aims for summer 2027, though the exact launch date has not been set.

Artemis program manager Jeremy Parsons described the effort during an October 23 press conference at Kennedy Space Center. The briefing in Florida ran for more than two hours. Parsons called the launch campaign "likely the most complicated launch campaign ever undertaken" and said it uses "three of the most powerful rockets in the world." Those rockets are NASA's Space Launch System, SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's New Glenn, all lifting off from the Space Coast.

The flight opens with a New Glenn launch carrying Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander into low Earth orbit. SLS follows with the Orion capsule and a four-person crew: NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio, plus European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano. Orion first flies through an orbit that dips as low as 18 miles and rises to 1,122 miles before moving to a circular track at about 345 miles. Parsons said the higher altitude serves thermal stability because Orion was built for deep space and handles cold and heat differently in low orbit.

Crew members spend two days checking Orion systems, then meet Blue Moon on Flight Day 3 at 273 miles up. The ships dock for two days while the astronauts enter the lander to check its environmental controls and life support. The work also covers pressure checks, emergency procedures and dual-vehicle control, along with tests for Mission Control. Around Flight Day 6, Starship launches with a docking adapter on its nose. The 171-foot upper stage reaches Orion on Flight Day 8 at 237 miles up for an encounter lasting about two hours. The crew stays in Orion for this meeting, which measures docking forces. After that, the mission runs six to nine more days before an ocean splashdown under parachutes. The nominal length is 14 days and can stretch to 17. Astronauts will evaluate survival suits, a step not completed during the 10-day Artemis II lunar flyby in April, plus health assessments, experiments and technology demonstrations.

The data feeds Artemis IV, which NASA plans to land near the moon's south pole in 2028. That would be the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972. NASA has not picked which lander flies that mission. Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency is keeping both options alive, adding, "We have no intention of surrendering a viable path to the surface before the data and schedule compels us to do so." Parsons said both providers plan 2028 lunar landing missions. With Blue Origin, Orion meets the lander in lunar orbit. With SpaceX, Starship would dock with the capsule in Earth orbit and push it toward the moon.

NASA has not named a launch date for Artemis III. The agency targets summer of next year, but Isaacman told staff in an internal memo last month that the mission sits about 90 days behind schedule. Parsons named the lunar lander supply chain as one of the largest challenges. He and Isaacman both said they expect to work through the issues. "We're moving with real speed and purpose right now," Isaacman said.