Announcement of NASA shake-up Artemis III not to land on the Moon in 2027 came after the agency’s decision Artemis II the mission encountered problems, delaying its launch
By Claire Cameron edited by Lee Billings
NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
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NASA will not send astronauts to the Moon in 2027, space agency administrator Jared Isaacman announced Friday. Instead, the agency will reorganize its projects Artemis III mission to test on-orbit capabilities such as astronaut use microgravity spacesuits and rendezvous with one of the spacecraft NASA hopes to use as a lunar lander.
NASA will then attempt to perform two crewed moon landings in 2028 as part of Artemis IV And Artemis V. The move represents a major change in timeline for the agency, which has been pushing for years to Artemis III the mission that will land astronauts on the Moon for the first time in more than half a century.
Announcement comes after next NASA project Artemis II assignment encountered further problems with its rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), last week. As a result, NASA had to scrap a launch planned for March, which was already behind its original schedule. The SLS, which now has helium flow problems, had already encountered hydrogen leaks and other problems that caused its launch window to slip earlier this year – and similar problems had caused months of delays for the rocket’s first launch on the uncrewed Artemis I mission. The next launch window for Artemis II opens in early April.
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At a news conference Friday, Isaacman said NASA is confident that increasing the cadence of SLS launches to about once every 10 months will result in less risk and more mission success.
“I’m excited because I think we have a way here to get the job done in the time frame that we have targeted right now,” Isaacman said. NASA needs to rebuild its “core competencies,” he said, adding that the agency will work to standardize SLS production so that the time between launches can be reduced as much as possible. Currently, the period between the last SLS launch of Artemis I and future missions will be more than three years.
“There’s simply a right way and a wrong way to do it,” Isaacman said. “Launching every three years and making massive changes to the vehicle configuration is not a recipe for success.”
Editor’s Note (02/27/26): This is a developing story and may be updated.
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