NASA plans three-rocket orbital test to clear path for 2028 moon landing

NASA has laid out a detailed operational plan for Artemis III, a complex test campaign designed to validate commercial lunar landers before the agency attempts a crewed moon landing. The agency presented these specifics on Oct. 23 during a two-hour press conference at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the most granular look at the mission to date.

The sequence of events is designed to stress-test multiple systems simultaneously. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket will launch first, delivering its Blue Moon lander into low Earth orbit. NASA’s Space Launch System will follow, carrying four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft. The crew consists of NASA’s Randy Bresnik, Andre Douglas, and Frank Rubio, along with European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano.

According to program manager Jeremy Parsons, the SLS will initially place Orion in a highly elliptical orbit ranging from 18 miles to 1,122 miles in altitude. The capsule will subsequently adjust itself to a circular orbit at approximately 345 miles. Parsons explained that this step is critical for thermal stability, as Orion was engineered for the harsher thermal environment of deep space rather than low Earth orbit.

The crew will spend the first two days verifying Orion’s systems. On Flight Day 3, at an altitude of 273 miles, they will dock with Blue Moon. The astronauts will open the hatch and enter the lander for a two-day period to evaluate environmental controls and life support. Teams on the ground will test emergency scenarios, dual-vehicle control, and atmospheric pressure holding capabilities.

The campaign continues around Flight Day 6 with the launch of SpaceX’s Starship, which will feature a specialized docking adapter. The 171-foot upper stage is expected to meet Orion on Flight Day 8 at an altitude of 237 miles. This interaction will last roughly two hours. The crew will not enter Starship, but the docking event will provide data on docking forces and vehicle interaction.

Following the undocking from Starship, the mission will proceed for another six to nine days before a parachute-assisted ocean splashdown. The nominal duration is 14 days, though the timeline could extend to 17 days. During this final phase, the crew will evaluate survival suits, a task left incomplete during the 10-day Artemis II lunar flyby in April, alongside health assessments and technology demonstrations.

These results are intended to de-risk Artemis IV, which is scheduled to land astronauts near the moon’s south pole in 2028. That mission would mark the first crewed lunar touchdown since Apollo 17 in 1972. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman stated that the agency is keeping both commercial partners in the running, noting that neither Blue Origin nor SpaceX has yet secured the contract for the 2028 landing.

The specific launch date for Artemis III remains unconfirmed, with NASA targeting the summer of next year. However, Isaacman acknowledged in an internal memo last month that the mission is running approximately 90 days behind schedule. Parsons identified the lunar lander supply chain as a major challenge, though he expressed confidence in the team’s ability to resolve these issues before launch.