Artemis III moon mission could launch 2027, but astronaut warns 'anything can happen'

NASA’s third Artemis mission could still launch next summer as planned, but an Artemis III astronaut said there is still a risk because work remains on the two lunar landers needed for the flight, one of the mission’s astronauts told Reuters. The mission will be the first in the Artemis program to use lunar landers, with SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon set to be involved. Unlike Artemis II, the spacecraft will remain in Earth orbit to carry out crewed docking demonstrations with Orion, the capsule responsible for transferring the astronaut crew to the landers after they reach space.

Artemis III mission specialist Andre Douglas said in an interview on Monday that the key issue is trusting the team to keep working through the remaining development, adding that "anything can happen" when asked whether the mission is still on track for launch next year. Douglas, 40, was named alongside fellow NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik and Frank Rubio, as well as Italian astronaut 5. Luca Parmitano and the rest of the Artemis III crew were named this year for a mission NASA sees as a key rehearsal before it tries to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028 with Artemis IV.

The two companies' lunar landers have already slipped from their schedules as they face a long list of difficult development tasks, including proving they can store and carefully move super-cooled propellants in space and dock with another spacecraft in orbit. Douglas said those are among the main milestones the contractors must clear before the mission. Some industry sources doubt the landers will be ready for a 2027 mission, but NASA has remained upbeat, with administrator Jared Isaacman pointing to solid progress on the parts NASA controls most directly, the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System rocket.

Starship and Blue Moon have received billions of dollars in NASA funding, but their development is still privately managed under a commercial contracting model that gives NASA limited control over how quickly and in what way the companies build the landers. "We just have to keep putting our heads down, leaning forward, and trying to meet the" Douglas said the ideal timeline would be June of next year, but he cautioned that anything can happen. He said he works with both SpaceX and Blue Origin on lander development and that NASA officials plan to meet with the two companies over the next few months to assess spacecraft readiness.

He said Artemis III was originally planned as the program's first moon landing until February, when Isaacman made sweeping changes that turned it into an extra practice mission. He added that the agency is under pressure to return to the moon quickly as it competes with China, which is targeting 2030 for its first moon landing. Artemis III will be Douglas's first trip to space. He said he spent years shadowing the Artemis II crew as a backup and that his background as a systems engineering scholar, naval architect and former US Coast Guard member taught him to adapt to rapid change.

Douglas said the military taught him that "the plan only lasts for 10 minutes" and that expectations can change quickly. com; 7034696632;)