Key milestones in NASA’s Artemis moon program
March 30 (Reuters) – NASA’s Artemis program is a U.S. effort to send astronauts back to the moon for the first time since the Apollo era and eventually establish a permanent human presence there; Washington has framed it as a central goal to maintain space leadership amid growing competition from China. Key milestones in the Artemis program include:
2017–2018: Program revived
During President Donald Trump’s first administration, NASA was instructed to refocus on human spaceflights on the Moon after years of prioritizing Mars. The lunar effort will be built around the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule, designed under the previous hardware for the first time since the cancellation of the Constellation program, with Boeing serving as prime contractor for the SLS core stage, Northrop Grumman producing the rocket’s solid fuel boosters, and Lockheed Martin building the Orion spacecraft.
2019: Accelerated timeline set
In 2019, the White House set a goal of landing astronauts on the moon by 2024. Although the “Moon to Mars” program would not be named Artemis until months later, NASA outlined a series of three missions: Artemis I, an uncrewed test flight; Artemis II, a crewed lunar mission; and Artemis III, landing on the lunar surface.
2020–2021: Delays mount, moon landing selected
Technical difficulties, cost overruns, and disruptions related to the COVID pandemic have caused schedules to be delayed for the SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, and launch infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center. NASA has chosen SpaceX’s Starship as the program’s first lunar lander, maintaining its 2024 landing target but acknowledging that may no longer be achievable.
2022: Artemis I’m flying
In November 2022, NASA launched Artemis I, sending an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the moon and back during a 25-day mission. The flight tested deep space navigation, communications and Orion’s heat shield during high-speed reentry, a critical step before flying with astronauts.
2023–2024: Program recalibrated
Jeff BezosBlue Origin has been selected as NASA’s second moon landing provider in 2023, following months of legal wrangling over the agency’s decision to select only SpaceX’s Starship. Then, under President Joe Biden’s administration, NASA reset Artemis’ timelines, pushing the first crewed Moon landing to 2027. The agency continued to defend the program during budget reviews while emphasizing China’s parallel moon goals.
2024: Artemis II crew determined
NASA announced four astronauts for Artemis II: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. The mission will be the first crewed trip to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
2026: Artemis program overhauled under new leadership
After taking office, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced a major overhaul of the Artemis program, canceling plans for the Lunar Gateway, a space station intended to orbit the moon, and directing its components to build a permanent base on the lunar surface. It also added an additional crewed mission before the moon landing, arguing that the extra flight would help crews and ground crews build operational “muscle memory” in deep space before attempting sustained surface missions.
April 2026: Artemis II mission around the moon
In April 2026, NASA is preparing to launch Artemis II, a roughly 10-day mission that will send four astronauts on a crewed Moon flight, the first such journey since the Apollo era. The mission will not land on the lunar surface, but it will push astronauts farther from Earth than any human flight and will test Orion’s life support systems, navigation, communications and heat shield performance in deep space — capabilities that NASA says are necessary before landing on the moon.
Later this decade: Moon landing planned
Artemis is intended to return astronauts to the lunar surface using a commercially developed lander; NASA says this is necessary for future missions to Mars. Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are racing to provide a Moon lander as part of NASA’s effort to enlist private companies to provide hardware for deep space exploration. The first Artemis crew to walk on the moon is expected to receive the first lander to complete development.
(Reporting by Joe Brock in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
