NASA outlines three-rocket plan for Artemis 3 lander tests
Four astronauts would test Blue Origin’s lander and conduct a separate docking with SpaceX’s Starship, rather than land on the moon.
NASA plans three heavy-lift rocket launches from Florida over two weeks for Artemis 3, sending four astronauts into Earth orbit to test spacecraft from Blue Origin and SpaceX. The revised mission replaces a planned lunar landing, with the next crewed moon landing pushed to 2028.
Blue Origin would launch first, using New Glenn to place a test version of its Blue Moon Mark 2 lander in orbit about 273 miles above Earth. NASA would follow with its Space Launch System (SLS), carrying Orion and the crew to an initial altitude of around 345 miles before meeting the lander.
The crew comprises NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas, alongside European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano. After a couple of days of checks, they would enter Blue Moon Mark 2 to assess its atmosphere, pressure, software, flight controls and life-support functions.
The astronauts would then return to Orion and separate from the Blue Origin vehicle. SpaceX would conduct the third launch with Starship version 3, equipped with a docking system at its forward end for a meeting with Orion.
That encounter would last just two hours. The astronauts would remain outside the Ship capsule, checking the spacecraft’s interactions and docking and undocking operations. Afterward, the crew could spend around five additional days in orbit before returning home.
NASA says the mission would assess Orion’s compatibility with two different commercial lander designs and evaluate its new Orion Crew Survival System suits for deep-space missions.
A firm launch date remains unclear. NASA Watch reported that NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman acknowledged a three-month delay in an agency-wide memo. The best-case schedule places Artemis 3 in summer 2027, allowing two lunar landing opportunities for Artemis 4 in 2028.
