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NASA updates lander plans for Moon landings, finally solves long-festering Orion issue
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NASA has unveiled a revised plan to return astronauts to the lunar surface under its Artemis Program, targeting a landing as soon as 2028. During a lengthy news conference on Friday, agency officials detailed changes for SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon landers. The announcement marked the first time NASA laid out the updated architecture and acknowledged substantial shifts.
The Artemis program aims to reestablish human presence on the Moon. NASA still anticipates launching Artemis III—a demonstration involving docking with both Blue Moon and Starship near Earth—by summer 2027. The agency is tracking toward a 2028 launch of Artemis IV, which would include an actual lunar landing.
For SpaceX, the revised plan calls for Orion to dock with the Starship lander in high-Earth orbit before transiting to the Moon. SpaceX had sought to remove a requirement to dock with Orion in a near-rectilinear halo orbit, which required more energy and posed other difficulties. NASA’s cancellation of the Lunar Gateway solved that problem for SpaceX.
For Blue Origin, the architecture includes four launches of the New Glenn rocket but no spacecraft-to-spacecraft refuelings. The plan also allows the Blue Moon lander to rendezvous with Orion in low-lunar orbit. These adjustments are intended to streamline operations for the lander companies.
“This is an achievable path we are on right now,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said. “We have the mandate, we have the resources, and the support from our stakeholders to be able to execute.” Isaacman said NASA leadership reviewed Artemis elements to help companies accelerate their plans.
The changes raise questions about whether NASA can hold to its dates. The agency’s flexibility may help, but technical and schedule challenges remain. NASA continues to track summer 2027 for Artemis III and 2028 for Artemis IV, with success depending on the landers meeting milestones.
