Artemis 3 Becomes an Earth-Orbit Rehearsal for Moon Landers

On October 23, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced that Artemis 3 will not land on the Moon and will not leave Earth orbit. Instead, in summer 2027, three of the most powerful rockets ever built are planned to launch from Florida for a full dress rehearsal with a crew of four: three Americans and one European.

Why the mission changed

Artemis 1 flew without a crew, and Artemis 2 carried astronauts around the Moon earlier this year. Artemis 3 was supposed to be the landing. But both lander companies told NASA their landers would not be ready until late 2027 at the very earliest, and the lunar Gateway station had been dropped from the plan, leaving Orion with no place to meet its landers. Isaacman rebuilt the mission around what could be flown: a rehearsal in Earth orbit using test versions of both landers.

The planned sequence

• Blue Origin's New Glenn launches a stripped-down prototype of the Blue Moon Mark 2 lander into low Earth orbit.
• NASA's SLS lifts off from Kennedy Space Center with Orion and four astronauts. The upper stage that normally pushes Orion toward the Moon is replaced by a dummy section so the rocket keeps the same height.
• Orion chases down and docks with Blue Moon, which Blue Origin has never attempted in orbit. The crew stays attached for about 2 days, then enters the lander to test the cabin, controls and life support, practice emergency drills and try flying the lander while still attached.
• SpaceX launches a standard production Starship from its new complex at Kennedy, with a docking port on the nose. Orion docks for about 2 hours and separates; the astronauts do not go inside.

The Starship docking is meant to test size: nobody has docked a vehicle that large with a capsule this small.

Suits and healthcare

In the middle of the mission the crew plans to simulate cabin depressurization and rely on their orange suits, which were not fully tested in real emergencies on the previous mission. They will also test remote healthcare, performing medical checks on each other without help from mission control. The Moon suit is missing from the rehearsal: after NASA's own effort ran late and over budget, Axiom Space took the job, and that project has also struggled with deadlines. NASA's answer is a lighter suit for walks of about 2 hours.

Risks

This year a New Glenn rocket exploded during a test and damaged Blue Origin's only launch pad. NASA says launches should resume around the end of this year, and has no backup plan to fly Blue Moon on another rocket.

Choosing a lander for Artemis 4

After Artemis 3, NASA must choose a lander for Artemis 4, targeted for 2028. Blue Origin plans to fly its smaller Blue Moon Mark 1 cargo lander to the surface next year. SpaceX must land Starship back at its launch tower and transfer fuel between Starships in orbit.

Blue Origin's plan avoids refueling: four New Glenn launches, three carrying transfer stages and one the lander, joined in orbit. SpaceX's plan uses a fuel depot Starship, tanker flights and a lunar Starship, requiring at least six Starship launches, and NASA says possibly as many as eight because fuel boils off.