Amid the sensational NASA budget cut proposals taking place in the US at the moment, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has refined the Artemis III launch date to “late 2027.”
Isaacman was speaking during the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing earlier this week, and said the agency has received responses from both SpaceX and Blue Origin to the effect that both vendors would be able “to meet our needs for a late 2027 rendezvous, docking and test the interoperability of both landers in advance of a landing attempt in 2028.”
During NASA’s Ignition event, 2027 was repeatedly mentioned as the target for Artemis III, so a late 2027 date meets that goal. However, Isaacman also said the agency intends to increase the cadence of Artemis launches and close the launch gap to a matter of months, rather than the over three years between Artemis I and Artemis II. Artemis III, being set for late 2027, is a bit more than mere months after Artemis II.
The core stage for the Space Launch System (SLS) that will launch Artemis III was rolled out from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Monday for shipping to Kennedy Space Center, and wheeled into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for processing. The engine section is already there, and the first shipment of Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) segments arrived on April 13. As such, engineers are well on the way to putting Artemis III together.
While Isaacman did not spell it out, there is a good chance the late 2027 target is driven by SpaceX’s and Blue Origin’s needs. Under the original plan, Artemis III was the landing mission, but it became painfully clear last year that SpaceX was unable to get the lunar version of its Starship vehicle ready in time. It has yet to demonstrate it can get a Starship into orbit, let alone show off the Starship-to-Starship fuel transfer required for a lunar mission.
Isaacman repurposed Artemis III to demonstrate whatever SpaceX and Blue Origin could get working in 2027 in Low Earth Orbit.
The date for Artemis III has always been vague in official announcements. However, Isaacman’s desire to get the gap between missions down to months rather than years suggests the first half of 2027 was an option. Given the latest stated scheduled, the question is whether SpaceX and Blue Origin will be ready in time. The Register contacted both companies about their plans, but neither responded.
A lunar landing in 2028 is a very ambitious goal, in the same way that a 2027 landing was ambitious to the point of being impossible. The confirmation of a late 2027 rendezvous and docking test in Low Earth Orbit means there really will be mere months – barely a year – before Artemis IV is ready to return humans to the lunar surface. ®
