Artemis 3
Artemis 3 (officially Artemis III) is planned to be the first crewed Moon landing mission of the Artemis program and the first crewed flight of the Starship HLS lander. Artemis 3 is planned to be the second crewed Artemis mission and the first American crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in December 1972. In December 2023, the Government Accountability Office reported that the mission is not likely to occur before 2027; as of January 2024, NASA officially expects Artemis 3 to launch no earlier than September 2026 due to issues with the valves in Orion’s life support system.
Summary of the Artemis 3 mission plan | |
| Names | Exploration Mission-3 (2017–2019) |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Crewed lunar landing |
| Operator | NASA |
| Mission duration | ~30 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Orion 004 Starship HLS |
| Manufacturer | |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | September 2026 (planned) |
| Rocket | SLS Block 1 (Orion) |
| Launch site | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39B |
| Contractor | NASA |
| End of mission | |
| Landing site | Pacific Ocean (planned) |
| Moon lander | |
| Landing site | South polar region |
In August 2023, due to delays in the development of Starship, NASA officials expressed an openness to flying Artemis 3 without a crewed landing. In this case, the mission may become a crewed visit to the Lunar Gateway.