Put it in pencil: NASA's Artemis III mission will launch no earlier than late 2027

NASA officially delayed Artemis III to no earlier than 2027 in December 2024 , with the launch currently targeted for Q2 2027 . The mission will launch crew on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft, which will rendezvous in Earth orbit with one or both commercially developed Human Landing System vehicles from SpaceX and Blue Origin . The mission will test rendezvous and docking operations and may also include evaluation of the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) space suit .

Source: Ars Technica | 2026-04-28