NASA Pushes Artemis Crewed Moon Landing to 2028

NASA has adjusted its Artemis program timeline, pushing the first crewed Moon landing since Apollo to early 2028 aboard Artemis IV. The decision follows the successful April 2026 completion of Artemis II, which sent four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—on a historic 10-day crewed lunar flyby loop.

Under the updated blueprint, Artemis III will no longer serve as the landing mission. Instead, it will conduct an uncrewed Earth-orbit test of SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System in 2027. The crewed surface mission—aiming to land the first woman and first person of color near the lunar south pole—has been reassigned to Artemis IV.

The strategic shift allows NASA to thoroughly validate critical lander architecture as it works to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon and secure American leadership in deep-space exploration.