Nasa overhauls Artemis mission amid setbacks in moon race with China

South China Morning Post · Feb 27, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Nasa is shaking up its Artemis mission to the moon, cancelling a multibillion-dollar Boeing upgrade to the centrepiece SLS rocket and slotting in a test flight closer to Earth as the programme remains beset by delays and cost overruns.The changes announced on Friday mean that Nasa is essentially swapping the actual moon landing for an additional test mission staged closer to Earth – while insisting the 2028 deadline for a lunar touchdown remains unchanged.Artemis III, which was supposed to be the moon landing and is now pulled forward to 2027, will see Boeing’s Space Launch System rocket launch a crew aboard Lockheed Martin’s Orion capsule.The craft will then dock with one or two of the commercially supplied landers in Earth orbit, Nasa said. Artemis IV will land a crew on the moon a year later.Nasa said the goal of the changed sequence is to fly more frequently to counteract one of the biggest criticisms of Artemis: the slow development pace of its SLS rocket.Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman speaks about the Artemis programme at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Friday. Photo: ReutersThe space agency has been preparing to launch the rocket in coming weeks, with a crew of four set to fly around the moon, though that mission is now delayed by weeks and potentially months because of technical issues.

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Engadgetabout 4 hours ago

NASA overhauls Artemis program, delaying Moon landing to 2028

NASA is making major changes to its Artemis Moon program. On Friday, Administrator Jared Isaacman announced the space agency would carry out an additional flight in 2027 to test commercial lunar landers from SpaceX and/or Blue Origin. The new mission will take the place of Artemis 3, which previously would have seen NASA attempt to land on the Moon for the first time since 1972. The flight will also see the agency test a new spacesuit made by Axiom Space. As part of the new plan, the redesigned Artemis 3 mission will give NASA the chance to test at least one lander in the relative safety of low Earth orbit. NASA will attempt to return humans to the Moon during Artemis 4 sometime in 2028, with the potential for another mission as early as later that same year. Per CBS News, the decision comes after NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Plan said the agency's existing mission plan was too risky. "NASA must standardize its approach, increase flight rate safely, and execute on the President’s national space policy. With credible competition from our greatest geopolitical adversary increasing by the day, we need to move faster, eliminate delays, and achieve our objectives," said Isaacman. "Standardizing vehicle configuration, increasing flight rate and progressing through objectives in a logical, phased approach, is how we achieved the near-impossible in 1969 and it is how we will do it again." The change of plan also comes as Artemis 2 has faced multiple delays in recent months. The Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket has, once again, proven to be temperamental. NASA had planned to launch Artemis 2 in early February, but pushed the flight back after it caught a hydrogen leak during a fueling test. More recently, NASA delayed the mission to give its engineers time to fix a helium pressurization issue in the upper stage of the SLS. At the earliest, the mission can now get underway on April 1. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engad

Hacker Newsabout 4 hours ago

NASA announces major overhaul of Artemis program amid safety concerns, delays

Article URL: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-artemis-moon-program-overhaul/ Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47182483 Points: 19 # Comments: 8

New Scientistabout 4 hours ago

NASA’s Artemis moon exploration programme is getting a major makeover

As it faces yet another set of delays, NASA’s Artemis programme is being shaken up, delaying an actual moon landing in favour of smaller, faster steps forward

Ars Technicaabout 6 hours ago

NASA shakes up its Artemis program to speed up lunar return

"Launching SLS every three and a half years or so is not a recipe for success."

Gizmodo4 days ago

After a Near-Perfect Test, NASA’s Artemis 2 Rocket Is Rolling Back to the Garage

NASA has delayed the launch of this historic mission to April, but repairs could take even longer.

DW News4 days ago

NASA's Artemis II moon rocket back to the hangar

A series of fueling issues has delayed the much-anticipated launch of NASA's Artemis II moon mission, the first to carry astronauts since the Apollo moon landings. The Space Launch System rocket is grounded until April.

Nasa overhauls Artemis mission amid setbacks in moon race with China

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NASA overhauls Artemis program, delaying Moon landing to 2028

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NASA's Artemis II moon rocket back to the hangar

Nasa overhauls Artemis mission amid setbacks in moon race with China

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NASA overhauls Artemis program, delaying Moon landing to 2028

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Engadgetabout 4 hours ago
NASA overhauls Artemis program, delaying Moon landing to 2028
NASA is making major changes to its Artemis Moon program. On Friday, Administrator Jared Isaacman announced the space agency would carry out an additional flight in 2027 to test commercial lunar landers from SpaceX and/or Blue Origin. The new mission will take the place of Artemis 3, which previously would have seen NASA attempt to land on the Moon for the first time since 1972. The flight will also see the agency test a new spacesuit made by Axiom Space. As part of the new plan, the redesigned Artemis 3 mission will give NASA the chance to test at least one lander in the relative safety of low Earth orbit. NASA will attempt to return humans to the Moon during Artemis 4 sometime in 2028, with the potential for another mission as early as later that same year. Per CBS News, the decision comes after NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Plan said the agency's existing mission plan was too risky. "NASA must standardize its approach, increase flight rate safely, and execute on the President’s national space policy. With credible competition from our greatest geopolitical adversary increasing by the day, we need to move faster, eliminate delays, and achieve our objectives," said Isaacman. "Standardizing vehicle configuration, increasing flight rate and progressing through objectives in a logical, phased approach, is how we achieved the near-impossible in 1969 and it is how we will do it again." The change of plan also comes as Artemis 2 has faced multiple delays in recent months. The Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket has, once again, proven to be temperamental. NASA had planned to launch Artemis 2 in early February, but pushed the flight back after it caught a hydrogen leak during a fueling test. More recently, NASA delayed the mission to give its engineers time to fix a helium pressurization issue in the upper stage of the SLS. At the earliest, the mission can now get underway on April 1. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engad

Hacker Newsabout 4 hours ago
NASA announces major overhaul of Artemis program amid safety concerns, delays
Article URL: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-artemis-moon-program-overhaul/ Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47182483 Points: 19 # Comments: 8

New Scientistabout 4 hours ago
NASA’s Artemis moon exploration programme is getting a major makeover
As it faces yet another set of delays, NASA’s Artemis programme is being shaken up, delaying an actual moon landing in favour of smaller, faster steps forward

Ars Technicaabout 6 hours ago
NASA shakes up its Artemis program to speed up lunar return
"Launching SLS every three and a half years or so is not a recipe for success."

Gizmodo4 days ago
After a Near-Perfect Test, NASA’s Artemis 2 Rocket Is Rolling Back to the Garage
NASA has delayed the launch of this historic mission to April, but repairs could take even longer.

DW News4 days ago
NASA's Artemis II moon rocket back to the hangar
A series of fueling issues has delayed the much-anticipated launch of NASA's Artemis II moon mission, the first to carry astronauts since the Apollo moon landings. The Space Launch System rocket is grounded until April.