The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) confirmed that its first manned flight of the Artemis Moon program won’t launch until April 2026, and the following mission—the first landing on the Moon since 1972—won’t happen until mid-2027.
This is the second time NASA has delayed the launch of Artemis II.
It was previously scheduled to launch in November 2024, and it was then pushed back to September 2025. NASA was targeting a 2026 launch for Artemis III.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced the new schedule during a press conference on Dec. 5, emphasizing that it was received with unanimous support from the administration’s executive council and keeps the U.S. space program on track to beat communist China’s goal of landing by 2030.
However, he also stressed that the decision was made out of safety.
“The safety of our astronauts is always first in our decisions,” he said. ”It is our North Star. We do not fly until we are ready. We do not fly until we are confident that we have made the flight as safe as possible for the humans on board.
“We need to do this next test flight, and we need to do it right, and that’s how the Artemis campaign proceeds.”
The new launch schedule comes after a lengthy investigation was conducted into unexpected char and erosion discovered on the heat shield of Artemis I’s unmanned Orion capsule upon its return.
The capsule selected for Artemis II has an identical heat shield. But NASA’s leadership told reporters that its investigation showed that it was still reusable so long as the re-entry trajectory is adjusted.
That re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere slows the spacecraft down from near-25,000 mph to about 325 mph before parachutes are deployed, generating an exterior heat of nearly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NASA.
An updated heat shield will be installed on Orion capsules, starting with Artemis IV.
NASA officials chose to alter the re-entry for Artemis II and III because ripping off the current heat shield and installing a new one would set the Moon landing back nearly another full year.
There are other issues with the capsule still being sorted as well, specifically with the life support system.
However, officials confirmed the heat shield decision allows the Moon rocket to start getting stacked together at NASA’s vehicle assembly building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in anticipation of the spring 2026 launch.
On top of the investigation, Nelson reminded reporters that the timeline of the Artemis program is dependent upon a vast supply chain of international and commercial partners.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is building Orion’s service module, which is being built by Lockheed Martin.
Boeing is tasked with building the behemoth launch vehicle known as the Space Launch System.
SpaceX and Blue Origin are building the lunar landers.
New spacesuits are coming from Axiom Space, and Japan’s space agency JAXA is providing the next lunar rover.
“We must have a shared sense of urgency among all these partners, and I think we have that,” Nelson said, with that urgency focused on landing human beings on the Moon’s south pole—a region known to have water—before the CCP.
While the CCP plans to establish its own presence on the Moon does not specifically target the same landing area, NASA’s administrator does not want to take a chance on them claiming the location for themselves.
He referenced the CCP’s recent aggressive actions against the Philippines over territorial claims in the South China Sea.
“I wish that China could be someone that we could cooperate with, and maybe there will be an opportunity in the future,” he said.
“I hope so. But given the fact of the history of how the Chinese government has operated up until, including recently, I don’t want that to occur on a very important part of the moon.”
Artemis II will be a fly-by mission to the moon crewed by NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
It will complete the necessary objectives ahead of Artemis III.
Meanwhile, landing capabilities are dependent upon the success of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship.
NASA officials said the Starship needs to fly several times before it’s deemed ready for Artemis, including completion of an unmanned Moon landing and a refueling demonstration in Earth orbit.
Wiseman expressed his optimism about the SpaceX starship and the Artemis program during the press conference, recounting how he felt watching the starship successfully launch and return to the launch tower.
“I had just seen our booster,” he said.
”I had just seen the Orion spacecraft. I’m now watching Starship Six test flight. All the elements are there for humans on the Moon, and all the elements are there to push us onto Mars in the very future, near future. And I just felt it in my soul.”
Nelson also expressed confidence in SpaceX’s progress and the program as it is passed to a new administration and new NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman.
Nelson said he spoke to Isaacman on Dec. 4 congratulating him on his nomination, and that he looked forward to meeting with him.
Isaacman did not respond to The Epoch Times by publication.
