NASA says lunar missions have been delayed until 2026 and 2027

NASA is once again delaying its Artemis missions to the moon. US space agency announced on Friday is now targeting an April 2026 launch for its Artemis II mission and mid-2027 for Artemis III. This marks another rescheduling of missions due to technical and logistical challenges.

The latest delay stems from a problem with the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield, which experienced an unexpected loss of charred material during re-entry on the Artemis I unmanned test flight in December 2022. After an independent review and extensive analysis, NASA determined its heat shield’s Avcoat material was inadequate outgassed causing cracks and loss of material.

While NASA determined that astronauts would be safe aboard Artemis I, the agency stressed the need to eliminate potential risks to ensure mission success.

“The Artemis campaign is the most daring, technically challenging, collaborative, international endeavor that humanity has ever undertaken,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. “We have to get this next test flight right. That’s how the Artemis campaign succeeded.”

At the same time, NASA said it will continue to prepare its Space Launch System rocket, assembling its elements – a process that began in November – to ensure compatibility with the Orion spacecraft for Artemis II.

The Artemis II mission will be a 10-day crewed test flight around the Moon and back, collecting key data on the performance of the Orion spacecraft. This includes monitoring the air revitalization system, testing manual flight capabilities and evaluating how the crew interacts with the onboard hardware and software – key steps in NASA’s preparation for the Artemis III mission.

That mission will land astronauts, including the first woman and the first person of color, on the South Pole of the Moon. Humans have not landed on the moon since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972.