Artemis III Won't Land on Moon: Orion to Dock With Both Landers in Orbit First

Artemis III will not land on the Moon as originally envisioned; NASA plans for Orion to dock with two lander targets in Earth orbit first. Targeted for late 2027, the mission sends four astronauts aboard an Orion capsule to a circular parking orbit about 460 kilometers above Earth, where it will rendezvous and dock with test versions of both SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon landers in sequence. The first crewed lunar landing under Artemis III’s overall timeline has shifted to Artemis IV, no earlier than 2028. The dual-docking profile also differs from recent history, such as the Soviet Soyuz T-15’s 1986 visits to Salyut 7 and Mir. NASA’s change traced to a February 27, 2026 restructuring, when the mission became a low Earth orbit systems integration flight due to risk in lunar-orbit interface failures. A Starship Flight 13 attempt is scheduled for the evening, with a window opening at 6:45 p.m. ET after a Wednesday weather scrub.