NASA has delay its plan to send four spaceman on a flyby of the moonin the Artemis II missionin November , announcing that it will now take place no earlier than September 2025 .
In the same announcement made on Tuesday , NASA chief Bill Nelson say that the first crewed landing place , originally planned for 2025 as part of Artemis III , will now launch in September 2026 at the earliest .
“ As we remind everybody at every turn , safety is our top priority , ” Nelson told reportersduring a teleconferenceon Tuesday . “ To give Artemis teams more time to work on through the challenge with first - time developments and desegregation , we ’re going to give [ them ] more time on Artemis II and III . ”
The NASA chieftain tote up that Artemis IV , which will also postulate a crewed lunar landing place , remains on caterpillar tread for September 2028 .
The time lag wo n’t come as a huge surprise to those who have been travel along developments over the last duet of age .
Despite alargely successful Artemis I missionin 2022 that quiz NASA ’s new Space Launch System rocket and sent an uncrewed Orion ballistic capsule on a flyby of the synodic month , irregularity were found with the ballistic capsule ’s high temperature shield have by its high - amphetamine reentry into Earth ’s atmosphere , so engineer are currently working on putting this right . NASA teams are troubleshoot a battery issue on the Orion , too , and call challenges with a circuitry component responsible for aviation ventilation and temperature restraint .
The time lag also gives Axiom Space more time to build up the next - contemporaries spacesuits for the missions and SpaceX the power to build and test its Starship HLS lander that will put the Artemis III and IV astronauts onto the lunar aerofoil . Artemis IV will be the first charge to apply the yet - to - be - built Lunar Gateway , a facility that will travel in lunar scope and serve as a hub for skill inquiry , as well as a stopping - off point for cosmonaut heading to and from the moon .
Indeed , NASA also saidon Tuesday that it is reviewing the schedule for establish the first integrate elements of the Gateway , previously planned for October 2025 , to offer extra growth sentence and to reserve its launching to better coordinate with the Artemis IV mission in 2028 .
While NASA ’s tidings will come as a disappointment to space sports fan , delays like this are not uncommon when it occur to such complex missions .
On the upside , NASA is intelligibly captive on pushing ahead with the Artemis program , which has a foresighted - term destination of lay down a moon base for extended crewed hitch . astronaut based there will prove previously unexplored parts of the lunar control surface and organize for the first crewed mission to Mars , which could lift off from the moon . NASA is aim the 2030s for that commission , but do n’t be surprised if time lag hit that one , as well .
