NASA delays Moon missions, pushes back Artemis II to 2026, Artemis III to 2027

WASHINGTON: The NASA’s Artemis programme has faced a setback, with the space agency announcing a delay in its mission. The Artemis II crewed test flight, previously scheduled for September 2025, has been rescheduled for April 2026, while the Artemis III mission has been pushed back to mid-2027.

NASA, on its official website on Thursday, said, “The experts discussed the results of NASA’s investigation into its Orion spacecraft heat shield after it experienced an unexpected loss of charred material during re-entry of the Artemis I uncrewed test flight.”

For the Artemis II crewed test flight, engineers will continue to prepare Orion with the heat shield already attached to the capsule. The agency announced it is now targeting April 2026 for Artemis II and mid-2027 for Artemis III. The updated mission timelines also reflect the time to address the Orion environmental control and life support systems.

After investigating how the @NASA_Orion spacecraft’s heat shield fared during the Artemis I mission to the Moon, we are confidently preparing for Artemis II with the heat shield already attached to the capsule.
#Artemis II is now targeted for April 2026. https://t.co/o1i0nxU9VQ pic.twitter.com/uNQFeWNwm2

— NASA (@NASA) December 5, 2024

“The Artemis campaign is the most daring, technically challenging, collaborative, international endeavour humanity has ever set out to do,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “We have made significant progress on the Artemis campaign over the past four years, and I’m proud of the work our teams have done to prepare us for this next step forward in exploration as we look to learn more about Orion’s life support systems to sustain crew operations during Artemis II. We need to get this next test flight right. That’s how the Artemis campaign succeeds,” he added.

The agency’s decision comes after an extensive investigation of an Artemis I heat shield issue showed the Artemis II heat shield can keep the crew safe during the planned mission with changes to Orion’s trajectory as it enters Earth’s atmosphere and slows from nearly 25,000 mph to about 325 mph before its parachutes unfurl for safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

“Throughout our process to investigate the heat shield phenomenon and determine a forward path, we’ve stayed true to NASA’s core values; safety and data-driven analysis remained at the forefront,” said Catherine Koerner, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The updates to our mission plans are a positive step toward ensuring we can safely accomplish our objectives at the Moon and develop the technologies and capabilities needed for crewed Mars missions,” Koerner said.

NASA will continue stacking its SLS (Space Launch System) rocket elements, which began in November, and prepare it for integration with Orion for Artemis II.

Reid Wiseman, NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander, along with NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will fly aboard the 10-day Artemis II test flight around the Moon and back.

The flight will provide valuable data about Orion systems needed to support crew on their journey to deep space and bring them safely home, including air revitalization in the cabin, manual flying capabilities, and how humans interact with other hardware and software in the spacecraft, according to NASA.

With Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before, learn how to live and work farther away from home, and prepare for future human exploration of the Red Planet. (ANI)