NASA plans Artemis III as a crewed Earth-orbit test in 2027, while Artemis IV remains its target for a crewed lunar landing in 2028. The missions have different jobs: Artemis III is designed to test how Orion meets and docks with lander test vehicles before a later lunar mission. NASA also says it is bringing some fuel-line component work in-house as part of rebuilding its technical capabilities. NASA’s Artemis update sets out the plans and the agency’s reported hardware progress.
NASA leaders shared the update on October 23, 2026; the agency published its account on November 4. For background on the earlier orbital-test plan, see NeoTeo’s previous Artemis III report.
Artemis III is an orbital test, not the landing mission
NASA plans a 14-day Artemis III flight with four astronauts aboard Orion, launched by the Space Launch System (SLS). The planned sequence starts with a Blue Origin Blue Moon test article reaching Earth orbit. Orion is then to dock with it. After undocking, Orion is to dock with a SpaceX Starship Version 3 lander test article. NASA says the mission will test rendezvous, docking, and operations between Orion and the lander vehicles to reduce risk ahead of Artemis IV.
A rendezvous brings spacecraft together; docking connects them. Practicing both in Earth orbit is the point of Artemis III’s revised role: the flight is a test of those operations, rather than the lunar landing itself.
What NASA says its in-house component work represents
NASA reports that it cut Artemis III hardware-processing timelines by about half. It also says a critical fuel-line component was redesigned, built, and tested in-house over five months, at roughly one-tenth the cost of an earlier outside-vendor estimate. That cost comparison is specific to the earlier estimate.
NASA Artemis program manager Jeremy Parsons described the work as part of rebuilding the agency’s core technical capabilities instead of continuing to outsource expertise. The reported processing improvement and component effort are progress updates; the mission itself remains planned for 2027.
In-house engineering work matters to the Artemis plan when it helps NASA rebuild technical capability as well as advance hardware.
Artemis IV keeps the 2028 lunar-landing target
NASA describes two different approaches for the later mission. SpaceX’s plan uses Starship, refueled in Earth orbit, to rendezvous with Orion and carry it toward the Moon. Blue Origin’s plan uses Earth-orbit transfer stages to send Blue Moon Mark 2 toward the Moon, where it would meet Orion in a closer lunar orbit before descent.
NASA says both companies are targeting the ability to support a crewed landing in 2028. Its update describes both approaches without naming which provider would make the first landing.
