NASA Races to Test Moon Landers Ahead of 2028 Missions
WHO:
CBS News - NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said past decisions inside and outside NASA cost the agency time and resources, and described the planned lunar vehicles as designed to reduce costs and enable longer surface operations and more frequent astronaut missions.
CBS News - Elon Musk said SpaceX aims to launch multiple Super Heavy-Starships per week by the end of 2027 from launchpads in Texas and Florida.
CBS News - NASA astronaut Frank Rubio said, “It is incredibly ambitious,” and added, “don’t bet against America.”
CBS News - NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said years of decisions inside and outside NASA cost the agency time and resources.
CBS News - SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said the first large-scale in-orbit refueling demonstration is planned for “early next year.”
NASA - NASA is working with commercial human-landing-system providers Blue Origin and SpaceX to develop crewed lunar landers.
CNN - NASA chief Jared Isaacman said the agency is committed to an orbital test mission before a crewed lunar landing.
CNN - Jeremy Parsons, manager of NASA’s Artemis Program, called Artemis III “likely the most complicated launch campaign ever undertaken.”
NASA - Artemis III’s Orion crew is NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas, and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano.
CNN - SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said a lunar landing would require six to eight launches; NASA officials confirmed that estimate but said the final number depends on propellant-transfer testing.
WHAT:
CBS News - The Artemis III Starship used for docking practice will be an “off-the-shelf” upper stage without a crew cabin; astronauts will dock with it but will not enter it.
CBS News - For a Blue Origin lunar landing, two astronauts would transfer to Blue Moon Mark 2; a transfer stage would lower the lander into a lower lunar orbit before descent.
CBS News - SpaceX’s proposed Artemis IV campaign includes a propellant depot, tanker and lander, followed by multiple tanker flights to fill the depot.
CBS News - NASA said the 2028 landing target depends on rapid heavy-lift launches, large-scale orbital refueling and safe landings on uncertain terrain and in poor lighting.
ABC News - NASA plans to test lighter “sortie suits” on the International Space Station next year; Axiom Space is developing them for initial moonwalkers.
ABC News - NASA plans a lunar-base-related launch by year’s end, carrying a rover and experiments to the lunar south-polar region; the mission is a second attempt after a 2024 lunar landing failed.
CBS News - For the Artemis III test, astronauts are to dock first with Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1, enter it, and test life support, communications and other systems; after two days, they are to dock Orion with SpaceX’s Starship upper stage but will not enter it.
CBS News - For an Artemis IV Starship landing, SpaceX plans to launch a propellant depot, tanker and lander; tanker flights would fill the depot, which would fuel the lander for its trip to the Moon.
CBS News - For a Blue Origin landing, three transfer stages would launch before the Blue Moon Mark 2 lander; the stages would dock with and propel the lander toward lunar orbit.
CBS News - Both companies must complete successful uncrewed Moon landings before astronaut flights.
CBS News - SpaceX has flown 13 suborbital Super Heavy-Starship test flights since 2023 and one orbital flight.
Space.com - The robotic Griffin lunar lander passed critical tests ahead of its first Moon mission.
CNN - Artemis III is planned as an approximately 14-day test mission involving three massive rocket launches and repeated docking and undocking of crewed Orion with experimental landers.
NASA - The mission will test future lander operations and have Orion and the astronauts conduct operations in low Earth orbit.
CNN - Blue Origin and SpaceX each hold multibillion-dollar NASA contracts to develop vehicles that can carry astronauts from Orion to the lunar surface.
CNN - SpaceX plans to use Starship, a two-part system with a Super Heavy booster and a 171-foot-tall upper spacecraft equipped with six engines. Starship would serve as both the lunar lander and the rocket’s upper stage.
CNN - Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 is 52 feet tall, is designed to launch in New Glenn’s cargo bay, and will need to dock with at least three boost stages.
CNN - Blue Moon Mark 1 is a cargo version planned as a test vehicle; its launch plans were put on hold after a New Glenn rocket exploded during ground tests and destroyed Blue Origin’s Florida launch site.
CNN - Neither lander has flown with crew or docked with a spacecraft carrying astronauts.
CNN - NASA said Blue Moon Mark 2 will carry life-support systems and that the Orion crew is expected to board it while docked. NASA does not expect the crew to board Starship during Artemis III.
CNN - NASA plans to simplify the Space Launch System and Orion designs and speed production; Axiom is developing lighter, simplified spacesuits for early landings while continuing a more advanced suit for later missions.
WHERE:
CBS News - Blue Origin is building a replacement New Glenn launch pad after an explosion damaged its previous pad.
CNN - Artemis III’s docking tests are planned for low Earth orbit, a few hundred miles above Earth. The Moon is 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers) from Earth.
CNN - SpaceX plans to expand Starship operations to two new launchpads in Florida.
WHEN:
CBS News - Blue Origin expects to send two uncrewed Blue Moon Mark 1 landers to the lunar surface by the end of next year.
NASA - Artemis III is planned to launch in 2027.
CNN - SpaceX’s first orbital propellant-transfer demonstration is expected in early 2027.
CNN - NASA’s Artemis IV mission is slated for early 2028; Artemis V is planned later that year. NASA’s schedule is widely expected to shift.
CNN - Blue Origin’s New Glenn could fly again by the end of the year, and the delayed Blue Moon Mark 1 test flight is planned for early next year.
WHY:
ABC News - NASA said past slow progress made the competition with China to land astronauts on the Moon “much closer than it ever needed to be.”
CBS News - NASA’s revised Artemis strategy is intended to provide an alternative route to an Artemis IV landing if either provider faces supply-chain problems or significant technical delays.
CBS News - NASA aims to explore the lunar south-pole region for accessible ice that could provide rocket fuel, air and water, and to establish a Moon base in the 2030s for long-duration astronaut stays.
NASA - The agency intends to return humans to the lunar surface and establish a long-term presence there.
CNN - Artemis III is intended to help NASA assess which lander to use for Artemis IV, the first planned astronaut lunar landing since NASA’s Apollo program ended.
CNN - NASA said it would select whichever lander is ready first to protect the mission schedule amid competition with China’s lunar program.
HOW:
ABC News - NASA is accelerating work by cutting meetings and bureaucratic delays, while bolstering its workforce.
CNN - SpaceX must test Starship’s landing legs and airlock, continue test flights, and demonstrate transferring cryogenic propellant between vehicles in Earth orbit; the transfer has never been performed.
CNN - Blue Origin must resume New Glenn flights, conduct Blue Moon Mark 1’s test flight, and prepare Blue Moon Mark 2 for Artemis III.
CNN - After Artemis III, Starship and Blue Moon Mark 2 are expected to make uncrewed lunar trips to practice landing.
(UPDATED October 24, 2026 05:59 UTC)
NASA is reshaping its Artemis plans to speed a return to the Moon, while pursuing two competing lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin. Artemis III, planned for 2027, is a roughly two-week test in low Earth orbit, with astronauts practicing docking and checking lander systems; they will enter Blue Origin’s test vehicle but not SpaceX’s Starship. The four-person crew includes NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas, along with European astronaut Luca Parmitano. NASA says a crewed landing depends on successful uncrewed lunar tests, heavy-lift launches and large-scale orbital refueling. SpaceX’s lunar plan requires multiple launches to fill a depot with propellant, while Blue Origin’s lander would use transfer stages. NASA is targeting a 2028 landing and says it will choose whichever vehicle is ready first. Artemis aims to establish a lasting lunar presence, including exploration near the south pole.
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(UPDATED October 24, 2026 01:26 UTC)
NASA is reshaping its Artemis plans to keep a crewed Moon landing on track, while preparing to test both commercial landers in orbit. Administrator Jared Isaacman said past decisions cost NASA time and resources, and the agency is committed to an orbital test before astronauts land. Planned for 2027, Artemis III will send four astronauts on an approximately 14-day mission in low Earth orbit, testing Orion’s systems and docking first with Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1, then with SpaceX’s Starship; the crew won’t enter Starship. NASA says the complicated mission will help determine which company’s lander is ready for Artemis IV. SpaceX needs to demonstrate transferring propellant between spacecraft, while Blue Origin must resume New Glenn flights and test its cargo lander. Both companies must complete uncrewed lunar landings before astronaut flights.
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(UPDATED October 24, 2026 00:09 UTC)
NASA is preparing Artemis III, a roughly two-week mission designed to test lunar landers and crew operations in low Earth orbit before astronauts return to the Moon. The agency is working with SpaceX and Blue Origin, and NASA chief Jared Isaacman says an orbital test must come before a crewed landing. The 2027 mission is expected to involve three major rocket launches and repeated docking tests, with a four-person crew including NASA and European astronauts. NASA says the tests will help it choose which lander is ready for Artemis IV, while supporting plans for a long-term lunar presence. SpaceX’s Starship must prove it can transfer cryogenic fuel in orbit, a feat never achieved, and demonstrate key systems. Blue Origin must resume New Glenn flights and test its cargo lander. Neither company’s lander has flown astronauts, and NASA says the crew is not expected to board Starship during Artemis III.