Artemis

NASA assigned Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano, Andre Douglas, and Frank Rubio to Artemis III, a 2027 Earth-orbit test flight to practice docking with SpaceX and Blue Origin landers.

After the May 28 New Glenn pad loss, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman says the agency is decoupling the Blue Moon landers from the rocket and would like them flown on a different launcher to protect Artemis deadlines.

A hotfire engine test at Cape Canaveral on May 28 destroyed New Glenn and LC-36, freezing Amazon's 24-launch satellite manifest and casting doubt on Blue Origin's role in NASA's 2026-2028 lunar program.

NASA awarded contracts for lunar terrain vehicles, cargo landers, and a drone survey mission on May 26, marking the first concrete procurement step under the Moon Base program announced in March.

Ship 39 and Booster 19 have each completed full-duration Raptor 3 engine tests at Starbase, with Flight 12 now targeting May 2026.

NASA's Artemis II crew returned to Earth on April 10 after the first crewed lunar voyage since 1972. A post-mission news conference is set for April 16, and the Artemis III core stage will roll out April 20.

The SLS rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center at 6:24 p.m. EDT on April 1, carrying a crew of four on a 10-day lunar flyby mission.

Four astronauts reached Florida on March 27 ahead of an April 1 launch that will send humans beyond Earth orbit for the first time since Apollo 17.

NASA's Ignition initiative pauses the Lunar Gateway to redirect $20 billion over seven years toward building a permanent moon base, while repurposing Gateway hardware into SR-1 Freedom, a nuclear-powered spacecraft that will carry Ingenuity-class helicopters to Mars before the end of 2028.

Artemis III becomes an orbital test flight in 2027 as NASA restructures its lunar program to reduce risk and increase launch cadence.

SpaceX is preparing to launch Starship Flight 12 in mid-March 2026, the first test of upgraded Block 3 vehicles powered by 33 Raptor 3 engines and the debut of Orbital Launch Pad 2.

A liquid hydrogen leak halted the Artemis II wet dress rehearsal, pushing the first crewed Moon flight since 1972 to no earlier than March 6.