NASA Announces New Delays for Artemis Program, Pushes Back Next Two Missions to Moon
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced on Thursday new delays in the agency’s Artemis program, pushing back the next two planned missions to the moon. The next Artemis mission, which will send astronauts around the moon and back, is now scheduled for April 2026, while the subsequent moon landing mission is expected to take place in mid-2027.
The Artemis program, established in 2019, aims to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. The program is intended to establish a lunar base as a step towards human missions to Mars. The United States plans to spend approximately $93 billion on the program through 2025.
Despite notable progress, the program has experienced delays and rising costs. The Artemis I mission, which took place in 2022, was a 25-day uncrewed voyage around the moon, but the subsequent Artemis II mission, which aims to send astronauts around the moon, has been delayed to April 2026. The Artemis III mission, which will include a lunar landing, has been pushed to mid-2027.
NASA is partnering with several contractors, including SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing, to achieve its goals. The Artemis program will heavily rely on SpaceX’s Starship rocket, which is contracted to land astronauts on the moon’s surface. The United States and China are racing to land astronauts on the moon, and both nations are seeking partnerships with private companies to support their respective moon programs.
