NASA postponed the Moon landing

NASA has announced sweeping changes to the Artemis lunar program, scrapping the multibillion-dollar upgrade of the core SLS rocket manufactured by Boeing and replacing the full Moon landing with an additional test flight near Earth. This was reported by Bloomberg.

New NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman explained that the decision was made to return to basics and move toward the Moon in evolutionary steps. Under the updated plan, an additional Artemis 3 mission is planned for 2027, during which astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft will perform a docking in low Earth orbit with commercial lunar landing modules being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin. This will allow the technologies to be tested under safe conditions, much like the Apollo 9 mission in 1969 practiced docking in Earth orbit before the Moon landing.

The actual Moon landing has now been postponed to the Artemis 4 mission, scheduled for 2028.

To accelerate the pace of the program's implementation, NASA is also abandoning the development of the more powerful version of the SLS upper stage (Exploration Upper Stage) and will focus on a standardized rocket configuration, which will allow for increased flight frequency and reduced technical risks. The decision has already been supported by Boeing, which is the prime contractor for SLS production.

The new measures are aimed at reducing risks and costs, as the program has been facing delays and budget overruns. The independent Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel issued a report calling the existing plans too risky, as they envisioned too many priority objectives within a single mission.

The launch of the crewed Artemis II mission to the Moon was scheduled for March 2026, but in January the NASA Administrator announced that it had been decided to postpone it due to technical issues, acknowledging the development as disappointing.