Artemis III (Artemis 3)
Announced
Artemis III is NOT the Moon landing. NASA redesignated it on February 27, 2026 as a crewed demonstration in low Earth orbit; the first crewed landing is now Artemis IV. Much of the web still describes the older plan.
Facts as of July 17, 2026, from the NASA sources listed below.
mid-2027
Targeted launch
~2weeks
Duration
2
Lander pathfinders to dock
4
Crew
Targets are NASA's current plan (as of July 17, 2026) and can change.
Announced, not flown. Dates and details on this page describe NASA's current plan and can change; every claim carries its announcement date. The Artemis schedule has been restructured before (February 27, 2026).
01Mission facts
| Orbit | Low Earth orbit, about 430 km (roughly 230 nautical miles) |
| Vehicle | SLS with Orion, the first Orion to fly with a docking system installed |
| Docking targets | About two days docked to Blue Origin’s Blue Moon pathfinder, then about one day docked to SpaceX’s Starship pathfinder (per the June 2026 crew announcement) |
| Backup crew | Bob Hines (NASA), pilot of SpaceX Crew-4 |
| Recovery | Pacific Ocean splashdown, recovered by the U.S. Navy and NASA |
02Crew (announced June 9, 2026)
Randy Bresnik
Commander · NASA
Luca Parmitano
Pilot · ESA
Frank Rubio
Mission Specialist · NASA
Andre Douglas
Mission Specialist · NASA
Portraits: NASA/Luna Posadas Nava.
03The mission
Under NASA’s February 2026 restructuring, Artemis III became a proving flight: Orion and its crew will practice, in low Earth orbit, the rendezvous and docking operations that a lunar landing requires, against test versions of the commercial landers.
The demonstration keeps crews flying while the landers mature, and its results are expected to inform which lander flies the first Artemis landing on Artemis IV.
The renumbering context: NASA restructured the Artemis campaign: Artemis III was redesignated as a crewed low Earth orbit demonstration, and Artemis IV became the first crewed lunar landing of the program. (NASA, February 27, 2026).
04What the demonstration will do
Blue Origin’s Blue Moon pathfinder launches first and can wait in orbit for multiple weeks; Orion will spend about two days docked to it. SpaceX’s Starship pathfinder then launches to meet Orion for about one day of docked operations. The crew will enter the landers and run integrated checks of hardware, systems interfaces, software, propulsion, and communications.
Per the June 2026 crew announcement, Orion’s crew and service modules were set to be mated in summer 2026, the SLS core stage was to receive its four RS-25 engines that summer, all booster segments were at Kennedy, and stacking on the refurbished mobile launcher was scheduled for summer 2026.
05The crew in brief
Commander Randy Bresnik is on his third flight and commanded ISS Expedition 53. Pilot Luca Parmitano, the first ESA astronaut assigned to an Artemis mission, commanded ISS Expedition 61 as the first Italian to lead the station. Mission specialist Frank Rubio holds the American single-flight duration record of 371 days. Mission specialist Andre Douglas, on his first flight, served on the Artemis II backup and closeout crew.
06Sources
- NASA: Artemis architecture announcement (Feb 27, 2026)
- NASA: Artemis III crew announcement (June 9, 2026)
- NASA: Artemis III mission page
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