Artemis 2028 Moon Landing Is On Track - But There's A Catch

"After the rollback of Artemis II on February 24, NASA held a press conference to address not just the current Artemis II delay but how the entire Artemis program is pivoting to a new launch cadence, which, in theory, should put the entire project back on track."

"Artemis II's launch was delayed in late February 2026. As revealed during the press conference on February 27, 2026, the new Artemis launch schedule looks like this: Artemis II launching in April 2026 to orbit the Moon, Artemis III in 2027 for low Earth orbit spacesuit testing, Artemis IV in 2028 for Moon landing, and Artemis V also in 2028."

"NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has made a lot of promises and has also suggested that the way for NASA to achieve its goals is to emulate a model pioneered in the 1960s. In short, while we're experiencing a delay right now, NASA is gearing up for even more launches and a quicker turnaround time between missions."

Artemis II's launch was postponed from February to April 2026 following technical difficulties with the SLS rocket, particularly liquid hydrogen flow problems. In response, NASA announced a restructured launch schedule during a February 27, 2026 press conference. The revised plan includes Artemis II orbiting the Moon in April 2026, Artemis III conducting a low Earth orbit spacesuit test mission in 2027 with commercial spacecraft docking, and Artemis IV executing the actual Moon landing in 2028. An additional Artemis V mission is also scheduled for later in 2028. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman indicated the agency is adopting accelerated launch practices from the 1960s to maintain program momentum and keep the 2028 Moon landing objective achievable despite current delays.

Read at Inverse