Artemis III delays could threaten landing on the moon in 2028

NASA 's Artemis III mission is about three months behind schedule, administrator Jared Isaacman says, putting pressure on the agency's plan to launch two moon-landing missions in 2028.

In a wide-ranging email to employees on Sunday, Isaacman said Artemis III could launch in the summer of 2027, preserving two opportunities for lunar landings the following year.

But that's the "best-case scenario." NASA doesn't plan to put astronauts on the moon during Artemis III.

The agency redesigned the mission earlier this year as a crewed flight in Earth orbit, wherein astronauts would rehearse docking the Orion spacecraft with lunar landers built by SpaceX and Blue Origin.

The test is intended to practice those crucial space maneuvers close to home and reduce risk before the first Artemis moon landing.

The 90-day delay represents a meaningful setback for an agency that has spent this year trying to accelerate the Artemis campaign, leveraging the momentum of the successful Artemis II flight around the moon .

It also comes as Isaacman frames the agency's return to the surface as a broader competition with China .

That makes NASA's current pace more consequential than a typical schedule slip.

"Perpetuating the status quo is not an achievable strategy in this race," Isaacman said.

"There is simply too much on the line." SEE ALSO: Scientists want to know what this distant galaxy ate to make it so weird The disclosure of the schedule tension reveals how much ground NASA needs to make up if it wants Artemis IV and V, the first two landing missions of the program, to launch in 2028.

If Artemis III continues to lag, NASA might be looking at just one shot to put boots on the moon in late 2028, Isaacman said in the email, published online Monday by NASA Watch , former NASA employee Keith Cowing's blog.

NASA has since confirmed the email's authenticity to Mashable.

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The Artemis III astronauts meet an Orion spacecraft mockup at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston at the beginning of their mission training in June.