NASA has laid out the development schedules for the two commercial lunar landers it has contracted to carry astronauts to the moon, according to Space. Steve Creech, acting manager of the agency's Human Landing System (HLS) Program, presented the timelines on Oct. 5 at the International Astronautical Congress in Antalya, Türkiye.
The plans cover SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's Blue Moon vehicles, with demonstrations running through early 2028. These include orbital refueling tests and uncrewed landing attempts meant to qualify each spacecraft to fly crews to the lunar surface.
Why it matters
NASA is relying on two private companies to do something no one has done since 1972: put people on the moon. Both landers have run into delays over the past several years, and the agency restructured the Artemis program in February to protect its goal of a crewed landing by the end of 2028.
Under that reorganization, Artemis III was moved up a year and given a new job. It is no longer the first landing mission. Instead, it is now a test flight in low Earth orbit, and the first surface landing has shifted to Artemis IV, targeted for early 2028.
The stakes go beyond the schedule. The Artemis III results will shape which company's lander NASA picks for that first landing, a decision the agency has not yet made.
Artemis III: a docking test in Earth orbit
Artemis III is targeted for the third quarter of 2027. Four astronauts will launch aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft and remain in low Earth orbit, where they will meet and dock with test versions of both companies' landers. The purpose is to check that the vehicles can work together.
SpaceX plans to send up one of its existing Version 3 Starship upper stages with minor changes for the mission. The vehicle will dock with Orion, but it will not carry a crew cabin, so the astronauts will not go inside. Around the end of this year and the start of the next, SpaceX is expected to finish adding a docking system and nosecone cover to that Starship, which NASA documents suggest has already passed mechanical fit checks.
The flight will not require any refueling launches. SpaceX has said it will complete integration work in the first quarter of 2027 so Starship can communicate with Orion during the mission, and deliver a cabin simulator for astronaut training.
What each company still has to prove
SpaceX has a long checklist before and after Artemis III. Starship reached orbit for the first time on its Sept. 28 test flight from Starbase in South Texas, Space reports. NASA's presentation lists several goals for 2026: catching an upgraded V3 booster back at its launch pad, catching a Ship upper stage for the first time, launching Starship from a pad still under construction on Florida's Space Coast, and possibly re-flying a V3 booster.
The agency also expects SpaceX to finish the initial build of the crew cabin for its lunar lander version of Starship by the end of the year. The company has released interior renders and images of a test elevator astronauts are using to practice getting out of the vehicle on the lunar surface, but has shared little else about the cabin's design.
SpaceX intends to keep flying Starship tests through the second quarter of next year, demonstrate landing legs, and begin airlock tests on the crew cabin. A first in-orbit propellant transfer demonstration is also on the list. Starship needs its tanks topped up to travel beyond low Earth orbit, and a moon mission could require as many as a dozen tanker launches to an orbiting fuel depot. That means SpaceX must show it can move cryogenic propellants in orbit and store them well enough to limit boil-off.
For the landing itself, SpaceX aims to launch its first Starship tanker within a few months of Artemis III. An uncrewed lunar lander variant is targeted for late in the third quarter or early in the fourth, with an uncrewed landing attempt to follow before the end of 2027.
Blue Origin is working on its own milestones for Blue Moon Mark 2, a lander standing 52 feet (16 meters) tall and powered by three BE-7 engines. Unlike the stripped-down Starship SpaceX will fly on Artemis III, Blue Origin's plans for its vehicle differ, though the source reporting does not detail the full schedule.
Both companies hold NASA contracts to develop HLS vehicles, and both have spent years refining their designs while working through delays.
The next public update is expected on Oct. 23, when NASA's head is scheduled to brief reporters on Artemis III and Artemis IV in a live broadcast, according to Starlust.org.
