\n \u201cEvery vendor and partner should understand that when a schedule is broken, NASA personnel will be knocking on the door, and not to observe, not to write a paper or convene a committee, but to roll up their sleeves and solve problems,\u201d Isaacman said.\n <\/p>\n
\n In February, Isaacman, then a newly appointed NASA administrator, shook up<\/a> the agency\u2019s road map for a moon landing by adding a 2027 test mission. Called Artemis III, this mission would see vehicles from both Blue Origin and SpaceX practice docking with Orion in low-Earth orbit, or just a few hundred miles above our planet \u2014 far closer to home than the moon that\u2019s 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers) away.\n <\/p>\n Two companies, two test landers<\/p>\n \n The estimated 14-day test mission will involve the launch of three massive rockets as well as docking and undocking the crewed Orion spacecraft multiple times with experimental vehicles.\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s \u201clikely the most complicated launch campaign ever undertaken,\u201d said Jeremy Parsons, manager of NASA\u2019s Artemis Program.\n <\/p>\n \n Artemis III is designed to help vet which lander NASA might use for Artemis IV, which is slated to mark the first time astronauts have landed on the surface of the moon since the agency\u2019s Apollo program concluded in 1972.\n <\/p>\n \n Blue Origin and SpaceX are developing vastly different vehicles. SpaceX, which was the first to cinch a lunar landing contract in 2021, intends to use its gargantuan Starship launch vehicle \u2014 which is under development but recently completed its first orbital test flight.\n <\/p>\n \n Starship is a two-part launch system that includes the Super Heavy rocket booster and the upper Starship spacecraft, a 171-foot-tall vehicle packed with six rocket engines of its own. The Starship spacecraft would serve both as the lunar lander and the upper stage of the rocket itself. The vehicle is unlike anything ever flown in the history of spaceflight.\n <\/p>\n \n Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon Mark 2, however, harkens much closer to legacy lunar lander designs. Blue Moon is expected to launch within the cargo bay of Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rocket and, at 52 feet tall, is visually reminiscent of a scaled-up version of NASA\u2019s Apollo-era landers. Blue Moon has not yet flown a test flight.\n <\/p>\n \n The company intended to launch a scaled-down, cargo version, called Blue Moon Mark 1, this year. But those plans were put on hold after a New Glenn rocket exploded in May during routine ground tests and destroyed the company\u2019s Florida launch site.\n <\/p>\n \n Both Blue Origin\u2019s and SpaceX\u2019s vehicles have a long series of tests and technology demonstrations ahead before Artemis III or Artemis IV. Neither vehicle has ever flown with crew on board or docked with a spacecraft carrying astronauts.\n <\/p>\n \n In Friday\u2019s meeting, NASA also acknowledged a series of changes it\u2019s made to other aspects of the Artemis program, including efforts to speed up production and design changes for the agency\u2019s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft as well as greenlighting a simplified, lighter-weight version of moonwalking spacesuits designed by Houston-based company Axiom.\n <\/p>\n \n The simplified suits are meant to be quicker to bring to fruition for early moon landing missions, including Artemis IV, but Axiom will continue building the more advanced version for more difficult lunar excursions later in the Artemis program.\n <\/p>\n \n Almost across the board, NASA is \u201clooking to simplify, remove difficult requirements,\u201d Parsons said.\n <\/p>\n \n But it\u2019s the lunar lander vehicles, Parsons added, that are currently driving NASA\u2019s schedule.\n <\/p>\n \n Hardware for the Blue Moon vehicle that will fly the Artemis III mission is currently under construction.\n <\/p>\n \n Meanwhile, SpaceX will fly a relatively bare-bones version of Starship that will essentially be \u201cyanked\u201d off the company\u2019s production line next year as the company continues to tinker with the vehicle\u2019s design. Test flights have shown issues with the reliability of Starship\u2019s Raptor rocket engines.\n <\/p>\n \n NASA associate administrator Amit Kshatriya told CNN that in his view, \u201cmost of what they\u2019re seeing now is issues impacting reuse.\u201d Basically, the current engine problems might affect SpaceX\u2019s ability to reuse the craft \u2014 and thus see cost savings \u2014 but it doesn\u2019t mean that Starship isn\u2019t on track to support Artemis III, he explained.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWhat we want to make sure is we can get a Starship to orbit with the amount of dwell time that\u2019s required to perform this docking test,\u201d Kshatriya said, referring to NASA\u2019s need to see that Starship can maintain a stable orbit during the mission.\n <\/p>\n \n Under a newly released timeline<\/a> for the Artemis Program, within the coming months, SpaceX will need to finish building the Starship prototype that will fly the Artemis III mission and complete several demonstrations to test the vehicle\u2019s landing legs and airlock. Meanwhile, it will continue its Starship test flight campaign \u2014 including by expanding operations to two new launchpads in Florida and carrying out the first practice run at transferring fuel between two Starship vehicle in orbit.\n <\/p>\n \n Such a propellant transfer will be necessary to get the hefty Starship to the moon. Transferring super-chilled cryogenic propellants between two vehicles in Earth orbit has never been done before. SpaceX\u2019s first demonstration is expected in early 2027.\n <\/p>\n \n For a moon landing, SpaceX will need to launch multiple refueling flights. Previously, experts had estimated the number could be between 10 and 40<\/a>. CEO Elon Musk said on social media this week, however, that a moon landing would require six to eight launches.\n <\/p>\n \n NASA officials confirmed Musk\u2019s estimate Friday but noted a final figure likely cannot be known until after propellant transfer testing is done.\n <\/p>\n \n Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon Mark 2 will also require some complicated prep work in low-Earth orbit before heading to the moon. NASA said Friday that the lander would need to dock with at least three boost stages.\n <\/p>\n \n The company also has a long to-do list. Blue Origin must get its New Glenn flying again, which could happen by the end of the year, and get its overdue Blue Moon Mark 1 test flight off the ground early next year.\n <\/p>\n \n The Blue Moon Mark 2 lander used on Artemis III will also need to be outfitted with life support systems. The crew of four astronauts<\/a> that will be onboard Orion during the mission are expected to climb aboard the Mark 2 vehicle while docked with the spacecraft.\n <\/p>\n \n NASA is not expecting to attempt the same with Starship. Citing SpaceX\u2019s past experience flying crewed Dragon vehicles, the agency said it believes it can adequately vet the company\u2019s life support systems outside the Artemis III mission.\n <\/p>\n \n After Artemis III, both Blue Moon Mark 2 and Starship are expected to make uncrewed trips to the moon to practice landing.\n <\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/bluemoon-nasa-20260609173103324.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/07-06-26-artemis3-composite-large.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"(Left](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/gettyimages-2280744331.jpg\")
<\/p>\n