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NASA sets out a 14-day Artemis III test in Earth orbit in which Orion will dock with both commercial Moon landers before any landing

By Staff Writer  |  25 October 2026

Four astronauts will launch in 2027 to dock with test versions of the Blue Origin and SpaceX landers, three spacecraft on three rockets, ahead of a landing near the lunar South Pole planned for 2028.

NASA has published the plan for Artemis III, a mission that will stay in low Earth orbit rather than travel to the Moon. Four astronauts will spend about 14 days in low Earth orbit practising the rendezvous, docking and living arrangements they will need when crews begin landing near the lunar South Pole in 2028.

The crew are NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas, with Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency. They will fly in Orion, launched on the agency's SLS rocket from its launch site in Florida. Two commercial landers will be waiting for them, each on its own heavy rocket.

Two landers, two kinds of docking

Blue Origin's lander goes up first, as the company will launch a test version of its Blue Moon Mark 2 lander into a circular orbit about 273 miles, or roughly 440 km, above the Earth, where it can wait for up to 30 days. Orion follows days later once the lander is confirmed healthy. After docking, the crew will spend about two days aboard, opening the hatch and checking the cabin, the controls and the life support systems at first hand.

SpaceX launches later, because Starship is built for a much shorter stay in orbit. A test version of Starship Version 3 will fly to a lower orbit with a docking system fitted at its nose. Orion will dock with it for up to two hours, though the crew will not go inside. The two dockings use different geometries, one beside the Blue Moon cabin and one at the nose of Starship.

Every piece of this mission in Earth orbit is designed to reduce risk before we put astronauts back on the Moon.

Jeremy Parsons, Artemis Programme Manager, NASA

A test that decides the next step

The flight will also help NASA choose which lander carries astronauts to the surface on Artemis IV. Neither vehicle has yet flown with a crew or docked with a spacecraft carrying one. Jared Isaacman, who added the Earth-orbit mission to the programme in February after taking charge of NASA, said at Friday's briefing that the agency would not delude itself that more time, more money and fewer flights would make the work safer.

After the dockings the crew will have up to five more days in orbit for further tests, including the suits worn for launch and return, before splashing down in the Pacific off California.

Artemis III puts three spacecraft from three organisations on three rockets into one operation, something NASA says it has never attempted.

The schedule now rests on the two landers, because both test vehicles must be built and flying in time for a mission next year, and the 2028 landing depends on what that mission shows.