GAO: NASA's Artemis III Moon Landing Timeline 'Unlikely'

Challenges persist with spacesuits and lunar lander development, the watchdog agency said.

Thursday, December 07, 2023 at 05:13 PM ET

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Artist’s Illustration: Two suited crew members work on the lunar surface. One in the foreground lifts a rock to examine it while the other photographs the collection site in the background. [Courtesy: NASA]

Key Takeaways:

NASA's December 2025 timeline for the Artemis III crewed lunar landing is deemed "unlikely" by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Key challenges include significant delays in the development of SpaceX's Human Landing System (HLS) lunar lander, which has an ambitious schedule and missed milestones.
Problems with the new commercial spacesuits also contribute to delays, as NASA's original reference design lacked minimum emergency life support, necessitating potential redesigns.
The GAO suggests the Artemis III mission is more realistically projected for early 2027, aligning with the average completion time for major NASA projects.

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NASA’s current timeline for landing humans on the moon is “unlikely,” according to a new U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) assessment of challenges plaguing the Artemis III mission.

The space agency is on course to miss its timeline for the Artemis III crewed lunar landing mission, currently planned by December 2025, due to challenges with spacesuits and lunar lander development, the watchdog agency said in a November 30 report.