NASA Delays First Crewed U.S. Moon Landing in Half a Century to 2026

The second and third missions in the space agency’s Artemis program—which seeks to return Americans to the moon—were each delayed nearly one year.

Jack Daleo

Tuesday, January 09, 2024 at 06:21 PM ET

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The crew of NASA’s Artemis II moon mission, which was delayed from late 2024 to September 2025 (clockwise from left): Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen, and Reid Wiseman. [Courtesy: NASA]

Key Takeaways:

NASA has delayed its Artemis II crewed lunar orbit mission to September 2025 and the Artemis III moon landing mission to September 2026, citing a "safety first" approach.
The delays are primarily due to technical issues discovered during the Artemis I mission, including heat shield erosion, life support system flaws, and battery deficiencies in the Orion spacecraft.
Additional factors contributing to the postponements include the complex development of new components for Artemis III, such as SpaceX's Human Landing System, next-generation spacesuits, and propellant transfer capabilities.
NASA expressed confidence in the new timeline, attributing it to a better understanding of the vehicles and strong collaboration with industry partners, with Artemis serving as a stepping stone for future Mars missions.

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U.S. efforts to return Americans to the moon for the first time in half a century have suffered a setback.

During a press conference Tuesday afternoon, NASA officials announced that the Artemis II and Artemis III moon missions—planned for this year and next, respectively—will be pushed to September 2025 and September 2026. Artemis II is expected to put NASA astronauts in lunar orbit, while Artemis III aims to land them on the moon, where they would become the first humans to visit the lunar south pole.