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 lunar orbit mission to September 2025 and the Artemis III moon landing mission to September 2026, pushing back the return of Americans to the lunar surface.
The delays are primarily due to safety concerns identified during the Artemis I mission, including issues with the Orion spacecraft's heat shield, electrical systems, life support components, and batteries.
Additional factors contributing to the postponements include the complex development of new systems from private sector partners, such as SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System, next-generation spacesuits, and crucial propellant transfer technology.
NASA emphasizes a "safety first" approach, stating missions will launch "when ready," and remains confident in the revised timeline with strong industry collaboration, viewing Artemis as a critical step towards future human missions to Mars.

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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.