NASA will conduct a full-scale dress rehearsal for returning astronauts to the Moon when the Artemis III mission launches in 2027, testing rendezvous and docking operations between the Orion spacecraft and commercial lunar landers in low Earth orbit before committing to a crewed surface landing the following year.
The demonstration mission, announced in detail by NASA on July 15, will see four astronauts launch aboard the Space Launch System rocket and practice docking with test versions of the Moon landers being built by SpaceX and Blue Origin. Unlike the original Artemis III plan which called for a lunar landing, the revised mission keeps the crew in Earth orbit to validate critical systems and procedures ahead of the Artemis IV landing targeted for 2028.
“It will be a highly choreographed dance with a demanding launch sequence across multiple launch pads and equally demanding mission operations for our ground and flight crews, making it one of the most complex and ambitious missions NASA has ever undertaken,” said Jeremy Parsons, NASA’s Artemis program manager. “The demonstration mission will set the stage before our next giant leap.”
Two Landers, One Mission
The mission involves three separate rocket launches from multiple pads within a short timeframe. Blue Origin’s test vehicle launches first on a New Glenn rocket and can loiter in orbit for up to 30 days while ground teams perform checkouts. The four-person crew then launches aboard Orion on the Space Launch System from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B. After the Blue Origin docking phase concludes, SpaceX’s Starship test article launches on a Super Heavy rocket to rendezvous with Orion for a second set of docking tests.
SpaceX will fly a test version of its Starship Human Landing System based on the latest Version 3 design, with a docking system mounted on the nose of the 52-metre (171-foot) spacecraft. Astronauts will not enter the Starship test article during Artemis III, but NASA and SpaceX will evaluate how the integrated stack of Orion and Starship behaves, including controllability and communications tests.
Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 test lander is closer to a fully operational crew vehicle. It carries avionics, flight software, control systems, an Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS), and a crew cabin. Up to two crew members, wearing orange Orion Crew Survival System suits, will open the hatch and enter the Blue Origin test lander to evaluate the interior environment. The lander also carries an instrumented spacesuit mass simulator similar to the Moonikin manikin that flew on Artemis I, providing real-time feedback about conditions inside the crew cabin.
“The lander prototype designs will inform future development efforts and will continue to mature over the next year,” said Steve Creech, program manager for NASA’s Human Landing System Program at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
A Critical Risk Reduction Step
NASA describes Artemis III as a risk-reduction mission designed to retire technical uncertainties before astronauts commit to a lunar landing. The data gathered during the Earth orbit demonstrations will complement uncrewed test flights at the Moon planned by both companies, building confidence in the spacecraft and launch vehicles.
The docking tests replicate the same operational configuration planned for future crewed lunar landings, with Orion acting as the chaser spacecraft and the landers serving as targets. During the first phase, Orion will dock alongside the Blue Moon test lander adjacent to the crew cabin, with Orion’s flight software controlling the docked stack. After separating, Orion will dock nose-to-nose with the much larger Starship test article, and SpaceX’s software will take control for that portion of the mission.
Both companies have already qualified their docking hardware on the ground. SpaceX validated its Starship docking system in 2023, while Blue Origin completed development ground testing on its pressurized docking system earlier this year. NASA will conduct thorough verification of both test landers before allowing crew to approach, ensuring the vehicles meet functional, performance, and safety requirements.
“Each human landing system provider has taken a different approach to the Artemis III mission,” Creech said. “Ultimately, SpaceX and Blue Origin have put forward a list of aggressive objectives and goals intended to complement upcoming uncrewed demonstration missions at the Moon so that we can gain both understanding and confidence in the spacecraft and launch vehicles prior to a crewed landing.”
Exercising the Ground Team
Beyond the orbital maneuvers, Artemis III serves as a full-stress test for NASA’s ground operations. The dual-launch campaign exercises ground processing crews, launch pad teams, control centers, networking, and data exchange across multiple sites around the country. Launching three of the world’s most powerful rockets within days of each other from different pads presents a logistical challenge NASA has not faced since the Apollo era.
All three rockets benefit from more frequent launch opportunities than a lunar mission would allow. Orion will fly in a circular orbit at an altitude of approximately 430 kilometres (230 nautical miles), a profile that lets both commercial landers reach the designated altitude in a single launch. This orbit also provides greater flexibility if any vehicle experiences a delay.
The Artemis III crew includes Commander Randy Bresnik, Pilot Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, and Mission Specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio. The four astronauts will spend roughly two weeks in orbit conducting the docked operations before returning to a Pacific Ocean splashdown.
Paving the Way for Artemis IV
The 2027 demonstration mission directly supports Artemis IV, currently planned as the first crewed lunar landing of the Artemis program in 2028. Lessons learned from the Earth orbit tests will feed into the final design and operation of both commercial landing systems, helping ensure that when astronauts do descend to the lunar surface, they do so aboard vehicles that have already proven themselves in space.
For SpaceX, the Starship test article provides an early opportunity to validate the integrated Orion-Starship stack at a scale and complexity not possible on the ground. For Blue Origin, the opportunity to have crew enter and evaluate the Blue Moon cabin marks a significant step toward certifying the vehicle for its first lunar landing mission.
NASA’s dual-provider strategy, awarding Human Landing System contracts to both SpaceX and Blue Origin, ensures redundancy and cross-validation. If one system encounters development delays, the other provides a path to the Moon. The Artemis III demonstration is the first time both vehicles will fly together with a crew, testing the interoperability that will define the Artemis era of lunar exploration.
As Parsons put it, “NASA’s expertise in systems engineering and integration, as well as launch and mission operations in low Earth orbit, will bring the mission together.”
With hardware already stacking up at Kennedy Space Center and both commercial providers refining their test articles, the pieces are falling into place for what NASA calls one of the most complex human spaceflight missions ever attempted. If Artemis III succeeds in 2027, the path to the Moon in 2028 becomes significantly clearer.
Featured image: Artist’s concept of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 human landing system test article in Earth orbit, docked with NASA’s Orion spacecraft as part of the Artemis III demonstration mission. Credit: NASA