After the Artemis 2 astronauts returned from their historic journey around the Moon, NASA quickly shifted its attention to Artemis 3. Now, the agency has revealed some details from its preliminary flight plan. And, well, it’s not exactly what we expected. Artemis 3, launching no earlier than late 2027, will aim to test rendezvous and docking capabilities between NASA’s Orion spacecraft and lunar landers built by SpaceX and Blue Origin, paving the way for the Artemis 4 crewed Moon landing. In a press release published Wednesday, the agency said engineers have been evaluating mission profile options and operational considerations since February, when NASA revamped the Artemis program architecture to reduce risk, increase launch cadence, and more effectively execute plans to establish a sustained lunar presence. Officials still have key decisions to make, but this update provides the clearest insight into the Artemis 3 flight plan yet. Some of the choices are quite surprising.
SLS will fly without its upper stage During Artemis 3, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will launch the Orion spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. A crew of four astronauts will be inside Orion. This is the same launch configuration NASA used for Artemis 2, but this time, SLS will fly without its Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS).
