Three massive rockets, launching within days of each other, will kick off a carefully choreographed space test that NASA says will make the difference between a successful moon landing and a dangerous one.
The space agency plans its Artemis III demonstration mission for 2027 — a rehearsal flight that will let engineers practice everything they need to do before astronauts actually touch down on the moon in 2028. Instead of landing on the lunar surface, the test will take place in low Earth orbit, where two companies — SpaceX and Blue Origin — will each send up a test version of their planned moon landers.
"Artemis III will be a highly choreographed dance with a demanding launch sequence," NASA said.
The demonstration matters because astronauts have never flown these landers before. SpaceX will test its Starship Version 3, a towering 171-foot spacecraft that will need to dock smoothly with NASA's Orion capsule while both are zooming around Earth. Blue Origin, meanwhile, will fly its Blue Moon Mark 2 lander — and up to two crew members will actually climb inside it, wearing the same orange survival suits they would wear during a real moon mission.
Steve Creech, who leads NASA's Human Landing System Program at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said each company took a different path to reach the same goal. "Each human landing system provider has taken a different approach to the Artemis III mission," he said. "Ultimately, SpaceX and Blue Origin have put forward a list of aggressive objectives 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."
The Blue Moon test will include a spacesuit simulator inside the crew cabin to measure conditions — similar to the "Moonikin" manikin that rode aboard Orion during the uncrewed Artemis I flight. SpaceX's test lander will carry a docking system on its nose so NASA can check how the whole system — Orion plus Starship — works together.
The data gathered during these tests will shape how NASA refines both vehicles before astronauts trust their lives to them. Over the next year, the lander designs will continue maturing as engineers learn what works and what needs fixing.
When the real Artemis III crew launches — likely in 2028 — they will carry the lessons from this rehearsal with them to the moon.