NASA sets 2028 for next crewed Moon landing: revised docking plan

NASA has set 2028 as the target date for its next crewed Moon landing, according to its revised plans. The agency has acknowledged that its mission architecture has changed significantly, and it has described its approach in full for the first time in a public news conference. Under the new plan, SpaceX’s Starship lunar lander will dock with Orion in high-Earth orbit before heading to the Moon. NASA expects to carry out a demonstration landing in 2027 and a full crewed landing in 2028, with the agency’s leadership confident that the schedule is achievable.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman confirmed that the revised plan includes the use of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander, which may dock with Orion in low-lunar orbit. The agency has taken a hard look at every element of Artemis and has made changes to help the lander companies carry out their work more quickly. However, the success of these changes and the ability to meet the 2028 deadline remain open questions.

The revised plan reflects input from SpaceX engineers, who asked NASA to drop the requirement that Starship dock with Orion in a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon. That orbit had demanded more energy and brought other difficulties. The cancellation of the Lunar Gateway earlier this year removed the need for that orbit, making the revised plan more feasible.

The agency has acknowledged that the mission architecture has changed significantly, and it has described its approach in full for the first time in a public news conference. The revised plan includes the use of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander, which may dock with Orion in low-lunar orbit. The agency has taken a hard look at every element of Artemis and has made changes to help the lander companies carry out their work more quickly.

NASA expects to carry out a demonstration landing in 2027 and a full crewed landing in 2028, with the agency’s leadership confident that the schedule is achievable.