Artemis III

Mission Profile

Prime Contractors

Companies that built, launched, or operate this mission. Tickers link to their investor profile.

• SpaceX
• LMTLockheed Martin
• AIR.PAAirbus Defence & Space
• Axiom Space
• BABoeing

Overview

Artemis III is planned to be the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972 and the first ever to put astronauts on the lunar South Pole. NASA will fly four astronauts on Orion to a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon, where two crew members will transfer to a SpaceX Starship Human Landing System (HLS) for descent to the surface. The mission targets a roughly weeklong surface stay in the South Polar region, where permanently shadowed craters are believed to harbor billions of tons of water ice — a strategic resource for future propellant production and life support. Two moonwalks are planned, supported by next-generation Axiom Space AxEMU spacesuits that replace the Apollo-era and Space Shuttle EMU designs. The landing zone will be drawn from a NASA-curated list of 13 candidate regions near 84-90 degrees south latitude, with final selection driven by lighting, terrain, and science targets. The mission depends on completion of an uncrewed Starship HLS demonstration landing first, plus a complex orbital propellant transfer architecture that requires multiple Starship tanker flights. As of April 2026, NASA's official target is mid-2027 but the agency's Office of Inspector General has flagged 2028 as more realistic given HLS readiness milestones.

Key Milestones

1. 2021-04-16

   SpaceX awarded HLS contract for Artemis III ($2.89B)

2. 2023-09-15

   NASA selects Axiom Space to provide AxEMU surface suits

3. 2024-01-09

   NASA delays Artemis III to September 2026

4. 2024-12-05

   NASA pushes Artemis III to mid-2027

5. TBD

   Uncrewed Starship HLS demonstration landing (prerequisite)

Related Missions

Sources

1. NASA — Artemis III
2. NASA OIG — Artemis Status Report
3. NASA — Candidate Landing Regions