The Artemis 3 mission, scheduled tentatively for December 2025, may face a delay until at least 2027.
NASA’s ambitious initiative to return humans to the moon for the first time since the Apollo program with the Artemis 3 mission is likely to be postponed due to “multiple challenges” and an ambitious schedule, as announced by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
According to the GAO, there is a substantial amount of pending technical work on the human landing system (HLS), including essential design work to incorporate larger oxygen tanks into the space suits that would be used by astronauts on the moon.
The HLS program is meticulously working towards a launch of December 2025, aiming to complete its development in 79 months. However, the GAO suggests this timeline is unlikely, given the complex technical work. If the HLS lander development takes as long as other major NASA projects, the Artemis 3 mission could potentially occur in early 2027.
Moreover, unresolved technical issues related to the space suits created by Axiom Space pose an additional challenge. Axiom has made limited progress in maturing the technologies, delaying key milestones. The timeline for the Artemis 3 mission is further complicated by the necessity to resolve a design change in space suits being developed by Axiom Space. The report suggested that NASA could officially delay the launch date for Artemis 3 to 2027.
NASA’s Artemis 3 Moon Landing Delayed Until 2027, According to GAO Report
