About Artemis III Launch
Artemis III is NASA's next crewed step back toward the Moon, targeting late 2027 — and with the four-person crew announced in June 2026, the mission has a face. The countdown above tracks the expected launch window; the date carries an "expected" badge until NASA fixes it.
The mission profile changed in 2026: rather than attempting a lunar landing immediately, Artemis III will fly astronauts on the Orion spacecraft to test rendezvous and docking with lunar lander hardware in Earth orbit — a deliberate risk-reduction step after Artemis II's successful crewed flight around the Moon in April 2026. The lessons feed directly into Artemis IV, the mission slated to put boots back on lunar soil.
It is easy to underrate a "test flight", but this is how Apollo did it too — Apollo 9 proved the lunar module in Earth orbit before Apollo 11 made history. Artemis III's docking demonstrations with commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin are the gateway every later Moon landing depends on. Follow this countdown alongside our Artemis IV Moon-landing page.
FAQ
When does Artemis III launch?
NASA is targeting late 2027 — the countdown above tracks the expected window and will be updated when an exact date is set.
Will Artemis III land on the Moon?
No — the restructured mission is a crewed Earth-orbit test of docking with lunar lander hardware. Artemis IV is planned as the first crewed landing.
Who is flying on Artemis III?
NASA announced the four-person crew in June 2026 — the second crew of the Artemis program after Artemis II's historic 2026 flight around the Moon.
What happened on Artemis II?
In April 2026, four astronauts flew Orion around the Moon and back — the first crewed lunar flyby since 1972 — splashing down successfully after 10 days.