Published on
With the Orion capsule barely out of the Pacific, NASA is already planning the next chapter of its Artemis programme.
Artemis II delivered never-before-seen views of the Moon’s far side, a solar eclipse viewed from lunar orbit and a new record distance for humans in space.
The mission is the latest in a series NASA plans that will eventually put humans back on the Moon and establish a permanent base there.
“The next mission’s right around the corner,” entry flight director Rick Henfling said following the crew’s splashdown on Friday.
Last month, NASA announced a phased plan to build a permanent base on the Moon, with the Artemis III and IV missions playing a key role.
The lead-up to the Moon landing
Initially, Artemis III was supposed to be the Moon landing mission, but in March NASA announced it would become a demonstration mission to test landers from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.
The new Artemis III, planned for next year, will see astronauts dock their Orion capsule with a lunar lander in low Earth orbit to certify the vehicles ahead of a crewed landing.
SpaceX and Blue Origin are racing to have their landers ready first. Blue Origin is targeting an uncrewed test launch of its Blue Moon lander later this year, while SpaceX’s Starship-based lander has faced delays, with key milestones still outstanding.
After Artemis III, NASA said it plans to send one mission to the Moon every year. Artemis IV, set for early 2028, will see astronauts transfer from Orion to a commercial lunar lander that will bring them to the surface.
‘Plans for a Moon base’
In its Moon base plans, NASA said initial missions will send rovers, instruments, and technology to the lunar surface to study how power can be generated, how communications could work and how to navigate the terrain.
The next phase will be to build partially livable structures and establish regular supply runs, including a collaboration with Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which is developing a pressurised rover for crewed surface exploration.
The final phase will see larger equipment transfers and eventually a continuous human presence, moving away from short visits to a permanent base.
NASA has already signed partnerships with Italy and Canada and plans to add further contributions covering habitation, surface mobility, and logistics.
The agency announced the changes to align its work with the US National Space Policy, released last December, which directed NASA to return astronauts to the Moon, reform the country’s role in commercial space operations, and lead the world in space exploration.