NASA adds new Artemis moon missions in major overhaul of lunar program

Eric Lagatta, USA TODAYFri, February 27, 2026 at 5:46 PM UTC

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NASA adds new Artemis moon missions in major overhaul of lunar program

NASA's ambitious Artemis lunar program is getting a major overhaul.

The U.S. space agency has announced plans to add additional missions as it works toward the lofty goal of landing astronauts on the moon once every year beginning as early as 2028.

The revelation comes as the U.S. space agency is preparing for Artemis 2, the first human spaceflight under its multibillion-dollar program. That mission, which will send three Americans and one Canadian on a 10-day trip around the moon, has faced a series of delays due to snags with NASA's mammoth Space Launch System rocket developed specifically for the lunar program.

The revamp to the Artemis campaign also comes amid a heated space race with China to return humans to the moon and construct permanent settlements on the largely unexplored lunar south pole. Ultimately, NASA has designs on using its lunar outposts to facilitate the first crewed expeditions to Mars.

"With credible competition from our greatest geopolitical adversary increasing by the day, we need to move faster, eliminate delays, and achieve our objectives,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement Friday, Feb. 27. “Standardizing vehicle configuration, increasing flight rate and progressing through objectives in a logical, phased approach, is how we achieved the near-impossible in 1969 and it is how we will do it again.”

1 / 02025 spaceflight in photos. See images of Blue Origin, SpaceX missionsFirefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander captures its shadow on the moon's surface after completing a successful landing March 2 near a volcanic feature on the moon called Mons Latreille. The vehicle became the first of two landers manufactured by a U.S. company to reach the moon is 2025 in crucial missions to lay the groundwork for NASA to return humans to the lunar surface in the years ahead.

Here's everything to know about NASA's announcement about updates to the Artemis program.

NASA adds another Artemis mission before moon landing

Originally, the upcoming Artemis 3 mission targeted for no earlier than 2028 was envisioned as the endeavor that would return Americans to the moon for the first time since the Apollo era.

The goal for the timing of that moon landing has not changed, but NASA has added one other Artemis mission between the landing and the upcoming Artemis 2 mission.

Now, Artemis 3 will be the name of a new human moon mission "designed to test out systems and operational capabilities in low-Earth orbit," NASA said in a press release. Most prominently, the mission will attempt to rendezvous and dock in lunar orbit with at least one of the commercial lunar landers being developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, NASA said.

The moon landing, still targeted for 2028, will now be known as the Artemis 4 mission, NASA said, adding that it will be "undertaking at least one surface landing every year thereafter."

NASA's SLS moon rocket rolled off Florida launch pad for repairs

The SLS rocket, which was first rolled out Jan. 17 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, recently departed the launch pad for repairs.

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Ground teams spent hours Wednesday, Feb. 25 slowly transporting the rocket on a massive vehicle known as a crawler-transporter that NASA uses to convey spacecraft.

The Space Launch System is now back inside the towering Vehicle Assembly Building, where spacecraft are prepared for launch, as engineers work to fix an issue in which helium was not properly flowing to the rocket's upper stage. Helium is required for a launch, as it helps with engine purging and pressurizing fuel tanks.

When is the Artemis 2 rocket launch date?

NASA's Artemis 2 mission has slipped by at least two months from the space agency's initial target launch date in February. Now, NASA simply hopes to preserve launch opportunities beginning April 1 following the latest issue discovered with the giant Space Launch System rocket's upper stage.

Before encountering the issue, NASA officials had appeared optimistic that a successful fueling test had set the stage for a March launch. That test, known as a wet dress rehearsal, was the second after an earlier demonstration in February uncovered liquid hydrogen leaks that forced an earlier delay.

Who are the astronauts on the Artemis 2 mission?

1 / 0NASA's Artemis 2 mission to fly 4 astronauts around moon. Photos of crewNASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stands with the Artemis II crew during an SLS rollout press briefing.

The crew of Artemis 2 includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as the Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen.

Following the successful prelaunch fueling test, the astronauts had reentered quarantine Feb. 20 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to avoid exposure to any illnesses, NASA said. But amid the latest setback, the crew members once again exited quarantine and will remain in Houston until a new target launch date is about two weeks away.

What are NASA's Artemis moon missions?

NASA's Artemis program is the agency's ambitious campaign to return Americans to the surface of the moon for the first time since the Apollo era came to an end in 1972. The lunar south pole is where water ice is thought to be abundant that could be extracted and used for drinking, breathing and as a source of hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel for missions to Mars.

While NASA tested its spacecraft during the Artemis 1 mission in 2022, Artemis 2 will be the first time that the giant, 322-foot-tall SLS rocket and the Orion capsule will fly with humans aboard. The Artemis 2 astronauts won't be landing, but will instead circle the moon on a 10-day trip to test systems and hardware for future expeditions to the surface.

President Donald Trump has signaled he wants to see a moon landing before the end of his second term.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Artemis rocket launches to increase as more moon missions added

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