Nasa has announced significant changes to its Artemis programme, delaying the first crewed moon landing in over 50 years until 2028. The revised plan, unveiled by newly confirmed administrator Jared Isaacman on Friday, introduces an additional test flight before attempting a lunar touchdown.
Under the new schedule, the Artemis II mission—a 10-day crewed flight around the Moon without landing—has been pushed back from 6 March to at least 1 April due to technical issues. Engineers discovered a blockage in the rocket's helium flow, following a hydrogen leak in February.
Isaacman described the approach as incremental, stating: “We’re going to get there in steps, continue to take down risk as we learn more.” The Artemis III mission, originally intended to land on the Moon, will now be a low-Earth orbit test flight by mid-2027 to refine technologies.
The eventual Artemis IV mission is slated for 2028 to land astronauts near the Moon's south pole. A subsequent landing, Artemis V, could follow later that year, with annual missions thereafter. The changes come after an independent safety panel criticised the previous plans as too risky.
