Washington, D.C. – NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced on Thursday that the Artemis program, the United States’ ambitious lunar exploration initiative, will face further delays, pushing back the next two planned missions, including the first lunar landing since 1972.

The Artemis II mission, which aims to send astronauts around the moon without landing, has been delayed to April 2026. The subsequent Artemis III mission, slated to land astronauts on the moon’s surface, has been pushed back to 2027, Nelson stated during a news conference.

The Artemis program, established during the first administration of President-elect Donald Trump, is designed to return astronauts to the moon and lay the groundwork for future human missions to Mars. It represents NASA’s most ambitious human space exploration program in decades, with an estimated cost of $93 billion through 2025.

Despite delays, the program has achieved significant milestones. In 2022, NASA successfully launched the uncrewed Artemis I mission, a 25-day voyage around the moon. The mission tested the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, both critical components of the Artemis program. Orion, built by Lockheed Martin, carried simulated crew members and safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

The Artemis program also leans heavily on SpaceX’s Starship, contracted to land astronauts on the lunar surface. The missions involve a complex relay, with astronauts launching from Earth aboard Orion and transferring in space to Starship for the journey to and from the moon.

The United States is in a high-stakes race with China, an emerging power in space exploration, to return astronauts to the moon. Both nations are actively engaging international partners and leveraging private companies to achieve their goals.

The Artemis program has remained NASA’s top priority under Nelson. Looking ahead, the program is expected to take on an even more ambitious role, with an emphasis on preparing for Mars exploration during the incoming Trump administration. SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who envisions Mars as humanity’s next frontier, will play a key role through the development of Starship.

The delays underscore the technical challenges and complexity of the Artemis program, but NASA remains committed to its mission.

NASA is working closely with partners, including SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing, to advance the program and ensure its success. The ultimate goal is to establish a sustainable presence on the moon and use it as a stepping stone for Mars missions, aligning with both NASA’s vision and the broader U.S. space agenda.

For further updates on the Artemis program and NASA’s plans, visit nasa.gov.