NASA targets 2028 lunar landing after shifting Starship docking to Earth orbit
The agency detailed its new mission architecture on Friday, confirming that Orion will now meet SpaceX hardware in high-Earth orbit.
By Luana Sato ·
NASA stated on Friday that a crewed lunar landing could occur as soon as 2028. During a lengthy news conference, agency officials provided their most detailed public account yet of the Artemis Program's current plans. This announcement marks the first time the agency has fully described its revised approach and openly acknowledged that the mission architecture has changed in major ways.
The primary change involves SpaceX's Starship vehicle. Under the new protocol, the Orion spacecraft will dock with the Starship lunar lander in high-Earth orbit. The combined vehicles will then travel together toward the Moon. This shift replaces the previous requirement for a docking in a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon, a trajectory that demanded more energy and created additional technical difficulties for the spacecraft.
Blue Origin's architecture follows a different path. The company's plan calls for four launches of the New Glenn rocket. None of these launches involve refueling one spacecraft from another. The Blue Moon lander may meet Orion in low-lunar orbit, a configuration that remains part of the agency's approved options for the upcoming missions.
NASA officials confirmed that Artemis III is still expected to fly by the summer of 2027. This mission will serve as a demonstration where Orion docks near Earth with both the Blue Moon and Starship vehicles. Artemis IV, which includes an actual landing on the lunar surface, remains on track for 2028. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman expressed confidence in this timeline during the briefing.
"This is an achievable path we are on right now," Isaacman said. "We have the mandate, we have the resources, and the support from our stakeholders to be able to execute, and that's what we intend to do." He added that agency leadership has reviewed every element of the program to help lunar lander companies speed up their work.
The decision to move the Starship docking point traces back to requests from SpaceX engineers. In meetings with NASA in early 2026, their team asked to drop the lunar orbit docking requirement. When NASA canceled the Lunar Gateway earlier this year, the specific problem that made that orbit difficult for SpaceX effectively disappeared, allowing the agency to adopt the high-Earth orbit solution.
