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NASA’s Artemis program to return astronauts to the Moon by the end of the decade has been delayed again. The agency said Thursday it does not anticipate a crewed Moon landing until mid-2027 at the earliest.
Administrator Bill Nelson said NASA pinpointed a design flaw with the crew capsule’s heat shield, and must now modify all the launch and flight plans for Artemis’ test missions — all of which pushes back the planned landing to the Moon.
Prior to US President-elect Donald Trump’s first term in office, NASA had targeted 2028 for the US astronauts to land on the Moon, but Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence had directed the agency to accelerate that timeline to 2024 amid a heightened space race with China.
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The delay comes a day after Trump tapped tech billionaire Jared Isaacman to succeed Nelson as NASA administrator — a nomination that could deepen NASA’s reliance on Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the private sector.
Isaacman has flown twice on self-funded SpaceX missions and completed the world’s first private space walk.
NASA is already depending on SpaceX’s still-in-development Starship to transport astronauts to the Moon as part of the Artemis program, and Isaacman had previously signed up to lead Starship’s first crewed orbital flight — a crucial test toward achieving NASA’s aim.
After his nomination, Isaacman pledged to use NASA to make humanity a “true spacefaring civilization.”