Artemis – Spaceflight Now

NASA leaders, Artemis contractors argue importance of architecture continuity for returning to the Moon

February 7, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

Representatives from NASA, Boeing and Lockheed Martin argued that the United States shouldn’t skip past the Moon in favor of Mars when it comes to crewed deep space exploration. The discussion came up during a panel at the SpaceCom conference concerning the forthcoming Artemis 2 mission.

As it happened: NASA leadership announces delays to first Artemis crewed launch, Moon landing missions

December 5, 2024 Spaceflight Now

NASA announced new delays for the Artemis Moon program at a news conference at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Artemis 2 mission to circle the Moon is now scheduled for 2026 and the first lunar landing is delayed to 2027.

Trump nominates Jared Isaacman to serve as next NASA administrator

December 4, 2024 William Harwood

If confirmed, Isaacman, 41, would be the fifth NASA administrator with spaceflight experience, replacing former Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who flew into orbit aboard the space shuttle Columbia in early 1986.

Launch preview: SpaceX to launch Starship Flight 6 test mission from Starbase in southern Texas

November 19, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission is likely to be the fourth and final Starship flight before the end of 2024. Liftoff from Pad 1 at Starbase at Boca Chica Beach, Texas, is set for 4 p.m. CST (5 p.m. EST, 2200 UTC).

News from the Press Site: Eclipse preview, spacecraft testing and space junk hitting a Florida home

April 5, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

Joining the live video podcast on Friday, April 5, are Emilee Speck, space journalist with FOX Weather, and Stephen Clark, space reporter with Ars Technica. The show begins at 4 p.m. EDT (2000 UTC) on the Spaceflight Now YouTube channel.

First astronaut missions to the Moon since 1972 delayed due to heat shield questions, hardware readiness

January 10, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced on Tuesday that Artemis 2 will be delayed until Sept. 2025 and Artemis 3 until Sept. 2026. The additional time is needed both from a hardware readiness perspective as well as to answer outstanding questions about the heat shield.

NASA concerned SpaceX’s Starship schedule could delay moon landing

June 7, 2023 Stephen Clark

A senior NASA official raised concerns Wednesday that “difficulties” with SpaceX’s development of the huge new Starship rocket could delay the Artemis program’s first moon landing with astronauts from late 2025, a mission that will use a derivative of the Starship vehicle to ferry a two-person crew to and from the lunar surface.

NASA awards Blue Origin $3.4 billion Artemis moon lander contract

May 19, 2023 William Harwood

Blue Origin, the rocket company owned by Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos, has won a $3.4 billion NASA contract to build an Artemis lunar lander that will provide a downstream alternative to the Starship variant already being developed by SpaceX, the agency announced Friday.

How SpaceX’s Starship stacks up to other rockets

April 17, 2023 Clive Simpson

SpaceX Starship is set to propel itself into the record books today on its maiden flight, becoming the tallest, heaviest and most powerful rocket ever launched by humankind into space, topping a role call of famous and history-making heavy-lift launch vehicles including the mighty Saturn 5 that first took humans to the moon.

Artemis 2 commander chats with Spaceflight Now

April 3, 2023 Stephen Clark

Reid Wiseman, a veteran U.S. Navy test pilot and former chief of NASA’s astronaut corps, will lead the four-person crew assigned to the Artemis 2 mission to carry people to the vicinity of the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. Wiseman says he views the crew’s job as making sure NASA’s Orion spacecraft is ready for more demanding missions later this decade to support moon landings and assembly of a space station called the Gateway in lunar orbit.