Artemis III

Nelson talks with Aviation Week about the role private companies will play and his concerns about China’s ambitions on the Moon.

The National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine panel also acknowledged the mission’s extreme challenges and received initial comments.

NASA’s plan to build a second mobile launcher for its upgraded Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will cost the agency $1.8 billion.

Airbus is dispatching the third European Service Module (ESM-3) to the U.S. for eventual use on NASA’s mission to return humans to the moon.

NASA is seeking input to identify the near-term capabilities and assets necessary to achieve the Moon-to-Mars architecture’s objectives.

The rocket is intended for a September 2028 inaugural launch as part of the Artemis IV mission.

NASA must document efforts to address the greater-than-planned mass of the first two modules for its lunar-orbiting human-tended Gateway, says GAO auditors.

Matching NASA’s needs with the ideal contracting mechanism is a challenge.

The five recommendations are among nine identified by the GAO in May 2023 as “priority” that still await full implementation.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson again raised astronaut safety as the primary pacing item for Artemis III.

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

NASA’s inspector general has identified a range of technical issues of concern that arose during the uncrewed 2022 Artemis I mission.

Earlier this year, NASA announced a rescheduling of the Artemis II and Artemis III missions.

Axiom and Collins are working on new spacesuits for the agency’s lunar and LEO programs.

The multiyear Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services contract agreements have a combined maximum potential value of $4.6 billion over 15 years.

NASA has selected the first three science instruments for deployment on the Moon’s south pole as part of Artemis III.

The agency is asking for the same amount of money it received in 2023.

Last living Apollo 17 crewmember is guiding off-world prospecting.

The White House on March 11 unveiled a $25.4 billion spending plan for NASA in fiscal 2025.

The astronauts graduated from a two-year training period in a ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center on March 5.

A compromise appropriations bill for fiscal 2024 keeps most funding for NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration initiative intact.

A NASA safety panel on Feb. 28 identified two issues that it is watching especially closely as the agency prepares for the Artemis II mission.

NASA has learned a number of lessons that have helped shape an evolving Moon-to-Mars Architecture strategy that underpins the agency’s Artemis program.

NASA intends to lead an internationally and commercially partnered effort to establish a sustainable human presence at the Moon and keep on going.

The Houston-based company is poised to become the fourth private entity to attempt a lunar landing.