Artemis · the return to the Moon
Artemis III
The first crewed landing on the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 — and the first ever at the lunar south pole, where the permanently shadowed craters hold water ice.
Countdown to the current target
Wed, 30 Jun 2027 00:00:00 GMT
| Target window | No earlier than 2027 (TBD) |
|---|---|
| Launch vehicle | SLS Block 1 (Orion) |
| Lander | SpaceX Starship HLS |
| Crew | Not yet assigned |
| Landing region | Lunar south pole |
| First since | Apollo 17, December 1972 |
Artemis III is designed to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time in over half a century, and to do something Apollo never did: land near the south pole. The region is a priority because its permanently shadowed crater floors hold water ice — a resource for future exploration, and a record of the Solar System's history.
The mission profile is unlike Apollo's. Orion carries the crew to lunar orbit on an SLS rocket; a separately launched SpaceX Starship, refueled in orbit, serves as the lander that takes two crew members down to the surface and back. Both vehicles have to be ready, which is part of why the date remains a target rather than a commitment.
Everything on this page is the public record as it stands. When NASA names a crew or firms a date, this page updates from the same launch schedule the rest of the site runs on — it will never show a name or a date that has not been announced.
Fly Shackleton crater — the south-pole terrain Artemis is aiming for →
Dates and status from Launch Library 2; mission facts from NASA’s Artemis pages. Nothing here is asserted as confirmed until NASA announces it.