WASHINGTON, June 8, 2026, 07:02 EDT
NASA plans to announce the four astronauts chosen for Artemis III on Tuesday, spotlighting the crew behind the agency’s 2027 test flight—now under a cloud after setbacks in Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket program. The announcement and a mission update are set for 11 a.m. EDT at Johnson Space Center, Houston.
Why is this on the radar now? Artemis III isn’t set to mark the return of U.S. boots to the lunar surface after Apollo—NASA’s shifted gears, calling it an Earth-orbit test instead. Orion’s job: link up with one or both of the commercial landers from Blue Origin and SpaceX, a crucial dry run to confirm the systems work before crews count on them around the Moon.
Timing’s the snag. After Blue Origin’s New Glenn blew up on May 28, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman made it clear: the agency is “de-coupling the lander from the launch vehicle and the pad itself,” but keeping “laser focused on the lander” for Artemis III in 2027 and that 2028 landing target. Spaceflight Now
Dave Limp, CEO of Blue Origin, has moved to limit the scope of the damage. He told Reuters the main propellant tanks at the launch pad “all in good shape,” and said Blue Origin expects to fly again before year-end, despite not yet knowing what caused the explosion. Reuters
An explosion ripped through the site, AP reported, taking out both a lightning tower and the transporter-erector responsible for positioning the rocket. Blue Origin said no injuries were reported. Methane, hydrogen, and oxygen tanks seemed to be intact, but the cause was still being investigated.
The Artemis III astronauts are preparing on hardware that’s not set in stone. Just last month, NASA announced that a full-scale mock-up of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 crew cabin is up and running at Johnson Space Center for mission sims, suit evaluations, and direct crew feedback to Blue Origin. The real lunar lander? It’ll be roughly 52 feet high.
Jeremy Parsons, senior exploration official at NASA, described Artemis III as “one of the most highly complex missions NASA has undertaken.” The agency’s current outline: Orion is set to lift off atop the Space Launch System rocket, make its way to low Earth orbit, and—depending on how things play out—astronauts could board at least one lander test article, running checks on life support, comms, propulsion, and docking systems. NASA
Blue Origin’s schedule includes upcoming Moon cargo alongside its other work. For NASA’s Moon Base I project—no sooner than fall 2026—the agency picked Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance lander. The plan: haul scientific gear out to the Shackleton Connecting Ridge, at the lunar south pole, a spot NASA sees as key to lowering risk for future crewed missions.
SpaceX still stands as the primary rival in the field. Speaking to Aerospace America back in April, Isaacman said he was “gaining confidence by the day” that both SpaceX’s Starship lander and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon would be involved in Artemis III—though he made that statement before the New Glenn pad incident. Aerospace America
Still, the fix is tricky. Spaceflight Now points out that Blue Moon was designed specifically for the New Glenn’s seven-meter fairing; Falcon Heavy’s fairing is smaller, and SpaceX’s launch pads aren’t built to handle a hydrogen-fueled Blue Moon lander. Clayton Swope at CSIS warned that without a lander ready by mid-2027, Artemis III could get pushed back, which would stall work on the next lunar mission. His advice: “prepare for the worst.” Spaceflight Now
NASA plans for Artemis III to send four astronauts off from Kennedy Space Center on Orion using the Space Launch System, aiming to put the docking system through its paces ahead of future lunar landing flights. The crew lineup, revealed Tuesday, won’t solve launch-pad issues, but it does put a team on the calendar—a date NASA remains determined to hold.
