NASA workforce memo details Artemis III launch delays
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - NASA’s Artemis III mission is facing a three-month scheduling setback, putting pressure on the agency’s timeline to return astronauts to the moon.
Artemis III schedule delays
What we know:
In an internal email sent to NASA employees, Administrator Jared Isaacman outlined new delays facing the Artemis III mission.
"Right now, we are ~90 days broken against the Artemis III schedule, but there are still a lot of decisions to be made, problems to solve, and opportunities for the schedule to recover," Isaacman wrote in the memo.
The communication made its way to Keith Cowing, editor of the watchdog website NASA Watch, who tracks the space agency's operations. He shared the internal memo with FOX 35 on Thursday.
"Everybody from the top to the bottom, contractors and the like got this," Cowing said, adding, "when you get memos like this, they’re from Jared".
Lunar lander contractor roles
Why you should care:
The space race with China is growing tighter, with the outcome potentially decided in months rather than years.
The Artemis III mission does not involve putting humans on the moon immediately, but serves as a crucial test flight in Earth orbit to dock with landers being built by SpaceX and Blue Origin.
Both human landers must work properly before astronauts can walk on the lunar surface again.
"Yeah we got a question as to whether the SpaceX , Blue Origin vehicles work," Cowing said, noting that contractors could be contributing to the delays. "NASA is probably the best prepared of the three parties involved because they’ve got a spacecraft that works, and they're stacking the rocket".
Moon mission timeline goals
What’s next:
Isaacman noted that a best-case scenario would keep the mission on track to launch in the summer of 2027, preserving up to two lunar landing attempts in 2028.
"The aspirational goal for NASA right now is to launch Artemis III in 2027, next year, that’s a push," Cowing said. Despite the push to meet these milestones, agency leadership stressed that NASA will not rush the process and will only launch when fully prepared.
Future lunar landing targets
What we don’t know:
It remains unclear how NASA will recover and make up time with the 90-day delay before 2027. NASA has not yet publicly commented on the workforce memo following requests for statement.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from a internal workforce memo written by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, published by editor Keith Cowing on NASA Watch. FOX 35 Reporter Esther Bower reviewed the memo. She also reached out to NASA Communications staff for comment but did not hear back by Thursday airtime.