NASA is about to lay out its fastest plan yet to return astronauts to the lunar surface. Today, Friday, October 23, at 2 p.m. EDT (11 p.m. Pakistan time, 7 p.m. in the UK), the agency holds a press conference it is calling “Artemis Acceleration” at Kennedy Space Center in Florida — and the stakes could hardly be higher.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya, and Artemis program manager Jeremy Parsons will face reporters to detail the overhauled Artemis program and explain how the agency plans to land Americans on the Moon by 2028. You can watch it live on NASA’s website at nasa.gov/live.
Here is what we already know about the new timeline — and what today’s briefing still has to answer.
Artemis III Will Not Land on the Moon
The biggest change, confirmed by NASA earlier this year and again this week, is that Artemis III — now targeted for mid-2027 — will not be a Moon landing at all. Instead, four astronauts will fly NASA’s Orion capsule into low Earth orbit to test the rendezvous and docking systems needed for future landings.
The crucial part: during that Earth-orbit mission, Orion will practice docking with the two competing private lunar landers NASA selected for the Artemis program — SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon. How each lander performs will help NASA decide which vehicle carries astronauts to the lunar south pole on Artemis IV.
It is a deliberate rehearsal. Neither contractor has yet demonstrated a landing with its vehicle, and NASA wants the hardware proven in space before any crew trusts it near the Moon.
The 2027–2028 Race: SpaceX vs. Blue Origin
According to timelines NASA revealed this week at the International Astronautical Congress, the two companies are on parallel tracks — and the schedule is aggressive.
SpaceX plans to land an uncrewed Starship on the lunar surface before the end of 2027 as its demonstration mission. Blue Origin is aiming for the first quarter of 2028 for its own uncrewed demonstration, using its Blue Moon Mark 2 lander. That mission will need to prove the vehicle can reach the surface, operate there, and return to lunar orbit before NASA clears it for astronauts.
If both demonstrations succeed, Artemis IV would then land astronauts near the lunar south pole in early 2028 — the first crewed Moon touchdown since Apollo 17 in 1972, more than 55 years ago.
It is worth noting that NASA’s own timeline depends on hardware that is still being built. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket — needed to launch the Blue Moon lander — is still recovering from a launch-pad explosion in May and is targeting a return to flight in December. SpaceX, meanwhile, flew Starship’s 14th test flight on September 28 and is pushing for a much higher launch cadence in 2027.
Moon Base Missions Are Already Queued Up
Alongside the crewed missions, NASA’s “Moon Base” program is stacking up robotic flights to the lunar surface. Moon Base II is expected to launch as soon as next month: the Griffin lander, built by Voyager (formerly Astrobotic), will ride a SpaceX Falcon Heavy to Mons Mouton near the south pole, carrying more than 500 kilograms of cargo including a test rover for future lunar vehicles.
Moon Base I, using Blue Origin’s uncrewed Blue Moon Mark 1 “Endurance” lander, is scheduled for the first quarter of 2027 to the Shackleton Connecting Ridge — a site NASA is studying closely because of its near-constant sunlight and nearby water ice.
These robotic missions are designed to scout terrain, test how rocket exhaust interacts with lunar soil, and prove navigation techniques before astronauts arrive.
Why “Acceleration”?
The briefing’s title is doing a lot of work. In February 2026, NASA restructured Artemis — converting Artemis III into an Earth-orbit systems test and pushing the first landing to Artemis IV. Today’s event is expected to show how the agency intends to make up lost time.
There is also quiet competition in the background. China has stated its goal of landing astronauts on the Moon before 2030, and NASA leadership has repeatedly framed the American return as a race the United States intends to win.
But today’s optimism comes with a caveat. NASA’s own watchdog has cautioned that both commercial lander programs face schedule and technical risks that could threaten the 2028 target, and the lander that will actually fly on Artemis IV has not yet been chosen.
What to Watch For Today
The key questions for this afternoon’s briefing: which lander is ahead, whether the mid-2027 Artemis III date still holds, and what “acceleration” concretely means — new funding, compressed testing, or both.
One thing is certain: with a crewed landing last achieved in 1972, the road back to the Moon runs through today’s press conference. Check back after 2 p.m. EDT for the details as they emerge.
Sources: NASA media advisory (Oct. 14, 2026); Space.com reporting on NASA’s lunar lander timelines; Reuters reporting on Blue Origin’s schedule; NASA’s Artemis program updates.