NASA Confirms 2028 Moon Landing With Starship Docking Shift
The agency will have Starship and Orion connect in high-Earth orbit rather than around the Moon, a change driven by SpaceX engineers.
By Elijah Fitzgerald ·
NASA detailed its current path to returning astronauts to the lunar surface during a news conference on Friday. The agency stated that a crewed landing could occur as soon as 2028. This marks the first time the space agency has openly acknowledged how much the mission architecture has changed.
The primary alteration involves SpaceX’s Starship vehicle. Under the revised plan, the Orion spacecraft will dock with the Starship lunar lander in high-Earth orbit. The combined stack will then travel toward the Moon. Previously, the requirement was for Starship to dock with Orion in a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon. SpaceX engineers requested this change during meetings with NASA in early 2026. They argued the lunar orbit demanded more energy and created other operational difficulties. The cancellation of the Lunar Gateway earlier this year removed the original reason for that specific orbital path.
Blue Origin’s approach differs from the SpaceX plan. Its architecture relies on four launches of the New Glenn rocket. None of these launches involve refueling one spacecraft from another. The plan allows for the possibility that the Blue Moon lander will meet Orion in low-lunar orbit. NASA has not yet finalized the specific docking location for Blue Origin’s vehicle.
NASA officials maintain that the Artemis III mission is still on track for summer 2027. This mission will serve as a demonstration where Orion docks with both the Blue Moon and Starship landers near Earth. The agency expects the Artemis IV mission, which includes the actual surface landing, to follow in 2028.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman expressed confidence in the timeline. "This is an achievable path we are on right now," he said. He added, "We have the mandate, we have the resources, and the support from our stakeholders to be able to execute, and that's what we intend to do."
Agency leadership has reviewed every element of the Artemis program. They have implemented changes intended to help the lunar lander companies complete their work more quickly. The open question remains whether NASA and its partners can meet the announced dates.
Much of the underlying technical information had been reported by media outlets before Friday. However, the agency’s presentation provided the most detailed public account of its intentions to date. The shift in strategy reflects the practical needs of the contractors building the next generation of lunar hardware.
