What to know about Artemis III, NASA's next mission in its journey back to the moon — and beyond

It was only two months ago that the world was captivated by the record-setting voyage of Artemis II, which took its four crew members farther from the Earth than anyone in history as they flew around the moon.

Long before Artemis II had even left the launchpad, NASA was already deep into the planning of its follow-up mission. Like its predecessor, Artemis III represents a critical step in NASA's ambitious goal to put humans back on the moon and, eventually, send them to Mars. The crew for Artemis III is scheduled to be revealed in a press conference on Tuesday, during which the agency will provide an update on the mission's progress toward its planned launch date sometime next year. 

Here's what we know about the Artemis III mission and how it fits into NASA's ambitions to take space travel into an entirely new era. 

What is Artemis III?

For as groundbreaking and inspiring as it was in its own right, Artemis II was, above all, a test flight. Its primary objective was to allow NASA to try out the systems it will use to get back to the moon. 

Artemis III has a similar objective. It will serve as a proving ground for the final step NASA needs to accomplish before it can once again put human footprints on the lunar surface, where it plans to set up a base with the goal of eventually venturing to Mars. 

There are three key types of spacecraft that NASA needs to return to the moon: Rockets to get away from Earth, a module to carry astronauts to their destination and a landing system to bring them down to the lunar surface. Artemis II showed that the first two — NASA's Space Launch System Rocket and its Orion spacecraft — worked as intended. Artemis III will be a trial for the third and final piece. 

The Artemis III mission will take place entirely within Earth's low orbit. Its core goal is to test the Orion spacecraft's ability to rendezvous with a lunar landing spacecraft so NASA can work out any kinks before launching a mission to officially land on the moon. 

Was this always the plan?

Nope. Artemis III was originally going to be the mission that put humans back on the moon for the first time since 1972. But earlier this year, NASA announced that it was changing its plans and turning Artemis III into another test mission. 

"This is just not the right pathway forward," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said when announcing the revised plan in February. "Going right to the moon … is not a pathway to success."

Artemis IV will now be the mission that lands on the moon. 

Who is building the lunar landers?

While NASA itself built the rockets and Orion module for the Artemis missions, it's relying on two private companies for the system that will take astronauts down to the lunar surface. 

The project pits two of the world's richest men — SpaceX owner Elon Musk and Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos — head-to-head as their companies compete to build the spacecraft that will carry astronauts to the moon. 

At this point, NASA has only said it plans to test Orion's ability to dock with "one or both" of the companies' landers. It's unclear how ready either of those spacecraft are at this point. In May, NASA said it was still "defining" the scope of what it hopes to accomplish with the landers, which will be "informed by Blue Origin and SpaceX capabilities." It's unclear, for example, whether astronauts will leave the Orion module and enter one of the landers at any point. 

Both SpaceX and Blue Origin have had some high-profile hiccups in their quests to dominate commercial space travel. Those issues have largely involved issues with their rockets, which would be needed to get their lunar landers into space so they can link up with NASA spacecraft. 

NASA's future plans for the moon, including the establishment of a base on the lunar surface, depend on the existence of reliable, privately-owned spacecraft that can bring supplies to the moon on a regular schedule to keep the astronauts there alive and support their research. 

When will Artemis III launch?

We don't know yet. NASA has only said that it plans to launch the mission at some point in 2027. The official launch date for Artemis II wasn't announced until just a few weeks ahead of time. 

What comes after Artemis III?

Assuming everything goes to plan, Artemis IV will launch in early 2028 to finally put astronauts on the moon again. The next mission, Artemis V, is scheduled to launch later that year. That mission will also land on the lunar surface and it's when NASA is expected to "begin building its moon base." 

Details of what might come after that are scarce. NASA has only said it plans to launch future moon missions once per year after Artemis V is complete. Eventually, the agency hopes to establish a base on the moon that will allow a "sustained human presence" there. 

What about Mars?

NASA has said that it wants to send humans to Mars and is actively working to develop the technology to make that possible. The agency believes it may be possible to accomplish that goal "as early as the 2030s," but hasn't shared any specifics beyond that — in part because any ambitions it has to go to the Red Planet depend on how successful its moon missions prove to be.

Is there anything else to get excited about in space?

So, so much. Humankind is in the early stages of another groundbreaking space race that will redefine what is possible outside the bounds of our planet. China is aggressively working to become the second country to put humans on the moon. A long list of companies are vying to secure their place as titans of the private space industry. Probes are currently on their way to explore new planets and meteors. And new telescopes will allow us to view the universe in a way we've never seen before.