NASA plans to send astronauts back to the moon’s surface in 2028, on the Artemis IV mission. That will be the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972, more than 55 years ago. Before that landing happens, two earlier missions will test the hardware and flight paths needed to get there safely.
The Missions Leading Up to a Landing
The return to the moon is happening in stages, each building on the last. Artemis I already flew in 2022, sending an uncrewed Orion capsule around the moon and back. The next three missions ramp up in complexity.
Artemis II (April 2026): Four astronauts will fly around the moon without landing, the first crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years. The crew includes NASA commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen. This mission tests the Orion spacecraft and its life-support systems with people on board for the first time.
Artemis III (2027): Originally planned as the first landing mission, Artemis III has been redesigned. It will now test critical systems and operational capabilities in low Earth orbit to prepare for the landing that follows. Think of it as a full dress rehearsal.
Artemis IV (September 2028): This is the one. Two astronauts will descend to the lunar surface for roughly six days, conducting field geology, deploying scientific instruments, and collecting samples. After Artemis IV, NASA plans at least one crewed surface landing every year.
Why It’s Taking So Long
Getting back to the moon requires technology Apollo never had, and several pieces are still in development. The lunar lander is a version of SpaceX’s Starship, which needs to hit a series of milestones before it can carry people to the surface. Those include catching and reusing a Starship booster, performing ship-to-ship docking in orbit, and transferring super-cold propellant between vehicles in space. SpaceX also needs to fly and validate tanker, depot, cargo, and lunar lander variants of the vehicle, none of which have flown yet.
New spacesuits are another piece of the puzzle. The suits Apollo astronauts wore were stiff and limited. The new suit, called the AxEMU, is designed for real mobility: bending down to pick up rocks, adjusting to fit a much wider range of body sizes, and operating at higher pressure so astronauts can skip hours of pre-breathing and spend more time actually walking on the surface. These suits are currently in late-stage testing.
Where on the Moon Astronauts Will Land
Every Apollo mission landed near the moon’s equator. Artemis is targeting the lunar south pole, a region no human has ever visited. NASA has narrowed the candidates to nine sites, including areas around craters like Haworth and Nobile, the Malapert Massif mountain, and Slater Plain. These locations are scientifically valuable because permanently shadowed craters nearby may contain water ice, a resource that could eventually be converted into drinking water, oxygen, or even rocket fuel.
The south pole also presents unique challenges. Sunlight hits at extreme angles, creating long shadows and temperature swings that hardware and spacesuits need to handle. Landing site selection will ultimately depend on which regions offer the best combination of scientific value, safe terrain, and reliable communication with Earth.
A Lunar Space Station Is Coming Too
Artemis IV won’t just land on the moon. It will also begin assembling Gateway, the first space station in lunar orbit. Two initial modules will launch ahead of the crew on a Falcon Heavy rocket and be waiting in orbit when astronauts arrive. The Artemis IV crew will dock a habitation module to the station, turning it into a livable outpost.
Each mission after that adds to Gateway. Artemis V brings a module with viewing windows and additional research space. Artemis VI adds an airlock so astronauts can do spacewalks directly from the station. Over time, Gateway becomes a permanent waypoint: astronauts arrive from Earth, transfer to a lunar lander, descend to the surface, then return to the station before heading home. It also serves as a testbed for the longer missions to Mars that NASA is planning for the 2030s and beyond.
A Broader International Effort
This isn’t a solo American project. As of May 2025, 55 countries have signed the Artemis Accords, a set of principles for peaceful and transparent lunar exploration. Signatories include major space players like Japan, Canada, France, Germany, India, and South Korea, along with newer entrants like Bangladesh, Rwanda, and the Dominican Republic. Canada has already secured a crew seat on Artemis II, and the European and Japanese space agencies are contributing Gateway hardware.
The scale of participation reflects how much the landscape has changed since Apollo. Returning to the moon is no longer a two-nation space race. It’s a long-term, multinational effort to build infrastructure that stays, with the goal of making the moon a place humans visit routinely rather than a destination reached twice in a generation and then abandoned.