The next crewed moon landing is currently targeted for 2028, as part of NASA’s Artemis IV mission. That timeline shifted in early 2025 when NASA restructured its Artemis program, turning the Artemis III mission into an orbital test flight in 2027 and pushing the first surface landing to Artemis IV the following year. If the schedule holds, it will be the first time humans have walked on the moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972, a gap of more than 55 years.
Why the Landing Moved to Artemis IV
NASA originally planned for Artemis III to be the landing mission. But the agency decided to redesign the mission sequence, turning Artemis III into a 2027 flight that will test systems and operational capabilities in low Earth orbit. This clears the way for Artemis IV to attempt the actual lunar surface landing in 2028 with more proven hardware and procedures. NASA also announced plans for at least one surface landing every year after that.
Before any of this happens, Artemis II needs to fly. That mission, a crewed flyby of the moon with four astronauts aboard, is preparing for a launch window that opened in early 2026. As of February 2026, the crew had entered pre-launch quarantine, though NASA had not locked in a specific launch date. Artemis II won’t land on the moon, but it’s the first crewed test of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System rocket together, making it a critical stepping stone.
Where on the Moon Astronauts Will Land
NASA has identified nine candidate landing regions near the lunar south pole. These include sites with names like Malapert Massif, Nobile Rim 1, Nobile Rim 2, de Gerlache Rim 2, and Slater Plain, among others. The south pole is the target because it contains permanently shadowed craters that likely hold water ice, a resource that could eventually support longer stays on the surface.
The selection team evaluated each region using data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, weighing factors like science potential, terrain suitability, communication line-of-sight with Earth, lighting conditions, and whether the combined flight path of the SLS rocket, Orion capsule, and SpaceX’s Starship lander could safely reach the site. A final landing spot won’t be chosen until closer to launch.
The Hardware That Needs to Come Together
Getting astronauts to the lunar surface requires several major pieces of technology to be ready at the same time, which is a big reason timelines keep shifting.
SpaceX is building the Human Landing System, a variant of its Starship vehicle that will carry astronauts from lunar orbit down to the surface and back. SpaceX must complete one uncrewed demonstration landing on the moon before the system can be used on a crewed mission. That demo hasn’t happened yet, and it remains one of the program’s most watched milestones.
For Artemis IV, NASA is also upgrading its rocket. The current SLS Block 1 will give way to the Block 1B, which can send roughly 38 metric tons to the moon in a single launch and carry a large co-manifested payload alongside the Orion crew capsule. Major sections of the Block 1B core stage are being manufactured in New Orleans, its upper stage engines are complete, and booster segments are in production. But assembling and testing a new rocket configuration always introduces schedule risk.
Then there’s Gateway, a small space station that will orbit the moon. Its first two modules, the Power and Propulsion Element and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), will launch together on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket ahead of Artemis IV. HALO arrived in the United States from Italy in April 2025 and is undergoing final outfitting in Arizona. Gateway will serve as a docking hub where astronauts transfer between Orion and the lunar lander, and it will support communications, power, and logistics for surface missions.
New Spacesuits for the Lunar Surface
The Apollo-era suits are long retired, and NASA’s next moonwalkers will wear a completely new design called the AxEMU, built by Axiom Space. These suits accommodate a much wider range of body sizes than Apollo suits did, fitting crewmembers from the 1st to the 99th percentile in body measurements. That’s a meaningful change: Apollo suits were designed around a narrow range of male astronaut builds.
The AxEMU is built to handle the extreme cold of the lunar south pole, including temperatures inside permanently shadowed regions, for at least two hours. Astronauts will be able to perform moonwalks lasting at least eight hours. The suit features a helmet with built-in lights and an HD camera, advanced visor coatings for better visibility, custom-made gloves with improved dexterity, a system that scrubs carbon dioxide from the air supply, and redundant safety systems with onboard diagnostics. It’s designed to work both on the lunar surface and in low Earth orbit, so the same basic architecture can be used across different missions.
China Is Racing Toward 2030
NASA isn’t the only space agency aiming for the moon. China has announced plans to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030, and as of October 2025, officials said the program was on track. China is developing a new rocket called the Long March 10 to carry astronauts aboard a next-generation capsule called Mengzhou, replacing the Shenzhou spacecraft used for its space station missions. The lunar lander, called Lanyue, will be tested in robotic form in 2027 and 2028, with an uncrewed full-system test planned for 2028 or 2029 before the crewed landing attempt.
If both programs stay on schedule, NASA would land astronauts on the moon in 2028 and China would follow around 2030. But both timelines carry significant uncertainty, and delays in either program could narrow or widen that gap.
Robotic Missions Paving the Way
While the crewed program works through its milestones, a wave of robotic landers is heading to the moon under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Six missions are planned for 2026, from companies including Astrobotic, Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, and Draper. At least one more, from Intuitive Machines, is scheduled for 2027.
These missions carry scientific instruments and technology demonstrations that scout landing conditions, test navigation systems, and study the lunar environment. They’re smaller and cheaper than crewed missions, but the data they return directly informs where and how astronauts will eventually work on the surface. Several earlier robotic attempts have ended in crashes or partial failures, underscoring how difficult lunar landings remain even without people on board.
What Comes After the First Landing
NASA’s plan doesn’t stop at one visit. Artemis V will send two astronauts to the lunar surface while also delivering a second module to Gateway, built by the European Space Agency. During that mission, Orion will spend six days in a complete orbit of the moon while docked to Gateway as the surface crew explores the south pole below. The goal is to build toward a sustained presence, with yearly landings establishing infrastructure for longer stays and, eventually, using the moon as a proving ground for Mars missions.