Artemis III, the mission intended to return American astronauts to the Moon, may not be able to meet its 2025 launch target, revealed a report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Thursday. The GAO cited challenges with both the SpaceX’s Starship Human Landing System (HLS) and the Axiom spacesuit as the main reasons for the likely delay. “NASA and its partners have made progress, but they still face several obstacles,” the GAO noted, forecasting that the Artemis III crewed lunar landing won’t happen in 2025.
SpaceX’s Starship HLS has faced delays in reaching crucial milestones, impacting its readiness for the ambitious Artemis III mission. The GAO found that SpaceX used more time to complete certain milestones compared to NASA projects, potentially pushing the Artemis III mission to early 2027. Furthermore, the Axiom spacesuit, selected for lunar operations, is still in early development stages and facing challenges meeting NASA’s requirements. The report also highlighted issues with NASA’s HLS hardware and software integration, as well as lunar dust contamination.
The delayed timeline for the Artemis III mission paints an uncertain picture for its success in 2025. Both SpaceX and NASA are facing various challenges in their efforts to return humans to the Moon, indicating that additional time will be needed to ensure the mission’s readiness. Given these complex issues, it remains to be seen when the Artemis III mission will actually occur.
