NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon this decade, is facing some lengthy delays.
With the Artemis mission programs, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before, learn how to live and work far from Earth, and prepare for future human exploration of the Red Planet.
However, NASA recently announced that its next Artemis II mission program (expected to send four astronauts to fly around the Moon in a next-generation spacecraft), will launch. in September 2025, instead of later this year.
The Artemis II program delay also pushed back the next mission, the Artemis III program, which would have landed astronauts near the Moon’s south pole, which will also be delayed to September 2026. NASA said these two mission programs are being pushed back to allow enough time to test new technologies on the Orion spacecraft, which is central to crewed Moon missions.
“We are returning to the Moon like never before, and the safety of astronauts is NASA’s top priority, as we prepare for future Artemis missions. We won’t fly until it’s ready. Safety first”.
According to NASA, this delay will give teams the opportunity to complete a thorough investigation and fix of the battery issue and component issues related to the spacecraft’s temperature control and ventilation systems. Orion, addressing concerns about life support electronics technologies for astronauts surviving inside Orion, continues to analyze wear and tear of the spacecraft’s heat shield, as well as repairs to the launch tower.
Amit Kshatriya, deputy administrator for exploration systems development at NASA headquarters, said in a statement: “Artemis is a long-term exploration campaign, aimed at conducting scientific research on the Moon with astronauts, and preparing for future human missions to Mars. That means we must get it right when developing and operating our platform systems so we can execute these missions as safely as possible.”
Experts say the latest failure follows years of delays and budget overspending for the Artemis program. NASA has spent more than $42 billion over more than a decade to develop the new Space Launch System super rocket and the Orion spacecraft to return astronauts to the Moon.
Last year, NASA’s inspector general released a report outlining challenges surrounding the Artemis program’s huge costs and ambitious schedule. The report estimates that each launch of the Artemis program will cost $4.2 billion, making these Moon missions difficult to sustain alongside NASA’s other space exploration goals.