With Artemis 2 Flying Home, NASA Is Already Teasing Artemis 3
By Ellyn Lapointe
Published on April 9, 2026.
NASA's Artemis 2 mission is returning to Earth, with a splashdown off the coast of San Diego, California, on Friday. The next Artemis mission, set to launch in 2027, will send Orion spacecraft and astronauts to space atop a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The mission will also test the docking capabilities needed to land astronauts on the Moon. However, finalization of the mission design and the launch cadence of NASA's commercial HLS providers will also be a deciding factor, with both SpaceX and Blue Origin having launches within the next month.
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