NASA’s Artemis II mission sparked interest across the globe as the crew travelled farther than any human had ever been before. Eyes are now looking at Artemis III for next steps toward the lunar surface. However, before stepping foot on the surface of the Moon, NASA still has a few more tests.

The next mission, Artemis III, taking place in 2027, plans to test integrated operations between the Orion spacecraft and commercial lunar landers. Crew will launch in the Orion spacecraft on top of the Space Launch System (SLS) just as the crew of Artemis II had. Tests will then be performed on rendezvous and docking capabilities between the Orion spacecraft and commercial landers while in low Earth orbit.

NASA partnered with both SpaceX and Blue Origin for the design of the Human Landing System (HLS). Both providers are in development of lunar landers to be tested in the Artemis III mission. One of these commercial lunar landers will be used to take astronauts to the surface of the moon during the Artemis IV mission, scheduled for 2028.