NASA says Artemis III mission on schedule as Blue Origin repairs launchpad

NASA remains on track for next year's Artemis III mission, a key test of orbital docking and lunar landers needed for future crewed moon landings, despite an explosion involving an unmanned Blue Origin rocket during a launchpad test in May, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said on Monday.

The Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon in 2028, combines NASA-developed spacecraft with systems provided by private industry. NASA's Space Launch System rocket will launch a crew aboard Orion, a deep-space capsule built by Lockheed Martin LMT.N, while Elon Musk's SpaceX SPCX.N and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin are developing landers designed to ferry astronauts between lunar orbit and the moon's surface.

NASA is also closely watching SpaceX's next Starship test flight, due this week, including the performance of its Raptor engines and heat shield, both critical to making the rocket fully reusable.