Artemis IV
Where it stands: NASA is still assembling Artemis IV hardware, with its 130-foot liquid-hydrogen tank moved to the vertical assembly building at Michoud for roll-ring attachment and priming. The revised plan targets a 2028 Moon landing using two landers on one mission, but NASA will not choose between SpaceX's and Blue Origin's landers until Earth-orbit tests are done, and the two will use different operational methods. Watch whether the 2028 date holds through the year-end tanking test and early-2028 uncrewed landing demos.
Latest
- 2026-10-30 opened as the Artemis IV half of the hardware file's split (artemis-hardware — see its retitled-from line); entries that are only about Artemis IV moved here from artemis-hardware.
- 2026-10-25 (~12:20 AM ET, Starlust — starlust.org): NASA's Artemis IV plan to fly two landers on the same 2028-targeted Moon landing mission has major changes — SpaceX and Blue Origin will use different operational methods for Starship and Blue Moon during a single mission. Development: sits beside the October 24 report that NASA won't pick between the landers until Earth-orbit test results are in, and the October 23 Kennedy briefing's 14-day Artemis III choreography with Blue Moon launching first. Watch: the specific operational roles per lander, the uncrewed landing demos (early 2028 target), whether the Artemis IV 2028 landing date holds.
- 2026-10-24 the lander-selection gate becomes explicit — NASA will not pick between SpaceX's and Blue Origin's Moon landers until Earth-orbit test results are in, under the revised 2028 landing campaign (msn.com/en-us); Around Prague corroborates the Orion dual-docking plan (aroundprague.cz/en) and NASASpaceflight carries the post-briefing rundown (nasaspaceflight.com/2026). Development of the October 23 Kennedy-briefing record (summer 2027 Artemis III target, dual-lander LEO test phase, EUS dropped). Watch: whether the "test-then-pick" framing hardens into a formal selection process, the year-end tanking test, and the early-2028 uncrewed-landing targets both providers carry.
Claims to watch · 1 (1 pending, 0 slipped, 0 hit, 0 missed)
- NASA, Sep 7, 2026: 2028 crewed lunar landing (Artemis IV) due pending Source
October 2026 · 2 updates
- 2026-10-24 (architecture layer): Mashable adds the design change behind the "faster, leaner plan" framing — the new Artemis IV profile scraps a distant orbit around the Moon where the landers were once staged, presented as NASA's answer to China's lunar ambitions (mashable.com/science). Development of the same-day lander-selection-gate entry; watch unchanged: the year-end tanking test, the summer 2027 Artemis III target, the early-2028 uncrewed-landing targets, and the ~22 vs 6–8 refueling dispute.
- 2026-10-03 IV-flow movement — Artemis IV's 130-ft liquid-hydrogen tank moved to the vertical assembly building at Michoud (NASA Marshall: roll rings attach next, then primer). Core-stage hardware staging while III sits behind schedule with both boosters stacked.