NASA’s Artemis 2 Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule sit atop a mobile launcher at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in March 2026. Credit: NASA/Jim Ross

Following the roaring success of NASA’s Artemis 2 mission, the space agency is devising plans for a final test flight before attempting to land the first humans on the Moon in decades, as soon as 2028.

Whereas Artemis 2 sent four astronauts slingshotting around the Moon and back — and farther from Earth than any human has ever ventured — Artemis 3 will stay in familiar Earth orbit. The mission is designed as a test of NASA’s Orion capsule’s ability to dock with the human landing system (HLS) that will deliver its crew to the lunar surface.

NASA does not yet know which HLS — SpaceX’s Starship or Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 — will fulfill that role.…