Overview
- NASA announced the Artemis III crew on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, naming Randy Bresnik as commander, Luca Parmitano as pilot, and Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas as mission specialists with Bob Hines as the backup.
- Artemis III has been re‑scoped as a low‑Earth‑orbit demonstration targeted for 2027 that will use Orion launched on SLS to rendezvous and dock with one or both commercial Human Landing System test vehicles.
- The mission will run about two weeks and follow a multi‑launch sequence in which commercial lander test vehicles launch separately, dock with Orion for timed demonstrations, and then detach before Orion returns to Earth.
- Both commercial partners face technical hurdles that add schedule risk: SpaceX’s Starship must prove repeated orbital reliability and in‑space refueling steps, and Blue Origin’s New Glenn suffered a major test‑stage explosion in late May that damaged its launch infrastructure.
- Near‑term work includes crew training, SLS wet dress rehearsals and hardware testing through 2026, and NASA warns the 2027 target is achievable but could slip if HLS development or SLS readiness fall behind.