KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – At a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center press site held on Feb. 27, new NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced sweeping changes to Project Artemis – increasing the flight cadence for the SLS and Orion moon rocket by adding more test flights to improve resiliency and reliability as well as changing the mission goals.
NASA Artemis III will have a new goal. NASA is changing the mission order to insert a new mission.
Artemis III will now be conducted similar to Apollo 9 – a test flight to rendezvous & dock with a commercial human lunar lander in Earth orbit – from either SpaceX and/or Blue Origin in mid/late 2027, whichever is ready for rendezvous and docking with the Orion crew capsule.
Ideally both would be available during the same Orion test flight with a crew of astronauts yet to be named.
Human lunar landings supplied by Blue Origin and/or SpaceX will now be shifted to Artemis IV & V in 2028 and beyond
Following the news conference Ken Kremer of Space UpClose was asked to do a live interview on FOX 35 Orlando about the Artemis major overhaul changes announced by Isaacman.
Watch my complete live interview video here : https://www.fox35orlando.com/video/fmc-a6ek0hlgtbyfoazh
Caption: NASA announces major overhaul of lunar mission plans. NASA held a news conference Friday Feb. 27, 2026, where administrator Jared Isaacman announced significant changes to the agency’s Artemis II program. FOX 35’s Garrett Wymer spoke with Ken Kremer, Managing Editor of Space UpClose, about what was discussed.
Isaacman hopes to increase the Artemis SLS Orion flight rate to 1 or more per year vs one every 3.5 years currently – so that teams stay focused, active, primed and ready and skills don’t atrophy.
This should enhance safety and avoid problems like the Hydrogen and Helium issues
This should enhance safety and avoid problems like the Hydrogen and Helium issues with experience
SLS and Orion will be standardized into a near Block 1 configuration – so that each is not a ‘Work of Art’ as Isaacman stated to make them more reliable and robust
NASA will forgo improvements to Block 1B and Block 2 configuration and is apparently cancelling the much more powerful Boeing EUS or Exploration upper stage – at last for now
The Gateway seems to be on hold for now to focus on the lunar landings and to establish a lunar base – after I asked Isaacman about the projects fate at the briefing
The Space UpClose team of Ken Kremer and Jean Wright both attended the News conference dealing with changes to Artemis missions and an update on Artemis II repairs following rollback into the VAB – and we both asked questions.
Here is the NASA News Conference video – streamed live on Feb 27, 2026:
Following the rollback of the Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft on Wednesday, Feb. 25, experts will discuss the work ahead for the Artemis II test flight around the Moon and provide broader updates on the Artemis campaign. NASA participants include:
- Administrator Jared Isaacman
- Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya
- Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate
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Ken Kremer recent TV interviews about Artemis:
NBC Orlando video: https://www.wesh.com/article/nasa-moves-artemis-ii-off-launch-pad-for-more-repairs/70503151
ABC Orlando Video: https://www.wftv.com/news/nasa-rolls-back-artemis-ii-rocket-repairs-launch-april-tentative/1c297ed0-720f-4487-a163-fc87b4d3f7b9/
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