NASA’s Artemis III, targeted for 2027, will test two competing lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin by attempting to rendezvous with an Orion capsule in Earth orbit and dock with a lunar lander variant of Starship or Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2.

If SpaceX’s Starship V3 is not ready on Artemis III timelines, NASA may pursue alternative arrangements, potentially altering SpaceX’s role in the program.

Starship V3 and Blue Origin’s New Glenn are positioned as integral to developing lunar landers, with in-orbit refueling and reliability milestones before NASA contracts can be awarded.

Blue Origin’s Mark 2 lander is a 52-foot-tall, reusable system capable of carrying up to 22 tons of cargo, with Pathfinder/Mark 1 advancing life-support systems and vacuum testing for potential 2027 demonstrations, including a VIPER rover mission if successful.

The report notes ongoing support for science journalism and references NASA plans and external analyses, including launcher repairs, orbital refueling challenges, and the broader Moon-base strategy.

Endurance, Blue Moon’s lunar lander, has cleared a key spaceflight readiness hurdle, signaling progress toward supporting NASA’s lunar ambitions.

SpaceX’s Starship Human Landing System is designed to land astronauts on the Moon using the Starship upper stage, potentially delivering up to about 100 tons of cargo, with a side-mounted crew descent elevator; progress milestones were last updated in late 2025, with renewed development emphasis.

The plan prioritizes in-Earth-orbit testing to reduce risk and enable two dissimilar landers, stressing cadence—the number of assets, launches, and landers needed—to meet the 2028 crewed landing and 2036 moon-base goals.

Key uncertainties include SpaceX and Blue Origin confirming lander readiness; the mission would involve lunar-orbit docking, crew transfer to the surface, a return, and possible uncrewed demonstrations before full crewed use by 2028.

Blue Origin plans the third New Glenn launch (NG-3) for mid-April to demonstrate rapid first-stage reuse, following a successful launch rehearsal and FAA advisory updates.

The NG-3 mission aims to advance New Glenn reuse capabilities via a no-earlier-than schedule, with a static-fire test to follow after the launch rehearsal.

The story centers on the competitive dynamic between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos for NASA funding, and how timelines for Artemis-4 and beyond depend on demonstrated reliability of both lunar-capable systems.