Artemis 3 Moon mission likely to be delayed until 2027. Here's what stopping NASA

NASA's ambitions to land humans on the Moon by mid-2020s has taken a big hit. A new study released by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has said that the Artemis 3 mission is unlikely to take off until at least early 2027.

The Artemis 3 mission is part of NASA's Artemis Program which aims to land the first woman and person of colour on the Moon. Initially targeted for launch in 2025, the mission is being delayed due to multiple challenges in its development.

Starship and spacesuits biggest hurdle on way to the Moon

NASA has awarded SpaceX two contracts worth over $4 billion since 2021 to develop its Starship rocket for landing on the Moon starting Artemis 3. It's the same Starship which has launched twice - first on April 20 and again on November 23 - but has failed to prove its flight readiness. Both missions failed in the explosion of the rocket few minutes after lift off.

Based on the data from NASA and interviews with agency officials, the GAO concluded that one of the reasons for the delay is the failed test flights of Starship.

"The delays were caused in part by the Orbital Flight Test, which was intended to demonstrate certain features of the launch vehicle and lander configuration in flight," the GAO said.

It also said that as of September 2023, the Human Landing System program (for Starship) had delayed eight of 13 key events by at least six months.

This report by the GAO comes six months after NASA expressed concerns about the delay due to Starship's non-readiness. SpaceX has endorsed Starship as the holy grail of interplanetary travel and for missions to Mars.

However, just getting Starship to orbit won't fulfill NASA's requirement as SpaceX also needs to develop in-orbit fuelling for its journey ahead to the Moon.

"SpaceX must complete a significant amount of complex technical work to support the Artemis III lunar landing mission, including developing the ability to store and transfer propellant while in orbit," the GOA report said.

"A critical aspect of SpaceX's plan for landing astronauts on the moon for Artemis III is launching multiple tankers that will transfer propellant to a depot in space before transferring that propellant to the human landing system," it further said noting that SpaceX has made limited progress in maturing the required technologies.

Another major hurdle on the way to the Moon is the space suit which Axiom Space is designing for astronauts. NASA picked Axiom in September 2022 for design and development of advanced Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit to be worn by lunar explorers on the surface.

In March this year, Axiom unveiled a prototype of its suit incorporated with latest technology while promising enhance mobility and added protection from hazards at the Moon.  

The suit also has challenges related to its design as Axiom might have to tweak the technologies a bit. 

NASA now reportedly wants a minimum of 60 minutes of emergency life support for the astronauts.

"NASA's original design did not provide the minimum amount of emergency life support needed for the Artemis III mission. As a result, Axiom representatives said they may redesign certain aspects of the space suit, which could delay its delivery for the mission," the GOA report said.