← Saturday 24 Octobernote 12 of 12
Astronomy and spaceflightSat 24 Oct 2026 · 12 of 12

NASA, Blue Origin and SpaceX Accelerate Lunar Lander Development for 2028 Mission

Verified · 7/7 supported1 cited · 1 min read

nasa.gov reports that NASA, Blue Origin and SpaceX are accelerating development of crewed lunar landers for missions targeting a 2028 Moon landing . nasa.gov reports that Artemis III has been redefined to demonstrate rendezvous and docking between test landers from Blue Origin and SpaceX and NASA’s Orion spacecraft in low Earth orbit next year . nasa.gov reports that both Blue Origin and SpaceX are developing crew and cargo versions of their lunar landers for near‑term Artemis missions . nasa.gov reports that NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the effort is executing President Trump’s National Space Policy to return American astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028 and establish a Moon Base .

Why it matters. nasa.gov reports that the accelerated schedule aims to have American astronauts back on the Moon by 2028, paving the way for a permanent lunar base .

Earlier on Astronomy and spaceflight

Fri 23 Oct 2026NASA APOD Highlights First Green Star White Dwarfnasa.gov reports that the Astronomy Picture of the Day for 2026‑10‑22 features an illustration of the white dwarf WD J1330+6435, described as “The First Green Star”. nasa.gov reports that white dwarfs are small, faint stellar remnants left after a Sun‑like star exhausts its nuclear fuel. nasa.gov reports that some white dwarfs can appear yellow, green, cyan, pink, or purple because trace elements accreted onto them alter the color of their atmospheres. nasa.gov reports that these colored white dwarfs are too faint to be seen with the naked eye from Earth.Fri 23 Oct 2026Hubble captures gravitational lens image ahead of Roman telescope observationsnasa.gov reports that NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured a gravitational‑lens image as preparation for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. nasa.gov reports that the image features a foreground elliptical galaxy about 4.5 billion light‑years away acting as the lens. nasa.gov reports that the background galaxy, about eight billion light‑years distant, appears as a pair of arcs behind the foreground galaxy. nasa.gov reports that gravitational lensing occurs when the mass of a foreground object warps spacetime, bending and magnifying light from a more distant source. nasa.gov reports that a sweeping barred spiral galaxy is also visible, with the lens located in the lower‑right corner of the image.Thu 22 Oct 2026NASA hot‑fire test of RS‑25 engine No. 10001 supports Artemis missionsnasa.gov reports that NASA tested RS‑25 engine No. 10001 on Oct. 21 at the Fred Haise Test Stand, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi. nasa.gov reports that the developmental engine was fired for almost eight‑and‑a‑half minutes (500 seconds), the same duration as RS‑25 engines during SLS launches. nasa.gov reports that operators ran the engine up to 111% power level, matching the thrust needed for new production engines for SLS and Orion missions. nasa.gov reports that the test’s main objectives were to acceptance‑test RS‑25 flight components for future Artemis missions and to validate a new thermal protection system for the engine nozzle. nasa.gov reports that, although the developmental engine will not fly, the hot‑fire test provides data to improve engine performance and reliability.