Artemis IV
Now the first potential crewed lunar landing under Artemis, targeting 2028.
Last refreshed: 17 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Will America land on the Moon before China does?
Timeline for Artemis IV
Mentioned in: Artemis III core stage ships Monday
Artemis II Moon MissionMentioned in: Non-polar sites, AVATAR tissue in review
Artemis II Moon MissionMentioned in: Isaacman pledges 2028 Moon landing date
Artemis II Moon MissionMentioned in: Kshatriya won't put months on float
Artemis II Moon MissionTwo NASA schedules from the same podium
Artemis II Moon Mission- When will Artemis IV launch?
- Artemis IV is targeting 2028 as the first potential crewed lunar landing under the revised Artemis architecture.Source: quick_facts
- Is Artemis IV the first Moon landing mission?
- Yes, under the revised programme. Artemis III was redesignated to a LEO lander test in February 2026, making Artemis IV the first potential crewed lunar landing.Source: background
- Why was Artemis IV moved up?
- Artemis III was redesignated to a LEO test after Isaacman cancelled Block 1B/2 upgrades in February 2026, so Artemis IV inherited the lunar landing objective.Source: background
- Will the US land on the Moon before China?
- NASA targets Artemis IV for 2028; RAND assessed China's 2030 goal as credible. The US margin is narrow given Artemis's history of 5-7 year delays.Source: background
- What rocket will Artemis IV use?
- SLS Block 1 with a ULA Centaur V upper stage, selected in March 2026 following the cancellation of the Block 1B upgrade.Source: quick_facts
Background
Artemis IV is now the first potential crewed lunar landing in the programme, targeting 2028, after Artemis III was redesignated to a LEO lander test in February 2026. It will fly on SLS Block 1 with a ULA Centaur V upper stage. Administrator Isaacman publicly pledged the 2028 date at the Artemis II post-mission context session. The mission requires a redesigned O2 manifold valve, confirmed non-negotiable after the Artemis II helium leak ran at 10 times the ground-test prediction.
The mission moved forward in the sequence when Isaacman cancelled the Block 1B and Block 2 SLS upgrades and restructured the Artemis manifest. Originally a later mission, Artemis IV inherited the crewed lunar landing objective.
The 2028 target carries zero schedule margin given Artemis history of five to seven year delays. China's crewed lunar landing target of 2030 is assessed as credible by the RAND Corporation. If Artemis IV slips, China could achieve a crewed lunar landing first. The five open Artemis II engineering items, none with committed fix dates, are the immediate dependencies.
