NASA changes lunar lander flight plans as SpaceX and Blue Origin work toward 2028
NASA has outlined different routes to the Moon for SpaceX and Blue Origin, replacing a shared rendezvous-orbit approach as it works toward a 2028 crewed landing. The October 23 update leaves the choice of the first landing provider dependent on readiness, rather than assigning either company a specific lunar landing mission now.
News date: 2026-10-23 · Checked: 2026-10-24 (Asia/Bangkok)
NASA has outlined different routes to the Moon for SpaceX and Blue Origin, replacing a shared rendezvous-orbit approach as it works toward a 2028 crewed landing. The October 23 update leaves the choice of the first landing provider dependent on readiness, rather than assigning either company a specific lunar landing mission now.
Three key points
- SpaceX’s revised plan would dock Starship HLS with Orion in Earth orbit before the lander pushes the combined spacecraft toward the Moon.
- Blue Origin’s accelerated plan would defer propellant transfer and use three transfer stages to send its lander toward an elliptical polar lunar orbit.
- Both providers must demonstrate their crewed landers without astronauts first; NASA has not assigned either company a specific lunar landing mission.
Two flight paths, one readiness decision
NASA’s detailed release follows an October 23 briefing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Unlike the advance notice of that event, the new account describes changes to how the American commercial landers and Orion would travel and meet. Both suppliers are also participating in the planned Artemis III test mission in low Earth orbit in 2027.
SpaceX would still use tanker and depot Starships to gather cryogenic propellant in Earth orbit. Under the revised concept, the lander would wait there for Orion, dock with it and perform the burn that sends the combined stack toward low lunar orbit. NASA says it is working on modifications to Orion for that arrangement.
Blue Moon takes a different approach
For Blue Origin’s accelerated 2028 mission plan, NASA describes three transfer stages, launched before the Mark 2 Alpha lander, that would separate as their propellant is used. The destination would be an elliptical polar orbit around the Moon rather than the previously planned near-rectilinear halo orbit. The initial accelerated design defers propellant transfer.
These remain development plans. NASA requires an uncrewed demonstration of each crewed lander and certification before astronauts fly. The agency says readiness will determine which provider is selected first for the 2028 surface return, with a second crewed landing opportunity to follow. Neither provider is currently assigned a specific lunar landing mission under the realigned contracts.
