NASA Announces Artemis III Crew; taps American astronauts, Italian for a mission with SpaceX, Blue Origin’s moon ship

NASA on Tuesday (June 9, 2026) named three American astronauts and one Italian astronaut to serve as crew for its next Artemis mission, a demonstration spacecraft docking in Earth orbit next year that will test lunar landing craft from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for the first time in space.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman named American astronauts Andre Douglas, Frank Rubio and Randy Bresnik and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitan of the European Space Agency as the crew for Artemis III at a ceremony in Houston. It should be launched at the end of next year, a specific date has not yet been announced.

“Artemis III is an incredibly exciting, complicated and highly coordinated multi-launch campaign,” Jeremy Parsons, NASA’s Artemis program manager, said at the event in Houston. “It will happen in a short time with three of the most powerful rockets in the world.”

Mr. Bresnik (58), a former test pilot and veteran of three space flights, was appointed mission commander. The crew also includes a space record holder, the first space traveler and the first ‌European citizen to join the Artemis mission.

A key test of landers

The mission will be a delicate dance in low Earth orbit of several spacecraft involved in the ​​complex​​Artemis​​program, the flagship of the US effort to return humans to the Moon for a long-term presence. The program faces competitive pressure from China, which is targeting its own manned moon landing in the 2030s.

Although the two-week Artemis III mission will not approach the moon, it is considered a key debut test of the two primary lunar landers that NASA will use on subsequent Artemis missions to land astronauts on the lunar surface.

SpaceX’s spacecraft and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon will take turns docking with NASA’s Orion, an astronaut capsule that launches from Earth atop NASA’s Space Launch System. The three spacecraft will test the docking mechanisms and float around each other in low Earth orbit before returning to Earth.

The moon landing is expected in 2028

Three American astronauts and a Canadian astronaut flew around the moon and back in April on NASA’s Artemis II mission, following Artemis I in 2022, a similar flight but without a crew. The second crewed voyage in NASA’s Artemis program, Artemis III, is the last mission planned before the space agency attempts to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028.

Blue Moon will be the first to orbit as part of the Artemis III mission sequence, followed by Orion’s launch with astronauts, Parsons said. Both spacecraft will dock for about two days while the astronauts conduct tests and technology demonstrations at the Blue Moon.

Blue Moon will detach from Orion, clearing the way for the starship, which will then attempt to dock for a day before returning to Earth.

Spacecraft delay

SpaceX and Blue Origin have faced years of delays in the development of their landers. Last year, the companies offered NASA accelerated development plans that led to a realignment of the agency’s Artemis program, giving rise to the Artemis III docking mission.

A mission in 2027 would require both SpaceX’s spacecraft and Blue Origin’s prototype Blue Moon to be ready for launch at nearly the same time. Last month, SpaceX tested a new version of its Starship rocket with improvements for missions to the moon.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded last month on its launch pad in Florida as it prepared to launch a batch of Amazon satellites. The explosion destroyed much of the company’s only launch pad and grounded for at least several months the rocket that Blue Origin plans to use to launch its Blue Moon lander, which is being tested on the ground in Houston and Florida.

Blue Origin chief John Couluris said at an event on Tuesday that the company had made “excellent” progress in investigating the cause of the explosion. The company’s CEO expects New Glenn to be back on the mat by the end of the year.

“We are confident that New Glenn will be ready for Artemis III,” NASA’s Parsons said Tuesday.

A blessing for Italy

The inclusion of Mr Parmitan, 49, on the Artemis mission marks a victory for Italy at a politically sensitive time for NASA’s closest international partners.

In his reorganization of the Artemis program this year, Mr. Isaacman scrapped plans for a lunar orbiting space station called Gateway, heeded SpaceX and Blue Origin’s accelerated development plans for landers, and instead focused more on building a lunar surface base.

The decision has clouded NASA allies who have spent years building key parts of the gateway, including the European Space Agency, Canada and Japan. Soon after, NASA signed an agreement with Italy to help build a lunar base.

Mr. Parmitano joined the ESA astronaut corps in 2009 and has flown into space twice. He is the first ESA astronaut to join the Artemis mission and the second non-US member after Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency flew on Artemis II.

Italian Space Agency President Teodoro Valente said in a statement that the selection of Parmitano as pilot for Artemis III “confirms and strengthens the role and capabilities of the European and Italian space systems in human space exploration.”

Published – 10 Jun 2026 11:56 IST