Artemis 3 (officially Artemis III)[6] is planned to be the first crewed Moon landing mission of the Artemis program and the first crewed flight of the Starship HLS lander.[7] Artemis 3 is planned to be the second crewed Artemis mission and the first American crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in December 1972.[8] In December 2023, the Government Accountability Office reported that the mission is not likely to occur before 2027;[9] as of January 2024, NASA officially expects Artemis 3 to launch no earlier than September 2026 due to issues with the valves in Orion's life support system.[4][10]
In August 2023, due to delays in the development of Starship, NASA officials expressed an openness to flying Artemis 3 without a crewed landing.[11][12] In this case, the mission may become a crewed visit to the Lunar Gateway.[13]
^Artemis : brand book (Report). Washington, D.C.: NASA. 2019. NP-2019-07-2735-HQ. MISSION NAMING CONVENTION. While Apollo mission patches used numbers and roman numerals throughout the program, Artemis mission names will use a roman numeral convention.