NASA announced a major overhaul to its Artemis moon program, a “course correction” that will add missions and increase the pace of launches ahead of a targeted lunar landing attempt in 2028. NBC News’ Tom Costello reports on the changes and how NASA sees the future of the program.

In shaking up its Artemis lunar program, NASA's new moon plan looks more like the Apollo missions of the 1960s. Instead of landing on the surface on Artemis III, NASA hopes to do so on Artemis IV.

Feb. 27, 2026 Get more news © 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC

NASA announced an overhaul to its Artemis moon program as safety concerns persist. CBS News space contributor Christian Davenport breaks down the key takeaways.

NASA will send Artemis III to low-Earth orbit instead of the moon, testing docking systems before a planned 2028 lunar landing.

On Friday, Administrator Jared Isaacman announced the space agency would carry out an additional flight in 2027 to test commercial lunar landers from one or both of SpaceX and Blue Origin.

The changes come on the heels of yet another delay for the Artemis II mission, which aims to to send four astronauts on a 10-day mission around the moon.

NASA said Friday it's adding an extra moon mission by Artemis astronauts before attempting a high-risk lunar landing with a crew.