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NASA, Partners Accelerate Lander Development for 2028 Moon Missions
Confirmed
In Short: NASA's efforts to accelerate lunar lander development include redefining Artemis III to include rendezvous and docking in low Earth orbit.
NASA announced on October 23 that it is speeding up the development of lunar landers with SpaceX and Blue Origin to ensure the return of American astronauts to the Moon in 2028 and the establishment of a Moon Base.
Both companies are developing crew and cargo versions of their landers and must perform an uncrewed demonstration with their crewed landers before near-term crewed missions.
NASA has redefined Artemis III to include rendezvous and docking between test versions of the companies’ landers and the Orion spacecraft in low Earth orbit next year, rather than a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon.
"While work to realign with our partners in support of architecture updates announced at Ignition Day in March has been underway since then, updating the contracts ensures NASA and its partners are on the same page with requirements and other milestones to ensure continued insight into lander development to support mission success and the safety of our Moon crews," said NASA.
NASA and its partners have streamlined the designs and changed both concepts of operations for its future crewed landers.
"We are executing President Trump’s National Space Policy to complete the long-awaited return of American astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028 and establish a Moon Base," said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.
Margaret Hamilton, the pioneering computer scientist who led software development for NASA’s Apollo program and helped build the technology that took humans to the moon, has died at the age of 90.
The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope has lifted off, starting a mission to explore the universe’s biggest mysteries, including dark matter and dark energy, and discovering exoplanets.
ISRO outlined India's long-term ambitions under Space Vision 2047, including establishing the Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035, undertaking an Indian crewed mission to the Moon by 2040, and developing reusable launch systems.
Margaret Hamilton's contributions to NASA's Apollo program are highlighted in her passing.
The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope's mission includes increasing the number of known exoplanets from some 6,000 to 100,000.
What's confirmed
- “We are executing President Trump’s National Space Policy to complete the long-awaited return of American astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028 and establish a Moon Base,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.
- Both companies are developing crew and cargo versions of their landers and must perform an uncrewed demonstration with their crewed landers before near-term crewed missions.
- The agency has redefined Artemis III to include rendezvous and docking between test versions of the companies’ landers and the Orion spacecraft in low Earth orbit next year, rather than a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon.
What's still developing
- Also read: Harvard international student ban may return if Trump wins court battle: How Indian students could be affected She initially worked on software for uncrewed Apollo missions before moving into a leadership role on the software for crewed missions.
- Thursday, October 22, 2026 · 11:12 AM ET Updated 11:12 AM ET · 2:23 PM ET Confirmed In Short: Amazon is funding the development of a 960-megawatt nuclear plant in Sullivan County, Indiana, in partnership with American Electric Power and X-energy.
- A pipeline of titles is now in the works, spanning original productions, talent-driven projects and third-party development and consultancy assignments, with the first projects to be announced separately.
- Rockets accelerate by expelling propellant, forcing launch vehicles to carry fuel not only for their spacecraft but also to accelerate the remaining fuel.
- Two developments suggest there may be more than one route toward that goal.
- “Our new model enables material scientists and industry stakeholders to make promising new materials dramatically faster — and with higher purity and yield,” said Kristin Persson, one of the study’s authors.
- EMA has launched various initiatives to better embed women’s health considerations in medicines development and regulation.
- These stakeholders include EU regulators, patients, healthcare professionals, academia, the pharmaceutical industry and global partners.
- High-performance hardware from partners such as HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, and Asus, combines mobile convenience with desktop power.
- Adaptive development is how modern Android apps naturally scale across large displays, new device postures, and emerging form factors.
- ISRO said it will continue to lead India's advanced space research, national and strategic missions, space science and exploration programmes, along with critical and frontier space capabilities.
- Meanwhile, Jinping said China has approached relations with India from a “strategic and long-term perspective” and called for the two countries to draw on each other’s strengths, support one another and pursue common development.