NASA Administrator Isaacman: "Extremely Confident" Artemis III Launches in 2027, Details Three-Launch Mission Sequence

Speaking at Kennedy Space Center on August 14, 2026 while announcing the sponsor-driven "Max Power" air and space expo (Nov. 7-8, 2026), NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said he is "extremely confident" the Artemis III mission will launch in 2027. He laid out the mission's three-launch sequence: Blue Origin's New Glenn will fly first carrying a Blue Moon Mark 2 test lander with life-support and crew-habitation areas, followed days later by the SLS rocket with the Orion spacecraft, and then SpaceX's Starship Version 3 with a docking adapter. Isaacman, who recently visited Blue Origin's assembly line, said the mission is designed to "bring down" risk ahead of Artemis IV, and called SpaceX's rising launch cadence "critical," noting the company plans a launch in early September and roughly one every couple of weeks through year-end with hardware already being cut for the next test vehicle.