NASA plans Artemis III orbital rehearsal docking Orion with SpaceX and Blue Origin landers

NASA is preparing a major low Earth orbit rehearsal for Artemis III in 2027 in which Orion astronauts will rendezvous and dock separately with prototype lunar landers from Blue Origin and SpaceX, according to a NASA release carried by ScienceDaily. The agency said data from the demonstration, together with future uncrewed tests near the Moon, is meant to improve safety before crewed lunar landings begin in 2028. For Artemis III, SpaceX and Blue Origin will launch test articles of their human landing systems on commercial rockets while crews travel separately aboard Orion on NASA's Space Launch System. SpaceX expects to fly Starship Version 3 with a nose docking system so teams can study Orion and the test lander as a connected spacecraft; astronauts will remain inside Orion and will not enter the Starship prototype. Blue Origin's Blue Moon test lander, based on Mark 2 crew lander architecture, is planned to include major avionics, flight software, and control systems, and up to two astronauts in Orion crew survival suits may open the hatch and enter the cabin. The Blue Origin craft will also carry an instrumented lunar surface spacesuit mass simulator. NASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin plan to launch three powerful rockets in relatively rapid succession. Blue Origin's test lander is expected to launch first and can remain in orbit up to 30 days before SLS and Orion lift off from Kennedy Space Center, after which SpaceX would send its Starship test article for a second docking phase. Orion will act as the chaser spacecraft in each sequence. SpaceX qualified its docking capability in 2023; Blue Origin performed developmental ground tests of its pressurized docking system earlier this year.