Administrator Jared Isaacman framed the effort as executing the National Space Policy to return American astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028 and establish a 'Moon Base,' saying NASA's 'machine shops are running 24/7' and experts are 'attacking the critical path.'

He added that NASA 'will not delude ourselves into believing that more time, more money, and flying less will somehow make our work safer,' and warned vendors that when a schedule breaks, NASA personnel will 'roll up their sleeves and solve problems.'

Artemis program manager Jeremy Parsons called the coming test campaign, per CNN's report of the briefing, likely the most complicated launch campaign ever undertaken.

Since the lander contracts were signed, Artemis crews were to rendezvous with their landers in a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon — a stable but distant vantage requiring significant propellant.

Under the revised plans, Orion and the landers will now meet up much closer to home, in an orbit that differs for each provider and is informed by each company's systems.

SpaceX's Starship HLS will await Orion in Earth orbit, dock, then perform a trans-lunar injection burn to push the combined stack to low lunar orbit — something NASA says requires modifying Orion so Starship can push it.

Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 2 will instead depart for an elliptical polar orbit around the Moon after docking with three transfer stages. Both new orbits promise faster returns from the lunar surface to Orion and lower propellant requirements.

SpaceX retains its in-space propellant aggregation approach: multiple 'tanker' Starships will launch to low Earth orbit and transfer super-cold cryogenic propellant to a waiting 'depot' Starship, which then fuels the lander for its journey to the Moon.

CNN reports that transferring cryogenic propellants between two vehicles in Earth orbit has never been done before, with a first demonstration expected in early 2027.

Per CNN, Musk said this week a moon landing would require six to eight launches — down from expert estimates of 10 to 40 — and NASA officials confirmed the estimate Friday while noting the final figure likely cannot be known until propellant transfer testing is done.

NASA also said it will not ask the Artemis III crew to enter Starship, citing SpaceX's crewed Dragon experience as reason to believe it can vet life support systems separately.

Blue Origin is deferring propellant transfer entirely for its accelerated 2028 mission.

Instead, three transfer stages will send the Blue Moon Mark 2 Alpha lander to the Moon, operating like a multistage rocket: each stage separates as its propellant depletes after the stack departs for an elliptical polar orbit.

NASA's briefing, reported by Spectrum News 13, said the Artemis III crew will dock with, ingress, and spend about two days inside the Blue Moon lander testing systems including environmental control and life support — systems Blue Moon is designed to carry around the Moon for up to a month, though NASA wants to minimize that time for vehicle health.

Blue Origin will incorporate lessons from earlier robotic Mark 1 missions and demonstrate the full mission profile in an uncrewed lander transfer stage demonstration.

Both companies still face long test lists before any crew flies.

SpaceX must finish the Artemis III Starship prototype, demonstrate landing legs and airlock, expand to two new Florida launchpads, and fly its first orbital propellant transfer; Blue Origin must get New Glenn flying again — CNN notes it could happen by year's end after a May ground-test explosion destroyed its Florida launch site — and launch the overdue Blue Moon Mark 1 cargo flight.

CNN reports Artemis IV, slated for early 2028, has not yet committed to a lander, with NASA pledging to use whichever vehicle is ready first as it races China, which aims to land taikonauts by 2030.

NASA also greenlit a simplified, lighter-weight Axiom moonwalk spacesuit for early missions while the advanced version continues in development.

Before any landing, Artemis III — redefined this year from a moon-landing mission into a low-Earth orbit test — is targeted for summer 2027, per Spectrum News 13.

Commander Randy Bresnik, pilot Luca Parmitano of ESA, and mission specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio will launch on SLS from Launch Complex 39B and spend a roughly 14-day mission docking repeatedly with experimental landers.

The Blue Moon demonstration runs about two days with crew ingress; the Starship demonstration is about two hours with no crew entry, focused on attitude control and joint flying. Isaacman said the workforce has cut the assembly and integration schedule in half, with a year-end tanking test ahead.

Parsons said the landers — not SLS or Orion — are currently what's driving NASA's schedule.