During his first term in late 2017, president Donald Trump announced that the United States would make its historic return to the surface of the Moon. Back in 2019, his administration’s goal was for astronauts to touch down on the lunar surface by the year 2024 — a date that, obviously, has long come and gone with no landing.

Following years of further delays both under Trump and former president Joe Biden, NASA has made certain headway in its efforts to deliver the first astronauts to the Moon in over half a century, most recently successfully sending a crew of four around our celestial neighbor and back.

Yet the deadlines keep slipping, highlighting persistent issues — and enormous technical hurdles — that continue to bedevil its Artemis program.

Earlier this year, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman announced that Artemis 3, the follow-up to this month’s Moon mission slated at the time for “mid-2027,” would no longer involve a lunar landing attempt as originally envisioned. In fact, Artemis 3 won’t even make it as far as Artemis 2; instead, it’ll now involve testing one or both of NASA’s Human Landing Systems partners, SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander, in Earth’s orbit — a considerable downgrade over its initial plan.

Now, as Ars Technica reports, even that deadline is being pushed back once again, with both SpaceX and Blue Origin informing the space agency that Artemis 3 will happen no earlier than late 2027. That, in turn, could imperil NASA’s plans to touch down on the lunar surface as soon as 2028 as part of its Artemis 4 mission. (In other words, it’s down to a razor’s edge whether the lunar landing will happen during Trump’s presidency at all.)

“I’ve received responses from both vendors, both SpaceX and Blue Origin, to meet our needs for a late 2027 rendezvous, docking, and test of the interoperability of both landers in advance of a landing attempt in 2028,” Isaacman told a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on Monday.

Both SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander dwarf the ones NASA used during its Apollo missions decades ago. The added complexity could indicate further delays — but unlock significant capabilities for the agency, if successful.

“It’s that capability that allows us not just to get back to the Moon, but really build the Moon base, put lots of mass, sufficiently and affordably, on the surface, not to mention every other application that comes from a rocket that you don’t have to throw away,” Isaacman told lawmakers. “So we’re very grateful for that.”

However, even Apollo 3 will be no easy feat. Both contractors will have to prove a docking mechanism, in-orbit flight controls, and a capable life support system if NASA will use a similar approach to its Apollo 9 mission, which saw two astronauts test out the program’s lunar and command and service module in low Earth orbit.

At the same time, as Ars points out, it’s still possible NASA could lower the degree of difficulty for the mission, for instance, opting not to have a crew on board. (The agency’s website notes that it “will announce specifics on the Artemis III mission design and crew closer to the 2027 launch.”)

At least NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, which appear to have performed admirably during Artemis 2 earlier this month, are already being prepared for Artemis 3.

But whether SpaceX and Blue Origin will be ready in time for a late 2027 launch is a very different question. We have yet to see Starship successfully launch and land in one piece, let alone a single glimpse of the Blue Origin’s finalized lander.

In short, after many years of NASA celebrating its public-private partnerships, its contractors could soon be ironically to blame for future delays in its historic return to the lunar surface.

More on Artemis: NASA Cancels Artemis 3 Moon Landing