NASA joins Orion crew and service modules for Artemis III

NASA says technicians joined the Orion crew and service modules on July 30, 2026, at Kennedy Space Center. The spacecraft is intended to carry four astronauts on a mission testing docking with commercial lander test articles.

NASA reported on August 5, 2026, that technicians joined the Orion crew and service modules together on July 30, 2026, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

According to the agency, the crew module is intended to carry and sustain NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio, along with ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano. The service module is designed to power and propel Orion during the mission.

NASA said the mission is meant to test rendezvous and docking capabilities with test versions, or test articles, of commercial human landing systems from Blue Origin and SpaceX. The report did not give a launch date or describe further testing milestones.