Artemis update today: NASA's Moon briefing is at 11:30 PM IST. Here's what to expect

NASA gives its Artemis update today, Friday 23 October, at 2 p.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. That is 11:30 PM IST tonight in India. Administrator Jared Isaacman, Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya and Artemis programme manager Jeremy Parsons will say how Artemis III is shaping up and whether NASA is still on track to put astronauts back on the Moon by 2028, according to NASA's media advisory.

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Our 25-second version:

Image: NASA. Earth sets behind the Moon, photographed by the Artemis II crew on 6 April 2026.

What time is the Artemis update in India?

The briefing starts at 2:00 p.m. EDT (18:00 UTC) on Friday 23 October:

Where	Local time
India (IST)	11:30 PM, Friday 23 Oct
UK (BST)	7:00 PM, Friday
UAE (GST)	10:00 PM, Friday
Singapore (SGT)	2:00 AM, Saturday 24 Oct
US East (EDT)	2:00 PM, Friday
US West (PDT)	11:00 AM, Friday

NASA lists where to watch at nasa.gov/live. The agency normally streams these briefings on NASA+ and its YouTube channel. Reporters can ask questions by phone, so expect a Q&A after the opening remarks.

What will NASA announce in the Artemis update?

NASA's advisory names two topics:

• Artemis III, which NASA says will send four astronauts to low Earth orbit next year to test the systems needed for later landings.
• How the 2028 landing plan is progressing. NASA calls this "Artemis acceleration".

It does not say whether any dates will move. Watch for three things: a firmer launch date for Artemis III; whether one or both commercial landers (SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's Blue Moon) will be ready to dock with Orion on that flight; and whether Artemis IV still says 2028.

How has the Artemis plan changed in 2026?

A lot has shifted this year, which is why tonight's update matters:

• February: NASA turned Artemis III into a test flight. In release 26-022, it said Artemis III, "now in 2027", will practise in low Earth orbit: rendezvous and docking with one or both commercial landers, checks of life support, communications and propulsion, and tests of the new xEVA spacesuits. The first landing moved to Artemis IV in 2028, with at least one landing a year after that.
• March: Isaacman said NASA would pause the Gateway lunar space station "in its current form" and put about $20 billion over seven years into a base on the surface near the lunar south pole, Reuters reported via CTV News.
• April: Artemis II flew. Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada's Jeremy Hansen launched on 1 April, went around the Moon and splashed down off San Diego on 10 April, per NASA.
• June: NASA named the Artemis III crew: Randy Bresnik, ESA's Luca Parmitano, Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio, NPR reported.

Graphic: NextDiff, from NASA release 26-022 and advisory M26-081.

Image: NASA. Orion floats in the Pacific after the Artemis II splashdown, 10 April 2026.

Why is Artemis III no longer a Moon landing?

NASA's reasoning is to test step by step. Kshatriya said in February that each step should be "big enough to make progress, but not so big that we take unnecessary risk". Docking Orion with a lander in Earth orbit lets crews check the hardware close to home before anyone depends on it 384,000 km away. The landers are the long pole: both SpaceX and Blue Origin are still testing theirs, and NASA said it would "further define" the Artemis III flight after detailed reviews with them.

Isaacman also pointed to competition. "With credible competition from our greatest geopolitical adversary increasing by the day, we need to move faster," he said in the February release. China has said it aims to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030.

Image: NASA/Cory Huston. The Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion roll into the Vehicle Assembly Building on 25 Feb 2026.

Why it matters

Artemis is now on a fixed rhythm: a test flight in 2027, a landing in 2028, then one a year. Tonight is the first full status check since the Artemis III crew was named. If the 2027 date or the 2028 landing slips, it will most likely show up here first. For India, which plans its own crewed missions under Gaganyaan and a Moon landing by 2040, the US schedule also sets the pace of the new Moon race.

What's next

We will update this story after the briefing with what NASA actually announced. Until then, treat every date above as NASA's current plan, not a promise: the landers, the spacesuits and the budget all still have to arrive on time.

Into night-sky stories? See our guide to the Orionid meteor shower from India.