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NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has pledged to launch its giant Space Launch System (SLS) rockets at least once a year as the United States steps up efforts to return astronauts to the Moon ahead of China.
In an interview with Space.com, Isaacman said NASA was now on a more achievable path towards lunar exploration following the success of the Artemis II mission in April 2026.
“I feel good. I feel like we are certainly on a more achievable path to the lunar surface today than where we were before,” he said.
Isaacman stressed that maintaining a regular launch schedule was essential to achieving the agency’s long-term deep-space exploration goals.
“What I care about is that we are launching big rockets no less than once a year,” he said, adding that NASA planned another launch in 2027 following the April 2026 mission.
The next flight, Artemis III, will send astronauts into low Earth orbit to test docking procedures between NASA’s Orion spacecraft and privately developed lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin.
The mission is expected to help prepare NASA for Artemis IV, which is targeted to carry astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028.
Isaacman said annual launches should be considered the minimum requirement for maintaining NASA’s deep-space human spaceflight capabilities.
He acknowledged that the agency might not return to the launch frequency of the early Space Shuttle era or the Apollo programme, but argued that regular missions were necessary to build experience and make the most of public investment.
NASA’s lunar ambitions are also being driven by growing competition with China, which has announced plans to land astronauts on the Moon before the end of 2030.
Isaacman described the competition as a genuine space race but said it was different from the US-Soviet rivalry during the Apollo era.
During the Cold War, the United States enjoyed a significant technological advantage over the Soviet Union. China, however, has developed capabilities that put it much closer to the United States in several areas, he said.
The United States is targeting a crewed lunar landing by the end of 2028, while China aims to achieve the same milestone by the end of 2029.
Isaacman said China had already demonstrated its lunar landers, rovers, spacesuits and a two-launch mission architecture incorporating reusability.
He warned that failure to achieve America’s lunar ambitions could have far-reaching implications for its global technological leadership and international influence.
The competition, he said, extends beyond space exploration to broader questions about technological development, artificial intelligence, computing, manufacturing and national security.
“The consequence of getting this wrong, I’m telling you — it’s going to be felt around the world,” Isaacman said.
He added that NASA was placing an intense focus on its lunar programme and remained confident that the United States could succeed.
The Artemis programme aims to return American astronauts to the lunar surface and eventually establish a sustained human presence there, paving the way for future missions deeper into space.
