Artemis 原本预定在2017年开始，但延后了5年，而目前的进展反映出反复重新设计、承包商变更，以及不断变动的政治目标。NASA现在还计划在明年进行另一项测试任务：Artemis III将在地球轨道上练习与一个或两个著陆器对接，而原定于2028年的 Artemis IV 则打算尝试登月。该机构已转向 SpaceX，请其提供以 Starship 为基础的月球著陆器，并请 Blue Origin 提供备援，同时委托 Axiom Space 制作新太空衣；此外，也在考虑使用 Starship 而非 SLS，将 Orion 大部分路程送往月球。
这项成本结构极为庞大：近期估算显示，Artemis 最初4次发射每次都要超过40亿美元，而整体计划的总成本预计已达930亿美元，到2025年时 SLS 与 Orion 将占其中一半以上。NASA官员主张，新的逐步推进方式与更多测试任务应能提升安全性，特别是在2022年无人驾驶的 Artemis I 出现隔热罩问题之后，但专家仍警告，Starship 仍面临重大的工程难题，而且2028年的登月目标几乎没有容错空间。文中也提到与 Apollo 的对比，Apollo 以通膨调整后金额计算约耗资3000亿美元，并指出如今的主要挑战不只是资金，而是NASA能否在政治压力与相互竞争的优先事项之间，维持一个清楚且稳定的计划。
American astronauts last walked on the Moon in 1972, and NASA is now preparing Artemis II, a mission expected as soon as April 1 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The flight will use Boeing's Space Launch System rocket and Lockheed Martin's Orion capsule, a stack taller than the Statue of Liberty, and carry 4 astronauts around the Moon and back. If it succeeds, it will move NASA closer to a human landing in about 2 years, even though the program has already been slowed by technical problems and earlier target slips.
Artemis was originally supposed to begin in 2017 but slipped by 5 years, and the current effort reflects repeated redesigns, contractor changes, and shifting political goals. NASA now plans an additional test mission next year: Artemis III will practice docking with one or both landers in Earth orbit, while Artemis IV, planned for 2028, is intended to attempt the landing. The agency has turned to SpaceX for a Starship-based lunar lander, asked Blue Origin for a backup, and tasked Axiom Space with new spacesuits, while also considering using Starship, rather than SLS, to send Orion most of the way to the Moon.
The cost profile is enormous: recent estimates put each of the first 4 Artemis launches at more than $4 billion apiece, and the overall program is already expected to reach $93 billion, with SLS and Orion accounting for more than half of that total by 2025. NASA officials argue that the new step-by-step approach and more test missions should improve safety, especially after the uncrewed Artemis I heat-shield problem in 2022, but experts still warn that Starship faces major engineering hurdles and that the 2028 landing goal leaves little margin for error. The article also notes the contrast with Apollo, which cost about $300 billion in inflation-adjusted terms, and says the main challenge now is not just money but whether NASA can maintain a clear, stable plan amid political pressure and competing priorities.