NASA will name the four astronauts assigned to the Artemis III test flight during a live event at the Johnson Space Center on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, at 11 AM EDT, the agency announced in a May 26 media advisory. The event will stream on NASA+ and the agency’s YouTube channel.

The announcement caps a buildup that began after the Artemis II crew (commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen) returned from their lunar flyby with a Pacific Ocean splashdown on April 10, 2026.

What Artemis III’s Mission Is Now (and Isn’t)

According to NASA’s preliminary mission plan published earlier this month, Artemis III will launch four astronauts from Kennedy Space Center aboard the Orion spacecraft on the SLS rocket. Per NASA, the mission “will test critical rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial human landing systems needed to deliver astronauts to the lunar surface.”

NASA’s own description states that the crew “will spend more time aboard Orion than during Artemis II, further advancing the evaluation of life support systems, and for the first time will demonstrate the docking system performance.” The agency also plans to test an upgraded heat shield during reentry.

Some things Artemis III will not be doing: ferrying astronauts to the Moon for a lunar landing (as was originally planned) or even repeating Artemis II’s circumlunar navigation.

In short: this is an Apollo 9 analog. A rehearsal flight. The first crewed lunar landing under Artemis has effectively shifted to Artemis IV, currently targeted for 2028, with two astronauts aiming for the lunar south polar region. The docking mechanism for Artemis III’s rendezvous demonstration is already at Kennedy Space Center. They just need the Human Landing Systems (Starship and/or Blue Moon Mk 2) and, optionally, the AxEMU suit so it too can be tested in off-world conditions.

Who’s Eligible

NASA has stated since 2022 that all active members of the astronaut corps are eligible for Artemis assignments. The agency reiterated in its July 2024 announcement of Artemis II backup crew members (NASA astronaut Andre Douglas and CSA astronaut Jenni Gibbons) that their selection “is independent of the selection of crew members for Artemis III” and that “all active NASA astronauts are eligible for assignment to any human spaceflight mission.”

That formally retired the 2020 “Artemis Team” of 18 named astronauts as a binding shortlist. Of that original roster, Kate Rubins retired from NASA on July 28, 2025, and Kjell Lindgren has transitioned to a management role as Deputy Director of the Flight Operations Directorate at Johnson Space Center, removing both from the active flight pool.

Two others have role changes worth noting: Joe Acaba stepped down as Chief Astronaut in November 2025 and moved to the center director’s staff in an advisory capacity, and Scott Tingle succeeded him as Chief Astronaut that same month, a position whose holder traditionally does not fly during their tenure. The remaining Artemis Team names (Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, Matthew Dominick, Woody Hoburg, Jonny Kim, Nicole Mann, Anne McClain, Jessica Meir, Jasmin Moghbeli, Frank Rubio, Jessica Watkins, and Stephanie Wilson, alongside the four who flew Artemis II) remain the most frequently cited candidate pool, though all active NASA astronauts are formally eligible.

The International Question

Some of the program’s international partners have standing agreements that could place foreign astronauts on Artemis missions:

Canada earned its Artemis II seat through Canadarm contributions to Gateway. Whether Canada gets a recurring seat on every Artemis mission, or whether Artemis II was a one-time arrangement tied specifically to that contribution, has not been publicly clarified by NASA or CSA. Jenni Gibbons, who served as Hansen’s backup and as the Artemis II lunar capcom, would be the obvious Canadian candidate if a seat materializes.

The European Space Agency has three astronaut seats on Artemis missions under its Memorandum of Understanding with NASA, secured through ESA’s contribution of European Service Modules (which provide power, propulsion, oxygen, and water to Orion) and its now-paused Gateway contributions.

The first two ESA seats had been earmarked for Artemis IV and Artemis V, with the third unassigned. There is no contractual ESA seat on Artemis III. The picture is further complicated by NASA’s March 24, 2026 decision to halt Gateway development, since ESA’s astronaut seats were tied directly to its Gateway contributions. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher told SpaceNews he plans to present a revised plan to the ESA Council in June.

In 2022 ESA designated seven of its veteran astronauts as candidates for future Artemis flights: Thomas Pesquet (France), Tim Peake (UK), Alexander Gerst and Matthias Maurer (Germany), Luca Parmitano and Samantha Cristoforetti (Italy), and Andreas Mogensen (Denmark). Pesquet has been publicly lobbied by French President Emmanuel Macron for an Artemis flight, though that lobbying targeted future surface missions rather than Artemis III specifically.

Japan signed an agreement with NASA on April 9, 2024, providing the pressurized Lunar Cruiser rover in exchange for two seats on future Artemis lunar landing missions, with the first Japanese astronaut planned to land on the Moon. The rover is targeted for delivery ahead of Artemis VII (no earlier than 2031). Because the agreement explicitly references landing missions, there is no clear contractual basis for a JAXA seat on the Artemis III docking rehearsal, though that does not preclude one being added for partnership reasons.

What to Watch on June 9

Important Note: no crew names have been confirmed by NASA at the time of publication.

A few reasonable inferences from the public record:

Andre Douglas has the strongest non-confirmed case. He has trained alongside the Artemis II prime crew for more than a year as their backup, has hands-on familiarity with Orion procedures, and would be a natural fit for an Orion-centric docking rehearsal. He is not, however, confirmed.

A docking-experienced commander is a logical pick. Artemis III’s central technical objective is rendezvous and docking. Astronauts who have commanded recent Crew Dragon flights or ISS dockings (names like Jonny Kim, Anne McClain, Raja Chari, or Matthew Dominick) bring directly applicable operational experience. None has been confirmed.

If Canada flies, Gibbons is the obvious candidate. If Japan flies, which the contractual record suggests is unlikely for this specific mission, Head of the JAXA Astronaut Corps Kimiya Yui or recent Crew Dragon commander Takuya Onishi would be the strongest analytical picks based on recent docking experience.

It is possible that no international astronaut will be named for Artemis III. That makes sense given the minimal number of seats saved for international partners — they may well want to wait for the actual landing missions that are slated for 2028 and beyond.