NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced significant changes to the agency's Artemis program, which aims to land on the moon in 2028.

Recent engineering setbacks, specifically regarding helium system issues associated with the improper flow of helium into the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s upper stage, and persistent hydrogen leaks,

At the core of Isaacman’s concerns is the low flight rate of the SLS rocket and Artemis missions. During past exploration missions, from Mercury through Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle program, NASA has launched humans on average about once every three months. It has been nearly 3.5 years since Artemis I launched.

As part of a golden age of exploration and discovery, NASA announced Friday the agency is increasing its cadence of missions under the Artemis program to achieve the national objective of returning American astronauts to the moon and establishing an enduring presence.

NASA announced significant changes on Friday to its Artemis lunar exploration program, restructuring upcoming missions and adjusting development priorities as the agency seeks to accelerate astronauts’ return to the moon following years of delays.

The Artemis program plans to return Americans to the moon’s surface for the first time since the Apollo era ended in 1972.

NASA moved quickly to tap United Launch Alliance to help fill in the blank the agency created when it decided to alter its Artemis program’s future launches.

NASA will host a news conference at 3 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 12, at Kennedy Space Center to highlight progress toward the Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight of the Artemis program, which is intended to carry astronauts around the Moon.