NASA is accepting applications for a new astronaut class as it expands its Artemis program and works toward establishing a permanent base on the moon. Officials announced the recruitment effort Saturday at an air show at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, highlighting lunar exploration and developments in aviation and technology.
The agency has 32 active astronauts and says it needs additional recruits to support plans to extend humanity’s presence beyond low-Earth orbit. The Artemis II crew’s flight around the moon in April began the lunar campaign. “We have far more work than we have astronauts,” Artemis III commander Randy Bresnik told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Applications are open through Dec. 3. NASA plans to choose the new class by late 2027 and begin training candidates in early 2028. That is also the year the agency intends to put astronauts back on the lunar surface, ending an absence of more than half a century. NASA last sought astronaut applicants two years ago, when more than 8,000 people applied. Ten were selected in September 2025.
Before the planned lunar landing, Bresnik and his three Artemis III crewmates are scheduled to launch into Earth orbit next summer. They will rehearse docking their capsule with two lunar landers, one developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the other by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. The flight will remain near Earth and will not travel around the moon.
Those exercises will prepare the way for Artemis IV the following year. That mission will attempt to place two astronauts near the moon’s south pole. The planned lunar base will take shape through additional launches carrying rovers, robots, structures and power grids.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens and have college degrees and professional work experience. Artemis III astronaut Frank Rubio also emphasized the need for patience. Rubio holds the U.S. record for a continuous stay in space, having spent 371 consecutive days there.
Selected candidates face two years of mandatory training, which can be demanding. Completing that training does not mean an immediate flight assignment: several more years could pass before they launch into space. Rubio told the AP that a lunar trip would represent only a small portion of an astronaut’s experience, with most of the work devoted to supporting the broader mission.
The recruits will form NASA’s 25th astronaut class, continuing a selection history that began with the original Mercury Seven in 1959.
