NASA opens applications for a new astronaut class to support its Artemis lunar missions

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NASA is accepting applications for a new astronaut class intended to help grow its Artemis program, officials announced Saturday during a Kennedy Space Center air show promoting lunar exploration and aviation and technology advances.

NASA’s last call for new astronauts was two years ago. Officials said more than 8,000 people applied for the previous class and 10 were selected for it in September 2025, and NASA currently has 32 active astronauts.

NASA said aspiring astronauts can apply between now and Dec. 3. The agency expects to make its final selection by late 2027, with training beginning in early 2028.

Artemis III commander Randy Bresnik said NASA has more work than it has astronauts, and urged potential candidates not to delay. NASA plans for astronauts to return to the lunar surface in 2028 after an absence of more than half a century.

Bresnik and three crewmates are scheduled to launch next summer to practice docking their capsule with two lunar landers—one built by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and another built by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. The mission is expected to stay in orbit near Earth and act as a dress rehearsal for the following year’s Artemis IV mission, which aims to land two astronauts near the lunar south pole.

Officials said the long-term building of a moon base would rely on additional launches of rovers, robots, structures and power grids. Artemis III astronaut Frank Rubio said candidates should understand that most work would not be on the moon itself, and that it would be about contributing to the broader mission going to the moon.

Rubio, who has spent 371 consecutive days in space, noted the path to becoming an astronaut can take years. NASA said candidates must be U.S. citizens with college degrees and professional work experience, and that the two years of mandatory training can be grueling.

NASA said this will be its 25th astronaut class since the original Mercury Seven in 1959.