"The Human Landing System is aiming to complete its development—from project start to launch—in 79 months, which is 13 months shorter than the average for NASA major projects," the GAO wrote in its report. It's unrealistic, the GAO said, to expect the HLS program to complete development more than a year faster than that average.

"GAO found that if development took as long as the average for NASA major projects, the Artemis III mission would likely occur in early 2027," the government watchdog concluded.