NASA outlines accelerated plans for SpaceX and Blue Origin Artemis lunar landers
NASA detailed new acceleration approaches for SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's Blue Moon landers, aiming to streamline crewed lunar missions slated for 2027 and 2028.
NASA disclosed updated strategies for the Human Landing System contracts with SpaceX and Blue Origin during a June 9 briefing at the Johnson Space Center. The agency announced the Artemis 3 crew, who will conduct a low-Earth-orbit test flight that includes docking Orion with prototype versions of SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 landers. One of these landers is slated for use on Artemis 4, the first crewed lunar landing targeted for 2028.
SpaceX plans to use Starship as both the translunar injection stage and the lunar lander. > "We have an updated plan with NASA that includes docking Starship with Orion in Earth orbit instead of NRHO," said Jessica Jensen, SpaceX vice president of customer operations and integration. She added that the approach allows the critical crew docking to occur in Earth orbit and provides the ability to abort from the lunar surface at any time, while also reducing propellant needs due to a more direct trajectory.
NASA HLS program manager Steve Creech said the new plan eliminates the loiter requirements that previously required the lander to remain in a lunar depot, allowing it to stay at a propellant depot until Orion is ready. He noted that the Starship used for Artemis 3 will be a V3 vehicle equipped with a docking adapter but will retain most of the standard Starship design.
For Blue Origin, the major revision replaces the previously planned orbital “transporter” with transfer stages derived from the uncrewed Blue Moon Mark 1. Creech said this change removes significant technology-development risks and could enable an earlier flight. Blue Origin’s senior vice president of lunar permanence, John Couluris, confirmed that manufacturing of the Artemis 3 Mark 2 crew module and related subsystems is progressing, with the company targeting a 2027 launch.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman highlighted the importance of upcoming controllability tests for the combined Starship-Orion stack, focusing on the acceleration profile required for the translunar injection burn.
