NASA and Partners Revise Lunar Lander Plans for 2028 Moon Missions
NASA says Blue Origin and SpaceX have changed their crewed lunar lander designs and operations plans to accelerate a 2028 Moon landing.
Revised Lander Operations
NASA says it has worked with commercial human landing system providers Blue Origin and SpaceX to streamline their lander designs and change how each company's crewed lander will operate during future Artemis missions to the Moon. The agency says Artemis III has been redefined to demonstrate rendezvous and docking between test versions of both companies' landers and NASA's Orion spacecraft in low Earth orbit next year. Both companies are also developing crew and cargo versions of their landers for near-term Artemis missions, according to NASA.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency is "executing President Trump's National Space Policy to complete the long-awaited return of American astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028 and establish a Moon Base." Isaacman said NASA is relying on the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft along with the two landers in development, and said the agency's "core capabilities are being rebuilt," with machine shops "running 24/7" and NASA personnel in the field "attacking the critical path."
Mission Sequence
According to NASA, Artemis astronauts will launch aboard Orion on top of the SLS rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A commercial lander will then link up with Orion, after which two crew members will travel to the lunar surface while two remain aboard Orion. NASA says that to speed development toward a 2028 landing, Orion and the landers will no longer meet in a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon as previously planned; instead, each company's lander will rendezvous with Orion in an orbit specific to its own system. NASA says both companies must complete an uncrewed demonstration mission with their crewed landers before any crewed Artemis flights, and that the agency will certify each lander system before those missions.
Starship Lander Plan
NASA says SpaceX will continue using an in-space propellant aggregation approach, launching multiple tanker versions of Starship to low Earth orbit to transfer cryogenic propellant to a "depot" Starship, which will then fuel the Starship Human Landing System. Under the revised plan, NASA says the Starship lander will wait for Orion in Earth orbit, dock with it, and perform the trans-lunar injection burn itself to send the combined stack to low lunar orbit, with NASA modifying Orion to allow this. NASA says the lander will keep two astronauts on the lunar surface for several days before returning them to Orion. The agency says this approach reduces the propellant Starship must aggregate in space and shortens the time it takes astronauts leaving the surface to reconnect with Orion. SpaceX will demonstrate propellant aggregation during its uncrewed demonstration mission, according to NASA.
Blue Moon Lander Plan
For its accelerated 2028 mission, NASA says Blue Origin will defer propellant transfer and instead use three transfer stages, based on existing Mark 1 and Mark 2 hardware, to send the Blue Moon Mark 2 Alpha Lander toward the Moon. The stages will operate like a multistage rocket, launching to low Earth orbit ahead of the Mark 2 lander, according to NASA.
Key takeaways
- NASA, Blue Origin and SpaceX have changed the concepts of operations for their crewed lunar landers to accelerate a 2028 Moon landing.
- Artemis III has been redefined to test rendezvous and docking between test landers from both companies and Orion in low Earth orbit next year.
- Landers and Orion will now meet in an orbit specific to each company's system instead of a shared near-rectilinear halo orbit.
- Both SpaceX and Blue Origin must complete an uncrewed demonstration mission before flying astronauts, and NASA will certify each lander system first.
FAQ
Who is building NASA's crewed lunar landers?
NASA says Blue Origin and SpaceX are developing crewed human landing systems under contract, with each company also building crew and cargo versions for near-term Artemis missions.
How will astronauts reach the Moon's surface?
NASA says Artemis astronauts will launch aboard Orion on the SLS rocket from Kennedy Space Center, then a commercial lander will dock with Orion and carry two crew members to the surface while two remain aboard Orion.
What is different about SpaceX's Starship lander plan?
NASA says Starship will use in-space propellant aggregation, with tanker Starships refueling a depot Starship in low Earth orbit, and the Starship lander will perform its own trans-lunar injection burn to reach low lunar orbit with Orion.
What did NASA say about the Blue Moon lander?
NASA says Blue Origin will defer propellant transfer for its accelerated 2028 mission and instead use three transfer stages, based on existing Mark 1 and Mark 2 hardware, to send the Blue Moon Mark 2 Alpha Lander toward the Moon.