SpaceX isn't the only vendor tasked with bringing humans to the moon for NASA missions in May 2023, a consortium led by Blue Origin also earned eligibility to bid for missions after Artemis 4, following a competitive process. Next will come Artemis 2, which will send three NASA astronauts and a Canadian around the moon no sooner than November 2024, also using SLS and Orion. The first mission of the series, Artemis 1, saw an uncrewed NASA Orion spacecraft orbit the moon in late 2022 after launching there aboard the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. See Artemis 3 landing site at moon's south pole in new NASA photos NASA rolls Artemis 2 mobile launch tower to pad for tests (photos) SpaceX Starship issues may delay Artemis 3 mission

Related: SpaceX Starship problems likely to delay Artemis 3 moon mission to 2026, NASA says Not all signatories have committed to working directly on Artemis.)

(The accords are both a set of commitments for lunar exploration, and an agreement to perform peaceful exploration norms in space with NASA. NASA and a set of international partners are working together on the missions under the Artemis Accords. (Indeed, NASA wrote in its blog post on Thursday that the agency will be watching the performance of Raptor engines during the second launch attempt by Starship.)Īrtemis 3 will be the third mission of the NASA-led Artemis program. The agency is looking for multiple successful launches by Starship ahead of authorizing the landing with astronauts, among other milestones, Free said. In that scenario, Starship would be used on a future mission (such as Artemis 4) for the first human lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972. 8 press conference at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida attended by, Free suggested the agency could leave off the moon landing for Artemis 3,if necessary, and fly an alternate mission with a crew. (This followed comments Free made in June in which he expressed 'concern' about Starship meeting a 2025 launch date.) While Starship's engine tests are progressing, NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free warned in August that the agency is prepared to launch Artemis 3 even if Starship is not ready for a moon landing in 2025 or 2026, which is the current target for the mission. SpaceX released footage of that test on Thursday as well. Raptor also changed its power level during testing to meet agency requirements. SpaceX also finished a milestone effort for Raptor in November 2021, NASA wrote, showing that the engine can fire for 281 seconds (4.5 minutes), the duration needed for the long descent to the moon. 'Data reviews following these tests provide NASA with continually increasing confidence in U.S. 'These tests provide early and mission-like validation of the systems necessary for carrying astronauts to and from the lunar surface,' agency officials wrote in the blog post. Meanwhile, SpaceX and the FAA are seeking to dismiss a lawsuit by environmental groups filed after the Starship launch in April.Īs for the Raptor engine test, NASA officials said its success gives the agency more confidence that SpaceX is progressing toward its Artemis 3 obligations. Musk has suggested that Starship could go up again very quickly, while recent comments by the FAA suggest that SpaceX could get a license for a new Starship launch attempt in October. Two days later, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said the company has finished all 57 corrections required for an upcoming second launch, with the remaining remedies only needed for future flights. 8, the agency announced the conclusion of that investigation, which identified 63 corrective actions for the Hawthorne, California-based company to take. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) supervised a SpaceX-led investigation of the launch mishap.

Descent space system requirements