NASA has selected SpaceX’s Starship to ferry astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface as part of the Artemis program. It is a significant victory in the history of upstart SpaceX who have transformed access to space by doing what others said wasn’t possible, economically or technically.
SpaceX has yet again seemingly defied the odds and won a significant contract with NASA. This time the SpaceX Starship was selected as the first commercial lunar lander that will ferry astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface.
The contract value is US$2.89 billion but it’s worth much more than that. The contract is an acknowledgement that SpaceX is now at the top of the heap with respect to “go to” contractors for NASA.
SpaceX was competing with a Blue Origin led effort which they called Team America, and which included aerospace giants Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman along with Draper. The other competitor was Dynetics.
The odds favoured Team America even though Blue Origin has yet to launch anything into Earth orbit.
“With this award, NASA and our partners will complete the first crewed demonstration mission to the surface of the Moon in the 21st century as the agency takes a step forward for women’s equality and long-term deep space exploration,” said Kathy Lueders, NASA’s associate administrator for Human Explorations and Operations Mission Directorate. “This critical step puts humanity on a path to sustainable lunar exploration and keeps our eyes on missions farther into the solar system, including Mars.”
The SpaceX Starship will be used on the Artemis III mission, the first crewed mission to the Moon’s surface and which NASA still insists will happen in 2024 even though most expect that launch date to slip.
NASA still plans on using the Space Launch System to launch astronauts to the Moon in the Orion capsule. Once in orbit at the Moon, the Orion capsule will dock with the SpaceX Starship which will be used to ferry two astronauts to the surface. The plan is to spend a week on the lunar surface.
The Artemis III mission is preceded by the uncrewed Artemis I mission and the Artemis II mission, a flyby of the Moon with no landing. That mission will include a Canadian astronaut.
NASA said “SpaceX’s HLS (Human Landing System) Starship, designed to land on the Moon, leans on the company’s tested Raptor engines and flight heritage of the Falcon and Dragon vehicles. Starship includes a spacious cabin and two airlocks for astronaut moonwalks. The Starship architecture is intended to evolve to a fully reusable launch and landing system designed for travel to the Moon, Mars, and other destinations.” Aside from a spacious cabin for astronauts, Starship has plenty of space for cargo.
Is this the end of Blue Origin’s lunar aspirations? Hardly, with a motivated leader in Jeff Bezos with deep pockets, Blue Origin is barely out of the gate with respect to their plans and technology developments.
“NASA intends to implement a competitive procurement for sustainable crewed lunar surface transportation services that will provide human access to the lunar surface using the Gateway on a regularly recurring basis beyond the initial crewed demonstration mission.” This means Blue Origin is still in the game but SpaceX has a head start. Competition is good and both these companies will push each other in innovating technologies that will push the boundaries of what humans have done in space and where they can go.
The biggest losers are the legacy aerospace companies, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, which have been slow to adapt to the challenge SpaceX has presented. They can’t be discounted altogether as they are still important players in the space sector with deep pockets as well.