Revised Artemis lunar lander plans take shape

NASA is accelerating the development of lunar landers for the Artemis program by updating mission architectures for SpaceX and Blue Origin. According to NASA HLS program manager Steve Creech and company executives, these changes involve altering orbital docking sequences and replacing propulsion hardware to reduce technical risks and propellant requirements.

At a June 9 event at the Johnson Space Center, NASA announced the Artemis 3 crew. This mission will serve as a test flight in low Earth orbit, where an Orion spacecraft will dock with prototypes of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 and SpaceX’s Starship landers. NASA plans to use one of these landers for Artemis 4, the first crewed lunar landing attempt scheduled for 2028.

How is SpaceX accelerating the Starship lunar lander?

SpaceX will now use Starship as both the lunar lander and the translunar injection (TLI) stage. Jessica Jensen, SpaceX vice president of customer operations and integration, stated that the updated plan involves docking Starship with Orion in Earth orbit instead of near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the moon.

The combined Starship-Orion stack will travel to low lunar orbit before Starship undocks for the landing. Jensen said this approach improves crew safety by conducting the critical docking event in Earth orbit and allowing the crew to abort from the lunar surface almost any time.

The shift also lowers propellant requirements due to a more direct route, which reduces the number of necessary propellant tanker launches. Steve Creech noted that this eliminates demanding loiter requirements, allowing Starship to remain at its propellant depot until Orion is ready.

Jensen added that the Artemis 3 Starship will be a Starship V3 “off the line” with a docking adapter. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman noted on June 10 that while SpaceX has demonstrated crewed capabilities with Crew Dragon, the agency must now conduct controllability tests regarding negative-X axis acceleration during the TLI burn.

Did You Know? NASA plans to use one of the updated landers for Artemis 4, which is the first crewed Artemis lunar landing attempt planned for 2028.

What changes is Blue Origin making to the Blue Moon architecture?

Blue Origin is replacing its “transporter” spacecraft with Mark 1-derived transfer stages. The original transporter was designed to store and move liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants from low Earth orbit to the moon.

Steve Creech stated that this architecture change eliminates some of the biggest technology development risks the company faced. Under the original plan, the first Blue Moon Mark 2 crewed landing would have been the third overall landing by the end of the decade; the new approach may allow them to fly earlier.

John Couluris, Blue Origin senior vice president of lunar permanence, confirmed that manufacturing for the Artemis 3 Mark 2 lunar crew module and other subsystems is underway with around-the-clock shifts. He expects the vehicle for Artemis 3 to be ready for launch in 2027.

Expert Insight: Samantha Carter notes that the shift from complex deep-space rendezvous (NRHO) to Earth-orbit docking for SpaceX represents a significant trade-off, prioritizing immediate crew safety and propellant efficiency over the original orbital architecture. Similarly, Blue Origin’s move to derived transfer stages suggests a strategic pivot toward proven hardware to mitigate the schedule risks posed by the May 28 New Glenn explosion.

What happens next for the lunar landers?

Blue Origin is currently investigating a May 28 static-fire test explosion of the New Glenn rocket, which caused serious damage to the launch pad. This event raised questions about the company’s ability to launch landers for Artemis 3 and other tests.

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Future milestones could include the controllability tests mentioned by Administrator Isaacman for the Starship-Orion stack. Both companies may continue to refine their “acceleration approaches” to meet NASA’s 2028 landing goal.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the first crewed Artemis lunar landing attempt planned?
According to NASA, the first crewed landing attempt is planned for 2028 as part of the Artemis 4 mission.

What was the primary change to Blue Origin’s hardware?
Blue Origin is setting aside its “transporter” spacecraft in favor of Mark 1-derived transfer stages to reduce technology development risks.

How does SpaceX’s new docking plan improve safety?
Jessica Jensen stated that docking in Earth orbit—rather than near the moon—improves safety and allows the crew to abort from the lunar surface more flexibly.

Do you think shifting docking procedures to Earth orbit is the most effective way to ensure crew safety for lunar missions?