Planetary Science Decadal Survey Delineates Artemis-Era Moon Mission Priorities
NASEM report Origins, Worlds, and Life: Decadal Strategy for Planetary Science and Astrobiology 2023-2032 outlines plan to advance foundational Solar System understanding, including major initiatives on lunar surface: US$1.5B sample return Endurance-A, delivered by CLPS, would collect up to 100kg of regolith from 12 sites within South Pole-Aitken Basin spread over 2,000km to be retrieved by Artemis Astronauts vs $2.4B automated Endurance-R, which would return just 2.2kg; Either option would be powered by 245-W RTG and weigh 570kg; $903M Lunar Geophysical Network planned to operate 6+ years from 4 sites
With Artemis 3 crewed landings planned for 2025-2026 including First Woman / Person of Color on the Moon, landing / EVA sites are being considered by space agencies and independent ventures with special focus on elevated surrounds of Shackleton Crater, presumed initial area of exploration for Artemis Era Astronauts; The 2 highest peaks in the region – Malapert Mountain and Leibniz Beta, with ~ 5 and 6km respective elevations, allow combinations of Earth visibility, illumination, and line of sight to ongoing human and robotic activity at Shackleton as initial settlement occurs
NASA SLS Mega Moon Rocket set to resume WDR at KSC Launch Pad 39B as Axiom-1 private mission heads to ISS on Crew Dragon Endeavour; 12U cubesat CAPSTONE to test near-rectilinear halo lunar orbit with Rocket Lab launch window opening 3 May at Mahia, NZ; Intuitive Machines 1st lander aims for NET June launch; Roscosmos Luna-25 lander on track for 23 July launch from Vostochny after Doppler radar-based landing system test success; ISRO Chandrayaan-3 lander and Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter NET Aug; Intuitive Machines still set to deliver TRIDENT drill / MSolo spectrometer NLT December
Astrobotic working to complete Peregrine lander at 4,645-m2 Pittsburgh HQ, flight model to be unveiled at 
NASA Artemis 1 undergoing 45-hour WDR at KSC 39B ahead of June Moon launch, LOX/LH2 core propellent tank fill-up set for 3 April (06:40 EDT); CAPSTONE launch window 3-15 May, Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter launching NET Aug; Intuitive Machines partnering with Jeff Koons: Moon Phases NFT project to land sculpture within Oceanus Procellarum via Nova-C NET June; Roscosmos Luna-25 still officially set for July; ISRO Chandrayaan-3 on track for Q3 launch; Astrobotic Peregrine to be unveiled at Keystone Space Conference 20-21 April, launching NET Nov; ispace and JAXA SLIM launching Q4
On track for Q3 landing near Moon South Pole (70.9°S), Chandrayaan-3 may be the first India space mission to take advantage of ESA-operated 35-m (Australia, Argentina, Spain) and 15-m (French Guiana) Estrack antennae as well as 32-m commercial Goonhilly in England, all coordinated by 24/7/365 European Space Operations Centre (Germany); Aditya-L1 solar observatory and Gaganyaan human spaceflight will also utilize Estrack ground stations, as has CNSA during Chang’e mission sequence; In-kind use of ISRO ground stations will be available for future ESA deep space activities