Starship Launch Slated for This Week, a Variant is to Carry First Human Moon Missions Artemis 3 / 4 to Surface
Starship in HLS form – minus aerodynamic fins / heat shielding, plus mid-body RCS thrusters – is to land uncrewed demo prior to carrying 2 Artemis astronauts from lunar orbit (transferred from Orion, launched by SLS) to surface near MSP under Option A US$2.89B contract NET Dec 2025 and Artemis 4 NET Sept 2028 under $1.15B Option B; Lunar missions to utilize ‘tanker’ and ‘depot’ scheme in which HLS will be refueled in NRHO; Artemis 5 onward to have TBD alternative lander under NextSTEP Appendix P
Under NASA NextSTEP-2 Appendix N US$45M award, Leidos subsidiary Dynetics has matured key equipment it hopes will strengthen its bid with partner Northrop Grumman for Appendix P: Human Landing System Sustaining Lunar Development & Demonstration contract / uncrewed & crewed demo missions around Artemis 5 or later (NET 2028); Tech validations include methalox main / RCS propulsion testing at MSFC, Cryogenic Fluid transfer demonstration at GRC, Electrodynamic Dust Shield modules (first created at KSC); Blue Origin-led team including Draper, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Astrobotic, Honeybee Robotics also competing for Appendix P contract
Build of next NASA Moonship advances with Artemis 2 SLS core stage nearing completion / integration with 4 Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines at Michoud Assembly Facility; Sets of SRBs for Artemis 2 & 3 await vehicle readiness at Utah Northrop Grumman plant; Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) in final assembly at Florida ULA factory; Orion European Service Module build progressing at KSC Neil Armstrong Building with acoustic tests slated for spring; Orbital test of Starship, the SpaceX vehicle planned to land Astronauts on the Moon (NLT 4 July 2026) may launch orbital test in March if imminent static fire of 33-Raptor engine Super Heavy prototype is successful