NASA announces plan to begin construction

The lunar base which will follow the Artemis missions reveals its first details. At NASA, the American space agency, two new missions have been granted to SpaceX and Blue Origin. In 2032 and 2033, the two companies will take turns heading towards our natural satellite for two heavy equipment transport missions. At SpaceX, which will leave first, NASA has requested the sending of a pressurized rover. As for Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ company, it will be a question of delivering the first infrastructures of the base.

“Having two lunar lander providers with different approaches to crew and cargo landing capability provides mission flexibility while ensuring a steady cadence of Moon landings for continued discovery and scientific opportunities »said Stephen D. Creech, NASA deputy administrator.

Blue Origin consolidates its place on the Artemis program

The presence of Blue Origin in addition to SpaceX is not a surprise, but reinforces Jeff Bezos’ company, which in 2022 contested that NASA only grants missions to SpaceX. It was in March, two years ago, that the space agency invited Blue Origin to join the program, with the mission of developing a launcher and a lunar lander, for the Artemis V mission, planned for 2028 (but postponed to 2030). As for SpaceX, its lunar lander is planned for Artemis III, and it is Starship HLS. It was he who won NASA’s first call for projects, in April 2021 (one year after the selection of the three finalists: Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX).

To explain its choice of SpaceX’s Starship HLS, NASA cited reusability criteria and a more controlled operating cost. It took two years, in May 2023, for Blue Origin to catch up and be included in the Artemis program, with its Blue Moon lunar lander. For this, NASA injected 3.4 billion dollars into the development of the project. If the budget is exceeded, it would be up to Blue Origin to invest with its own funds.

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Artemis III: how SpaceX will land astronauts on the Moon

While waiting for the transport of a rover to the lunar surface by 2032, SpaceX will have a much more difficult task to achieve with Artemis III, the first mission which will allow astronauts to land on the Moon. Initially, SpaceX will deploy its Starship HLS into low Earth orbit, without anyone on board, and will also deploy different Starship Tankers, equipped with fuel reserves. Once this device is installed, the astronauts of the Artemis III mission will board NASA’s Orion spacecraft, mounted on the SLS Block 1 launcher.

For the start of their journey towards the Moon, the crew of the Artemis III mission will meet with Starship HLS, where they will dock to make a transfer. Two of the astronauts will board SpaceX’s lunar lander, heading towards the Moon. It is with him that they will carry out their descent and the moon landing. Then, for the return, they will head again towards the Orion spacecraft, which remains in low Earth orbit, after having first orbited the Moon, at an altitude of 100 km. Note that the stay on the Moon must last six and a half days in total.