NASA and its commercial partners, Blue Origin and SpaceX, are significantly optimizing the designs and operational concepts for lunar landers intended for future crewed missions to the Moon. These advancements are part of a broader strategy to return astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028 and establish a permanent presence on Earth’s closest celestial neighbor.
Accelerated Development and New Orbital Strategies
NASA has revised its Artemis III mission plans, focusing on demonstrating the docking of test versions of landers from both Blue Origin and SpaceX with the Orion spacecraft as early as next year. Concurrently, both companies are developing cargo and crewed versions of their landers for future Artemis program missions. To expedite the goal of landing in 2028, the landers and Orion will no longer rendezvous and dock in a lunar halo orbit. Instead, their meeting points will be determined individually for each partner, based on the specifics of their systems.
Both companies are obligated to conduct uncrewed demonstration missions with their crewed lander variants before they can be used for human flights. NASA will meticulously certify these systems to ensure their safety and mission success.
SpaceX and Blue Origin Lander Concepts
SpaceX continues to advance its in-space refueling concept. To achieve this, the company plans to launch multiple Starship vehicles into low Earth orbit (LEO) to serve as “tankers.” These will transfer cryogenic propellant to another Starship acting as a “depot.” This “depot” Starship will then refuel the Starship Human Landing System (HLS) before its journey to the Moon. Under the new operational scheme, the Starship HLS will await the crewed Orion in Earth orbit. After docking, the Starship HLS will perform a trans-lunar injection, propelling the combined stack towards a low lunar orbit. NASA is considering upgrading Orion to enable it to push the Starship towards the Moon. The lander will transport two astronauts to the lunar surface for a brief stay, after which they will return to Orion for the journey back to Earth. This approach allows for more flexible scheduling of crewed Orion launches on the Space Launch System (SLS) and reduces the fuel requirements for Starship.
Blue Origin, for its expedited 2028 mission, will forgo in-space refueling. Instead, three-stage ascent vehicles will be used to deliver their Blue Moon Mark 2 Alpha Lander to the Moon. These vehicles, based on existing hardware, will launch into LEO, followed by the lander. After docking, the entire assembly will proceed to an elliptical polar orbit around the Moon, with each stage separating sequentially after expending its fuel. The elliptical polar orbit will enable a quicker return from the lunar surface to Orion, reduce fuel consumption for Blue Moon, and optimize SLS performance. This strategy offers several opportunities for launching the crew on SLS to the elliptical polar orbit and docking with the Blue Moon Mark 2. After two astronauts arrive at the lunar south pole, the lander will return them to Orion for the flight back to Earth. Blue Origin will leverage experience from previous robotic Mark 1 missions supporting NASA’s lunar base development program and demonstrate the full mission profile during an uncrewed test flight.
Source: NASA
