Navigating the Lunar Frontier: Artemis’s Bold Journey to Land Humans on the Moon

The Starship HLS resembles a massive science fiction spacecraft from the 1950s in this artist’s illustration, stretching 30 feet
(9 m) in width and elevating to 160 feet (50 m) above the Moon’s surface. Credit: NASA

Sixty-five years ago, the USSR astonished the globe by dispatching the first robotic envoy from Earth to the Moon. The impact of Luna 2 on northeastern Mare Imbrium in September 1959 was a remarkable accomplishment, landing on the Moon less than two years after the launch of Sputnik 1, which marked the beginning of the Space Age. This event sparked the technological fervor commonly referred to as the Space Race between the U.S. and the USSR.

The U.S. countered the lunar challenge with a rush of robotic and manned explorers. Less than a decade after Luna 2’s lunar encounter, Neil Armstrong made his “one small step for mankind” on the Sea of Tranquility.

However, just as Apollo was gaining momentum and the scientific exploration of the Moon commenced in earnest, political factors brought the greatest technological endeavor in human history to a halt, causing the Moon to fade from our aspirations.

Now, in the early decades of the 21st century, the Artemis initiative aimed at returning to the Moon has taken root. The U.S. and its international allies have devised plans and technology that will ensure humans return to the lunar surface in the upcoming years.

The presently available Artemis timelines appear quite optimistic; nonetheless, they need to be balanced with the program’s remarkable intricacy and aspiration. Perhaps not surprisingly, Artemis is encountering consistent development setbacks, although none of the technological hurdles seem to be insurmountable.

The critical question is: When will fresh footprints grace the Moon?

The Artemis strategy

Unlike the Apollo program’s singular drive to the Moon, which involved modules for an entire mission stacked atop one Saturn V rocket, the Artemis program will incorporate several vehicles developed by both NASA and private companies. These comprise NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) with a core stage built by Boeing, the SpaceX Super Heavy launcher, and Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin are also creating crewed lunar landers. Additional equipment includes lunar spacesuits and autonomous rovers to transport astronauts and cargo in the vicinity of the Moon’s southern pole.

The uncrewed Artemis 1 mission has already been conducted, in 2022. The Artemis 2 mission in 2025 will utilize the SLS rocket to send a crew of four on a looping flight around the Moon aboard an Orion spacecraft. The initial Artemis lunar landing will occur with Artemis 3; that and subsequent landing missions will implement a sophisticated plan involving multiple rocket launches and the combination of three different crewed spacecraft. The creation of two independent lunar landing systems is designed to encourage competition and serve as a backup in case technical challenges hinder the advancement of one of the vehicles.

Artemis 1

After a six-year postponement, the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission was launched on Nov. 16, 2022, verifying the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft systems. The 25-day trial flight included six days in lunar orbit and came within 80 miles (130 kilometers) of the lunar surface. Following splashdown and recovery off Baja California’s coast, Mexico, it was revealed that the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield experienced greater-than-anticipated erosion during atmospheric reentry. This, along with a failure in the Orion environmental system testing, has delayed the flight of the crewed Artemis 2 mission while these problems are evaluated and resolved.

Preparation for the Moon

One of the numerous crucial elements influencing when Artemis will touch down on the Moon is the design of the spacesuits to be worn by the astronauts. Apollo astronauts utilized spacesuits developed in the late 1960s to work on the Moon for up to three days. Long-term comfort and abrasion from the highly abrasive lunar dust quickly became significant challenges. Artemis will initially operate for six days on the Moon, eventually extending to 30-day missions, and concerns raised during Apollo must be addressed for future explorations.

NASA’s new lunar suits are currently being crafted by a startup

company Axiom Space, led by experienced former NASA leaders. Renowned fashion house Prada is contributing their skills in stitching and collaborating with unique materials. The creation of the new suit, termed the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or AxEMU for brevity, presents notable difficulties. Unlike the Apollo suits designed for operation solely in daylight and to keep astronauts comfortable, the Axiom suits need to function for up to two hours within permanently shaded craters located near the lunar south pole. In these areas, temperatures can plunge to as low as 30 kelvins (minus 405 degrees Fahrenheit [minus 243 degrees Celsius]). Although the engineering hurdles faced by Axiom can be addressed, they have hindered advancement in the creation of the next generation of lunar space suits.

Artemis 2

Anticipated to launch no sooner than September 2025, Artemis 2 will utilize the SLS to transport a team of four aboard an Orion spacecraft on a 10-day journey circling within 4,600 miles (7,400 km) of the Moon. The crew comprises Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Koch will mark the first woman to travel to the Moon, while Hansen will become the first non-American to undertake this journey. The group has collectively spent 660 days in orbit on extended missions to the International Space Station and has accomplished 12 spacewalks together.

Prior to its lunar journey, Artemis 2 will enter a high-altitude 24-hour orbit around Earth to evaluate the flight systems of the Orion spacecraft. After detaching from the SLS upper stage, the crew will manually control the spacecraft, rotate Orion, and simulate docking with the upper stage to assess how the vehicle behaves in confined spaces. Following this, Orion will turn and ignite its Service Module engine, embarking on its trip to the Moon.

Spacecraft for lunar exploration

Artemis will employ four distinct spacecraft for its return to the Moon.

The conical Orion spacecraft, which resembles a scaled-up Apollo Command Module, will be propelled by the SLS and transport four astronauts into lunar orbit for a meeting with a lunar lander. The Orion will be supported by the European-built Service Module, responsible for delivering power, propulsion, and life support to the Orion.

Starship HLS will be designed based on the existing Starship currently undergoing tests in Earth orbit. However, since it will not need to reenter Earth’s atmosphere, it will lack external heat shielding and aerodynamic control surfaces. Additionally, it will showcase five solar panels extending from the middle, while the ship’s white exterior will help to prevent the Sun from heating the cryogenic propellant. To execute strong braking during its lunar approach, the HLS will rely on its six tail-mounted, robust Raptor engines. However, in order to avoid stirring up dust and debris which could potentially cause damage, these engines will be disabled near the lunar surface, allowing the HLS to land using less powerful thrusters positioned higher on the HLS structure. The HLS will also come equipped with an airlock and an elevator system to transport crew and cargo to the lunar surface, approximately 100 feet (around 30 meters) below the HLS’s habitable level.

Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 (shown above) is anticipated to land teams of up to four astronauts on the Moon starting from Artemis 5. This vehicle features an airlock for accessing the lunar surface without having to depressurize the crew compartment. A smaller, single-use, cargo-only version, Mark 1, will be able to deliver 3.3 tons (3,000 kilograms) of supplies anywhere on the Moon. A demonstration flight of the Mark 1 lander is projected to launch later in 2025, aiming to achieve a precision landing on the lunar terrain within 328 feet (100 m) of a set target.

Cargo versions of Starship HLS and Blue Moon Mark 2 are also under consideration. Starship’s cargo capacity is aimed at 100 tons (90,700 kg), although this is contingent on the performance of the Super Heavy booster. The Mark 2 cargo transport is set to deliver 22 tons (20,000 kg) of goods to the lunar surface in its reusable configuration and 33 tons (30,000 kg) on a one-way mission.

Artemis 3

For the upcoming Artemis 3 lunar landing mission — marking the first anticipated crewed landing on the Moon since Apollo — the SpaceX Starship Human Landing System (HLS) will be placed in lunar orbit, remaining there for up to 100 days until the crew aboard an Orion spacecraft arrives.

Transporting the Starship to the Moon will entail a sophisticated plan involving refueling spacecraft in orbit. Initially, a fuel depot version of the Starship will be launched into orbit using the SpaceX Super Heavy booster. Following this, a series of up to 20 reusable tanker spacecraft will be placed into orbit by the Super Heavy booster.will replenish the fuel depot with 2 million pounds (910,000 kg) of liquefied methane and liquefied oxygen. The Starship HLS will then launch, refuel at the depot, and subsequently ascend to lunar orbit.

A crew of four astronauts will launch independently, aboard the Orion spacecraft positioned atop NASA’s SLS rocket, and journey to lunar orbit to meet and dock with Starship HLS. Two of the crew will transfer to Starship HLS, which will carry them to the lunar surface, landing near the south pole. Up to four moonwalks are scheduled during their 6.5-day stay. Instruments taken to the surface will examine the seismic and physical characteristics of the Moon. After takeoff, the Starship HLS will rendezvous with the orbiting Orion, and all four astronauts will return to Earth aboard Orion.

While announced timelines indicate Artemis 3 is set to land on the Moon by the end of 2026, NASA’s internal schedule for the landing has now been pushed back to February 2028. Various engineering milestones must be achieved prior to flight approval. These include addressing unforeseen pitting and erosion experienced by the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield during Artemis 1, as well as the difficulties faced by Axiom Space in creating the Artemis lunar spacesuit. Historical precedents in ambitious spaceflight missions suggest that managing expectations is wise, with Artemis 3 possibly launching in late 2028.

An essential factor in the Artemis strategy is the noticeable underperformance of the SpaceX Super Heavy rocket. Rather than placing 100 tons (90,000 kg) of cargo or fuel into orbit, the presently attainable figure is about 50 tons (45,000 kg). If this issue is not resolved, it may require potentially twice as many tanker spacecraft launches, extending the process of filling the fuel depot spacecraft to an inconvenient six-month endeavor. An in-orbit refueling demonstration with Starship is anticipated in 2025.

Currently, the Super Heavy’s performance is not critical to Artemis, but it could postpone the program’s lunar landings by as much as five years. It will likely take longer for SpaceX to refine the higher-performance Raptor 3 engines needed to restore the Super Heavy booster to its original capacity of launching 100 tons into Earth orbit.

New rockets for the Moon

The Artemis initiative will depend on a collection of rockets and crewed vehicles. These comprise NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), the SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy assembly, and the Blue Origin New Glenn.

NASA’s SLS, towering at 322 feet (98 m), will propel the crewed Orion spacecraft into lunar orbit to rendezvous with the awaiting lunar landing vehicle. The SLS features a core booster employing four repurposed RS-25 engines from NASA’s retired space shuttle, along with two nonreusable upgraded solid rocket boosters (SRB) also derived from the shuttle.

The initial four SLS missions will deplete the remaining 16 space shuttle RS-25 main engines, while the first eight SLS flights will expend the leftover shuttle SRBs. Future missions will utilize newer upgraded engines currently under development.
The starting configuration of SLS employs an upper stage modified from a Delta rocket developed by United Launch Alliance. Known as the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, it will be substituted with an upgraded upper stage on Artemis 4. This alteration will enable SLS launches to deliver additional Lunar Gateway modules, riding along with the Orion crewed spacecraft.

It is evident that the longevity of the SLS booster will be restricted due to its exorbitant cost—currently estimated as high as $2 billion per launch—and its low launch frequency. At present, there is insufficient SLS hardware to support an annual launch cadence, and the necessary SLS upgrades for Artemis 4 may postpone that mission until late 2028. There are aspirations that SLS could launch various upcoming robotic space probes to reduce the unit cost to as low as $1 billion per flight, but attracting users for such an expensive vehicle is complicated. Ultimately, more economical reusable commercial launch capabilities will render the SLS redundant, leading to its removal from the spaceflight schedule.

Artemis 4

Beginning with Artemis 4, a small space station named the Lunar Gateway will orbit the Moon in a six-day cycle and function as a staging area for lunar landings. The initial two Gateway modules will be launched using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The Artemis 5, 6, and 7 missions will also carry additional Gateway modules alongside the Orion spacecraft.

Mission organization for Artemis 4 is contingent on the Artemis 3 timetable. Public announcements presently indicate a launch no earlier than September 2028; a more feasible date seems to be late 2029. Artemis 4 will utilize the upgraded SLS Block 1A rocket, providing an extra 33,000 pounds (15,000 kg) of payload capacity to accommodate the International Habitation Module (I-Hab) under development by European and Japanese space agencies. The I-Hab, in conjunction with the modules earlier launched by Falcon Heavy, will construct a functioning Lunar Gateway outpost. As in previous missions, the Starship HLS will launch first, meet with the Lunar Gateway, and await the Orion’s arrival with the Artemis 4 crew. Two astronauts will then undertake the second Artemis lunar landing aboard the Starship HLS. Afterward, all crew members will return to Earth using the Orion spacecraft.

Artemis 5 — and beyond

Provisionally scheduled for launch no earlier than March 2030, Artemis 5 will feature the debut of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander, which will be lifted to the Lunar Gateway by a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket. Four astronauts will ascend aboard an Orion spacecraft on an SLS rocket, which will additionally carry a module for the Lunar Gateway. At the Gateway, two astronauts will transfer to the Blue Moon for a south pole landing close to a pre-positioned rover, termed the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV). The LTV will mark the first deployment of a lunar rover on the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. After returning to the Gateway, the pair will rejoin the other two crew members on the Orion for their journey back to Earth.

If these initial Artemis lunar landings proceed smoothly, subsequent landings will occur approximately one year apart. Each will utilize the Lunar Gateway to transport crew from Orion to either a Starship HLS or Blue Moon lander.

Currently, significant technical and financial hurdles exist along Artemis’ journey to the Moon. The optimistic public timelines will likely become unrealistic. However, as long as there remains a national determination to return to the Moon alongside international partners, these challenges can be addressed, and additional human footprints will accompany those left on the Moon half a century ago by the pioneers of the Apollo era.