NASA Revises Landings, Clears Orion Hurdle
The space agency has outlined a modified flight plan for its Moon program, targeting a 2028 crewed landing.
By Aiko Yamamoto ·
As the space agency works toward its next lunar mission, NASA has issued a detailed blueprint for its Artemis Program, confirming a major shift in its approach to returning astronauts to the Moon's surface by 2028. The agency held a news conference today to outline the revised architecture for its lunar lander missions, a significant departure from previously reported plans.
The updated plan includes a new mission sequence for SpaceX's Starship, which will now dock with the Orion spacecraft in high-Earth orbit before proceeding to the Moon. For Blue Origin, the mission architecture calls for four launches of its New Glenn rocket, with no requirement for spacecraft-to-spacecraft refueling. NASA's presentation also noted that Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander could potentially rendezvous with Orion in low-Lunar orbit.
NASA continues to target a launch for Artemis III, a demonstration mission that involves docking with both the Blue Moon and Starship landers near Earth, for summer 2027. A follow-on mission, Artemis IV, which would involve an actual landing on the lunar surface, remains on track for a 2028 launch. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated, “This is an achievable path we are on right now.”
The changes to the mission architecture for SpaceX follow the agency's decision to cancel the Lunar Gateway earlier this year. This move eliminated a requirement for SpaceX engineers to dock with Orion in a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon, a maneuver that necessitated more energy and presented other difficulties. The revised plan for Blue Origin avoids any refueling operations.
The agency's leadership has affirmed its commitment to these new plans and the associated launch dates. The primary open question remains whether the agency can adhere to its stated timeline for the Artemis missions.
While NASA has committed to this path forward, the ability to meet these launch dates is not yet confirmed. The agency's plans for its lunar missions are now defined, but the execution of those plans remains a key question.
Source: Ars Technica
