NASA Charting Four Launches for Lunar Lander Mission by 2028
Agency outlines revised plans for returning astronauts to the lunar surface, addressing previously unresolved spacecraft issues.
By Thiago Kovalenko ·
NASA outlined a detailed roadmap on Friday for putting astronauts back on the Moon as early as 2028, signaling significant shifts in how the agency intends to handle the hardware and logistics required for these missions. For the public, this timeline suggests that preparations for a crewed lunar landing will continue to accelerate through next year, moving from planning phases into active mission readiness. The agency detailed how it plans to reach these objectives, marking the first time these specific architectural modifications have been presented publicly.
The revised mission architecture introduces specific changes regarding how different vehicles will interact. For SpaceX’s Starship, the plan now requires the Orion spacecraft to dock with the lunar lander while in high-Earth orbit before the journey to the Moon begins. Conversely, the mission profile for Blue Origin involves four launches of the New Glenn rocket, eliminating the need for spacecraft-to-spacecraft refueling operations. Additionally, the agency is considering a scenario where the Blue Moon lander meets with Orion in low-Lunar orbit.
The agency is maintaining its schedule for Artemis III, which is expected to launch by summer 2027. This mission is designed as a demonstration to test docking capabilities with both the Blue Moon and Starship vehicles near Earth. Following this, the agency is still targeting a 2028 launch for Artemis IV, a mission that would involve an actual landing on the lunar surface. Agency Administrator Jared Isaacman expressed confidence in this schedule, stating, "This is an achievable path we are on right now."
The agency continues to assert that it possesses the mandate, resources, and stakeholder support necessary to execute these plans. However, the feasibility of holding to these specific dates remains a point of scrutiny as the agency works to alter its approach to mission elements where possible. The primary objective remains the acceleration of plans for the lunar lander companies involved in these contracts.
A significant modification concerns the specific orbital mechanics planned for SpaceX. Engineers had requested the removal of a requirement to dock with Orion in a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon. This specific orbit required additional energy and presented other operational difficulties. The cancellation of the Lunar Gateway earlier this year addressed this specific problem for the SpaceX team.
