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An artist’s concept of SpaceX’s Starship Human Landing System (HLS) on the moon during NASA’s Artemis mission. | Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX and NASA have released new technology that describes how the company’s Starship rocket can carry Artemis astronauts to the surface of the moon.
The references show the different maneuvers and steps that SpaceX’s reusable Starship vehicle will be required to perform as part of NASA’s current plan for the Artemis 3 moon mission, which is currently slated for no later than 2026.
Under the mission’s current architecture, Starship (its version known as the Human Landing System) will dock in orbit with NASA’s Orion spacecraft Artemis astronauts will leave the capsule and enter the SpaceX vehicle. From there, Starship will take astronauts under the moon, putting human boots on one of our moons for the first time since 1972.
In one of the photos, a sleek, white version of Starship’s Human Landing System (HLS) lands nose-to-nose with Orion in orbit around the moon. During this mission, NASA’s Artemis 3 astronauts would migrate from Orion to HLS.
a large silver-and-white rocket lands on the gray, dusty surface of the moon
One of the versions shows two Starships, one standard configuration and the other HLS variant, positioned belly to belly in order to transfer fuel from one to the other. Because the HLS will be carrying heavy equipment bound for the moon, it will use a lot of fuel to escape Earth’s gravity. It will need refueling for its trip to the moon, so SpaceX is developing an orbital propellant transfer method. The company tested a version of the switch on Starship III’s hybrid flight test.
As seen in the pictures, this HLS variant of the Starship has a very different configuration than the standard version of the spacecraft. The HLS in the renders has windows for the crew to look out, and does not show the fins found on standard Starship variants.
The HLS in these new images also has a sleek white finish, contrasting with the stainless steel trim and protective tiles seen on other Starships.
a large silver-and-white rocket lands on the gray, dusty surface of the moon
One of the renderings shows astronauts in Axiom Space moon suits descending to the lunar surface in an elevator.
Two astronauts, Axiom Space’s Peggy Whitson and Doug Wheelock of NASA, tested such a capability in June 2024 when they donned Axiom suits and performed tests using an HLS mockup at SpaceX headquarters in California. The test confirmed that there is enough space in the proposed HLS airlock, deck and elevator for the astronauts to carry out their work in the Axiom suits.
a large silver-and-white rocket lands on the gray, dusty surface of the moon
Another photo shows SpaceX’s Starship HLS with two of its six Raptor engines on as it fires up the brakes before attempting to land on the moon.
a large silver-and-white rocket lands on the gray, dusty surface of the moon
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NASA has delayed Artemis 3 until September 2026, after setting an initial goal of 2024. The delay is caused by hardware design problems, including issues with Orion’s heat shield and the long development period that SpaceX is facing to prepare the Starship for orbital flight.
SpaceX’s planned timeline for Starship has been promising, to say the least. The company’s president and chief operating officer, Gwynne Shotwell, said in 2019 that the company would land payloads on Mars with a Starship “in five years.”
Five years later, in 2024, Starship still hasn’t finished flying, although the company has made significant progress on each of the rocket’s six flights.