Through Artemis missions, NASA is preparing to return humans to the Moon, including the first woman and first person of color, for long-term scientific discovery and exploration. In its work toward a regular cadence of astronaut Moon landings, the agency is pursuing two paths for sustainable lunar lander development and demonstration.
One calls for additional work under an existing contract with SpaceX, and another invites other U.S. companies to provide new lander development and demonstration missions from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon. Combined, these efforts will pave the way for multiple companies to provide recurring Moon landing services for Artemis astronauts using the Gateway as the crew staging vehicle in lunar orbit.
NASA’s existing contract with SpaceX includes both a crewed and uncrewed lunar landing demonstration as part of the Artemis III mission, marking humanity’s first return to the Moon in more than 50 years. The agency will exercise an option under this contract asking the company to evolve its current Artemis III Starship Human Landing System design to meet the NASA’s sustainable requirements at the Moon and conduct another crewed demonstration landing.
Separately, under a new draft solicitation released March 31, NextSTEP2 Appendix P, Human Landing System Sustaining Lunar Development, NASA has provided requirements for new companies interested in developing and demonstrating additional astronaut Moon landers. Companies selected under this contract will be required to perform one uncrewed and one crewed demonstration landing. NASA will certify any lander system prior to the crewed demonstration missions ensuring overall astronaut safety and mission success.
“This approach bolsters industry readiness and competition and creates a strong plan for establishing a long-term lunar presence under Artemis with regular crewed landings,” said Lisa Watson-Morgan, program manager for the Human Landing System Program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “NASA is committed to maintaining a flexible and resilient lunar exploration plan that will promote competition going into the future.”
Together, these concurrent sustaining lander development efforts will meet NASA’s needs for recurring, long-term access to the lunar surface, such as the ability to dock with Gateway for crew transfer, accommodate an increased crew size, and deliver more mass to the surface.
NASA will host a virtual Appendix P industry day April 4 to present an overview of the solicitation and to provide companies an opportunity to ask clarifying questions and provide comments. Once these have been reviewed, the agency plans to issue the final solicitation this summer.
As NASA makes strides to return humans to the lunar surface under Artemis, this approach allows the agency to expedite partnerships with U.S. industry to increase the competitive pool of capable providers ahead of the solicitation for recurring lunar lander transportation services for Artemis astronauts.
For more information about this procurement and industry day details, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/nextstep/humanlander4
