The Lander Lunar Lander of SpaceX could be `years late ” warns the NASA security panel

NASA aims to make astronauts on the moon by mid -2010 – a feat that would fulfill a decade of preparation. The agency may however have to prolong this calendar, however, because the slow progress on Lunar Lander of Spacex threatens to delay the Mission Artemis 3.

On Friday, during a public meeting, the members of the aerospace security consulting committee warned that the version of the Starship human landing system could be “years of delay,” reports Spacenews. The panel reached this conclusion after a visit last month to the Starbase installation of SpaceX in Texas.

“The HLS calendar is considerably disputed and, to our estimate, could have years of delay for an landing in 2027 Artemis 3 Moon,” Panelist Paul Hill, former director of mission operations at NASA, told NASA.

Another delay from Artemis – So what?

Puting American boots on the Moon is an absolute priority for NASA. With a new spatial race in progress, the world’s powers, including the United States, China and Russia, are in the running for a first trigger advantage.

Whoever reaches the lunar surface first will be able to define certain basic rules on who can do what and where. This would not only strengthen the influence of this country on the moon and in space, but would also give it a strategic lever effect, because military operations are increasingly dependent on space assets.

“This is a pivotal moment for the space program of our country,” said the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) during a hearing on NASA legislative priorities earlier this month. He continued by stressing that space has become a “strategic border with direct consequences for national security, economic growth and technological leadership”.

How did we get here?

In 2021, NASA contracted SpaceX from Elon Musk to build a version of starship capable of landing astronauts on the moon. At that time, the agency aimed to accomplish an landing by 2024, but this target date has been postponed in recent years.

The development of Starship HLS has slowed down considerably, because SpaceX had trouble with repeated explosive failures this year. While the last starship test flight on August 26 was a success, the unattained technical milestones have accumulated.

A major problem is to demonstrate the transfer of cryogenic propellant necessary to fill up from orbit on orbit on the ground before the rocket went to the moon, said Hill at the Friday meeting. Development delays for Starship 3 – The first iteration capable of fuel transfers to orbit – have slowed down progress towards this objective.

Hill has also underlined potentially competitive priorities for SpaceX between Starlink and Starship HLS, reports SpaceceptAhyonline.com. Starship 3 will be an integral part of the launch of the third generation of Starlink satellites while simultaneously creating fuel deposits in orbit and Lunar Lander for Artemis 3.

“The next six months of starship launches will be indicative of the probability of the HLS flight team in 2027 or by the end of the decade,” said Hill.

Despite these concerns, the panelists stressed that SpaceX is still the only launch provider for the position. “There is no competitor, whether government or industry, which has this full combination of factors that give this rate of manufacturing and theft, with their direct effects on reliability and cost reduction,” said Hill.

The disadvantage of relying on SpaceX, however, is clear: without a HLS starship for the launch by 2027, Artemis 3 will not be triggered on time.

In 2023, NASA selected Blue Origin by Jeff Bezos to provide a second the lunar, nicknamed Blue Ghost, to be used during the Artemis mission 5 later this decade. The contract is worth $ 3.4 billion and includes a development team made up of Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Draper, Astrobotic and Honeybee Robotics.