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More than 55 years after the Apollo Moon landing, NASA is returning astronauts to the Moon, but it’s going to look a lot different this time around. The space agency is working with its commercial partner SpaceX to develop a special version of the company’s Starship rocket, capable of transporting astronauts to the lunar surface.
NASA recently shared artistic renderings of its upcoming Artemis 3 mission, currently scheduled for launch in September 2026. The mission aims to use SpaceX’s Starship Human Landing System (HLS) to carry two astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon and back, rendezvousing with the Orion spacecraft to pick up the Artemis crew and safely dropping them off on the lunar surface.
An illustration of a Starship tanker transferring propellant to Starship HLS. Credit: SpaceX Before it reaches lunar orbit, Starship HLS will need to refuel. The plan is to use a Starship tanker, loaded with propellant and awaiting the arrival of its lander counterpart. The two spacecraft are designed to meet each other in low Earth orbit, docking with one another while the tanker transfers propellant to Starship HLS to allow it to continue on its journey toward the Moon.
SpaceX recently revealed that it may be ready to test the daring maneuver in low Earth orbit by early next year, potentially scheduling an in-flight propellant test between two Starship vehicles in March 2025.
An illustration of an Orion spacecraft docking with Starship. Credit: SpaceX A fully fueled Starship will head to lunar orbit, where it will await the arrival of the Orion crew capsule with four astronauts on board. Starship HLS will dock directly to Orion so that two astronauts can transfer to the lunar lander, while the rest of the crew waits aboard Orion in lunar orbit.
An illustration of Starship performing a breaking burn ahead of its lunar landing. Credit: SpaceX With a crew of two astronauts on board, Starship will depart low lunar orbit. The vehicle will performing a breaking burn using two of its Raptor engines to descend to the dusty surface of the Moon.
There they go! Credit: SpaceX Two astronauts will descend to the surface of the Moon, riding on Starship’s elevator located at the bottom of the Human Landing System. Starship HLS is around the same height as a 15-story building, standing at about 164 feet (50 meters) tall. The elevator will also be used to transport cargo between the lunar surface and the lander as the two astronauts work to collect precious samples.
Before it lands astronauts on the Moon, however, SpaceX will perform an uncrewed lunar landing using its Starship vehicle. Starship is currently still under development, with the rocket having recently completed its sixth test flight that ended with its booster plunging in the ocean.
NASA is also working with SpaceX to further develop Starship HLS for the Artemis 4 mission, which is scheduled for launch in September 2028. For its updated version, Starship needs to be able to carry more mass to the surface of the Moon, as well as dock with NASA’s lunar space station, Gateway, in lunar orbit.
The illustrations paint a pretty picture, but only time will tell if SpaceX and NASA will meet their ambitious timelines. The Starship rocket has been moving closer to regular orbital flights, but the Human Landing System is a whole other ball game.
