Artemis program

In March 2018, NASA established the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program with the aim of sending small robotic landers and rovers mostly to the lunar south pole region as a precursor to and in support of crewed missions.[23][24][25] The main goals include scouting of lunar resources, in situ resource utilization (ISRU) feasibility testing, and lunar science.[26] NASA is awarding commercial providers indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts to develop and fly lunar landers with scientific payloads.[27] The first phase considered proposals capable of delivering at least 10 kilograms (22 lb) of payload by the end of 2021.[27] Proposals for mid-sized landers capable of delivering between 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) and 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb) of cargo were planned to also be considered for launch beyond 2021.[28]

In November 2018, NASA announced the first nine companies that were qualified to bid on the CLPS transportation service contracts (see list below).[29] On 31 May 2019, three of those were awarded lander contracts: Astrobotic Technology, Intuitive Machines, OrbitBeyond.[30] On 29 July 2019, NASA announced that it had granted OrbitBeyond's request to be released from obligations under the contract citing "internal corporate challenges".[31]

The first twelve payloads and experiments from NASA centers were announced on 21 February 2019.[32] On 1 July 2019, NASA announced the selection of twelve additional payloads, provided by universities and industry. Seven of these are scientific investigations while five are technology demonstrations.[33]

The Lunar Surface Instrument and Technology Payloads (LSITP) program was soliciting payloads in 2019 that do not require significant additional development. They will include technology demonstrators to advance lunar science or the commercial development of the Moon.[34][35]

In November 2019, NASA added five contractors to the group of companies who are eligible to bid to send large payloads to the surface of the moon with to the CLPS program: Blue Origin, Ceres Robotics, Sierra Nevada Corporation, SpaceX, and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems.[36][37]

In April 2020, NASA selected Masten Space Systems for a follow-on CLPS delivery of cargo to the Moon in 2022.[38][39]

The contractors selected for CLPS and HLS NASA-funded design work are:

On 5 May 2020, Reuters reported that the Trump administration was drafting a new international agreement outlining the laws for mining on the Moon.[42] NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine officially announced the Artemis Accords on 15 May will be a series of a bilateral agreements between the nation states in the Artemis program "grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967".[43][7]

Planned evolution of the Space Launch System, the primary launch vehicle for Orion

The Space Launch System (SLS) is a US super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle, which has been under development since its announcement in 2011.

The main launch vehicle planned to be used for the Artemis lunar program, as of May 2020 is the US Space Launch System (SLS). NASA is required to utilize SLS Block 1 by the US Congress to lift a payload of 95 metric tons (209,000 lb) to low Earth orbit (LEO), and will launch Artemis 1, 2, and 3. The later Block 1B is intended to debut the Exploration Upper Stage and launch the notional Artemis 4-7.[52] Block 2 is planned to replace the initial Shuttle-derived boosters with advanced boosters and would have a LEO capability of more than 150 metric tons (330,000 lb), again as required by Congress.[53] Block 2 is intended to enable crewed launches to Mars.[3] The SLS will launch the Orion spacecraft and use the ground operations capabilities and launch facilities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Some variations of the SLS launch manifest has all the blocks being active at the same time rather than one block replacing the last as is common with launchers.

SLS Core Stage rolling out from the Michoud Assembly Facility on 8 January 2020, ahead of the Artemis 1 Mission

In March 2019, the Trump Administration released its Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request for NASA. This budget did not initially include any money for the Block 1B and Block 2 variants of SLS but later a request for a budget increase of 1.6 billion dollars towards SLS, Orion, and crewed landers was made. Block 1B is currently intended to debut on Artemis 4 and will be used mainly for co-manifested crew transfers and logistics rather than constructing the Gateway as initially planned. An uncrewed Block was planned to launch the Lunar Surface Asset in 2028, the first lunar outpost of the Artemis program, but now that launch has been moved to a commercial launcher.[54] Block 2 development will most likely start in the late 2020s after NASA is regularly visiting the lunar surface and shifts focus towards Mars.[55]

In October 2019, it was announced NASA had authorized Boeing to purchase materials in bulk for more SLS rockets ahead of the announcement of a new contract. This contract is expected to support up to ten core stages and eight Exploration Upper Stages.[56]

NASA's Orion spacecraft undergoing final tests

Orion is a class of partially reusable space capsules to be used in NASA's human spaceflight programs. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) manufactured by Lockheed Martin and the European Service Module (ESM) manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space. Capable of supporting a crew of six beyond low Earth orbit, Orion can last 21 days undocked and up to six months docked. It is equipped with solar power, an automated docking system, and glass cockpit interfaces modeled after those used in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. A single AJ10 engine provides the spacecraft's primary propulsion, while eight R-4D-11 engines, and six pods of custom reaction control system engines developed by Airbus, provide the spacecraft's secondary propulsion. Although compatible with other launch vehicles, Orion is primarily designed to launch atop a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with a tower launch escape system.

The Orion MPCV was announced by NASA on May 24, 2011.[57] Its design is based on the Crew Exploration Vehicle from the cancelled Constellation program,[58] which had been a 2006 NASA contract award to Lockheed Martin.[59] The command module is being built by Lockheed Martin at the Michoud Assembly Facility,[60] while the Orion service module is being built by Airbus Defence and Space with funding from the European Space Agency.[61][62]

By May 2020, the ESA had signed an agreements with NASA to provide three service modules for Artemis as part of its barter arrangement with NASA to be a member of the Artemis program. The ESMs cost approximately €250 million each to acquire from Airbus, not counting the costs incurred by the ESA directly. The third ESM is slated to fly in 2024.[63]

Possible configuration of the Gateway

The NASA Lunar Gateway is an in-development mini-space station in lunar orbit intended to serve as a solar-powered communication hub, science laboratory, short-term habitation module, and holding area for rovers and other robots.[64] While the project is led by NASA, the Gateway is meant to be developed, serviced, and utilized in collaboration with commercial and international partners: Canada (CSA), Europe (ESA), and Japan (JAXA).

The Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) started development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the now canceled Asteroid Redirect Mission. The original concept was a robotic, high performance solar electric spacecraft that would retrieve a multi-ton boulder from an asteroid and bring it to lunar orbit for study.[65] When ARM was canceled, the solar electric propulsion was repurposed for the Gateway.[66][67] The PPE will allow access to the entire lunar surface and act as a space tug for visiting craft.[68] It will also serve as the command and communications center of the Gateway.[69][70] The PPE is intended to have a mass of 8-9 tonne and the capability to generate 50 kW[71] of solar electric power for its ion thrusters, which can be supplemented by chemical propulsion.[72] It is planned to launch on a commercial launch vehicle in 2022.[73][74]

The Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO),[75][76] also called the Minimal Habitation Module (MHM) and formerly known as the Utilization Module,[77] will be built by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS).[47][78] A commercial launch vehicle would launch the HALO before the end of year 2023. The HALO is based on a Cygnus Cargo resupply module[47] to the outside of which radial docking ports, body mounted radiators (BMRs), batteries and communications antennae will be added. The HALO will be a scaled-down habitation module,[79] yet, it will feature a functional pressurized volume providing sufficient command, control and data handling capabilities, energy storage and power distribution, thermal control, communications and tracking capabilities, two axial and up to two radial docking ports, stowage volume, environmental control and life support systems to augment the Orion spacecraft and support a crew of four for at least 30 days.[78]

According to Doug Loverro, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, the Gateway construction was removed from the 2024 critical path in order to clear up funding for the HLS. He stated that the PPE could face delays and that moving it back to 2026 would allow for a more refined vehicle. It is also worth noting that the international partners on the Gateway would not have their modules ready until 2026. The only lander capable of operating without the Gateway is Boeing's HLS.[80]

On 30 April 2020, a key to NASA's vision for a "sustainable" crew presence on or near the Moon is the Gateway station. NASA officials originally hoped the Gateway would be in position near the Moon in time for the Artemis 3 mission in 2024, allowing elements of the lunar lander to be assembled, or aggregated, at the Gateway before the arrival of astronauts on an Orion crew capsule. Jim Bridenstine told Spaceflight Now, the Artemis 3 mission will no longer go through the Gateway, but NASA is not backing away from the program.[81]

Designed by Airbus, the Moon Cruiser is a logistics vehicle based off of the ATV and ESM that will be used to support the Gateway. It will be part of ESA's contribution to the Gateway program and As of July 2019 was in the design process. It was planned to be launched on the Ariane 6, the vehicle is being designed to be able to refuel lunar landers and deliver cargo to the Gateway. It is also planned to be used to deliver the European ESPRIT module to the Gateway in 2025. It has also been proposed by Airbus to turn the vehicle into a transfer stage for a lunar lander. Concepts for a lander variant of the vehicle exist but had not received funding by July 2019.[45][82]

On 27 March 2020, SpaceX revealed the Dragon XL resupply spacecraft designed to carry pressurized and unpressurized cargo, experiments and other supplies to NASA's planned Gateway under a NASA Gateway Logistics Services (GLS) contract. The equipment delivered by Dragon XL missions could include sample collection materials, spacesuits and other items astronauts may need on the Gateway and on the surface of the Moon, according to NASA. It will launch on SpaceX Falcon Heavy rockets from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Dragon XL is planned to stay at the Gateway for six to 12 months at a time when research payloads inside and outside the cargo vessel could be operated remotely, even when crews are not present. Its payload capacity is expected to be more than 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) to lunar orbit. Unlike previous Dragon variants, the spacecraft will not be reusable and instead focuses on transporting cargo. It will act as the United States' logistics vehicle.

The Human Landing System (HLS) elements of Artemis are several commercial lunar landing systems that are in early design as of 2020. Each design has dissimilar elements intentionally, to give program design redundancy as NASA plans to contract for the build of two commercial options for the HLS role.

On 16 May 2019, NASA announced 11 contracts worth US$45.5 million in total for studies on transfer vehicles, descent elements, descent element prototypes, refueling element studies and prototypes.[83] One of the requirements is that selected companies will have to contribute at least 20% of the total cost of the project "to reduce costs to taxpayers and encourage early private investments in the lunar economy".[84]

On 30 April 2020, in a teleconference, NASA announced US$967 million in design development funding to three companies (Blue Origin, Dynetics, and SpaceX) to do initial design of HLS landing systems.[85][86][87] At the end of the ten month program, NASA will evaluate which contractors will be offered contracts for initial demonstration missions and select firms for development and maturation of lunar lander systems.[87]

It is not known what time slots each HLS would be contracted for as of May 2020.[87]

National Human Landing System

The Integrated Lander Vehicle (ILV) or National Human Landing System (NHLS) is a lunar lander currently development by the "national team" which is led by Blue Origin. It also includes Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper Laboratory as major partners, as of 2020. The main selling point of the lander is all the components have been in development in one form or another for some time. The transfer stage is based off of the Cygnus spacecraft, the Blue Moon will be used as the descent stage, and the ascent stage will be based on the Orion spacecraft. It will be launched in three parts on both the New Glenn and Vulcan rockets but could be launched on a single SLS Block 1B. The vehicle passes all of NASA's requirements but faces risk with its power and propulsion systems which pose a significant risk to the developmental timeline according to NASA.[88][89]

Starship Human Landing System

Starship Human Landing System (Starship HLS) is a lunar landing variant of the SpaceX Starship— planned to be a fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle that has been under development by SpaceX as a self-funded private spaceflight project since 2012— that SpaceX proposed as a non-reusable variant for the human lunar lander component for Artemis. The variant seems to be a standalone dedicated lunar-specific landing system rather than an all-encompassing transport vehicle. This is evident by its lack of heat shielding and fins used to return to Earth. The vehicle appears to have side mounted Super Draco-like engines towards the nose of the vehicle for final descent due to the very high thrust of its main Raptor engines. The nose is now also covered with solar panels. It has a much larger cargo bay and smaller crew area due to lunar missions being much shorter than the general LEO and Mars voyages the base version was designed for. For Artemis, the Starship HLS would launch on its own Super Heavy booster, then be refueled in orbit, and finally sent to lunar orbit. There, an Orion spacecraft would transfer the crew to the vehicle where they would descend and ascend from the surface. The major advantage of Starship is its ability to carry large amounts of cargo as well as its large interior space allowing it to perform long-duration surface missions. SpaceX also has a CLPS contract to deliver payload to the lunar surface with Starship and a contract to deliver supplies to the Lunar Gateway with Dragon XL. NASA has stated that the biggest risk for this proposal would be the complicated reaction control system as well as main propulsion structure.[41][89]

Dynetics Human Landing System

The Dynetics Human Landing System (DHLS) is under development by Dynetics and Sierra Nevada Corporation as well as a multitude of subcontractors. Its design is very similar to early SEI lunar lander proposals (1989–1993) with a low crew cabin and large solar panels, as of 2020. It is the smallest of the three proposals. It consists of a single main structure and would rely on drop tanks to power a majority of the descent. The same main spacecraft structure would then ascend back into orbit and rendezvous with Orion or the Lunar Gateway. The vehicle could also be used to easily deliver large payloads to the lunar surface and could be modified to act as a lunar base module. It will launch on a ULA Vulcan rocket but can also fly on an SLS Block 1B rocket. The biggest issue identified according to NASA is its advanced experimental thrust structure and that it could pose threat to the development time.[90]

The Boeing Human Landing System proposal was submitted to NASA in early November 2019. The lander consists of a descent and ascent stage with the descent stage being able to deorbit the lander which eliminates the need for a third transfer stage. The lander is designed to be launched on an SLS Block 1B rather than assembled in multiple launches. The lander was further planned to not require the Gateway and could dock with Orion directly in order to allow for a simpler mission profile. Boeing had partnered with Intuitive Machines to provide engines,[91] and also planned to reuse key technologies from their CST-100 Starliner.[92] An alternative plan for launching the lander was also detailed: In the event the SLS Block 1B was not ready by 2024, the descent stage could launch on an SLS Block 1 while the ascent stage would be launched by a commercial launcher and assembled in lunar orbit.[93] The Boeing proposal was not selected for design funding by NASA in the April 2020 design funding announcements.[41]

The Advanced Exploration Lander is a three-stage lander concept used as a design reference for commercial proposals. As proposed, after departure from the Gateway, a transfer module would take the crew to a low lunar orbit and then separate, after which the descent module would handle the rest of the journey to the lunar surface. A crew of up to four could spend up to two weeks on the surface before reboarding the ascent module, which would take them back to the Gateway. Each module would have a mass of approximately 12 to 15 metric tons and would be delivered separately by commercial launchers and integrated at the Gateway. The astronauts would board the lander at the Gateway's near-rectilinear halo orbit that goes between about 1,000 and 70,000 kilometers (620 and 43,500 mi) above the Moon, with the circular low orbit about 100 kilometers (62 mi) high. Both the ascent and transfer modules could be designed to be reused, with the descent module left on the lunar surface.

HERACLES (Human-Enhanced Robotic Architecture and Capability for Lunar Exploration and Science) is a planned ESA-JAXA-CSA space cargo transport system that will feature a robotic lunar lander called European Large Logistic Lander (EL3),[94] which can be configured for different operations such as up to 1.5 tons of payload,[95] sample-returns, or prospecting resources found on the Moon.[96] ESA approved the project in November 2019.[95][97][98] Its first mission is envisioned for launch in 2027.[94]

The EL3 lander will be launched directly to the Moon and will have a landing mass of approximately 1,800 kg (4,000 lb).[99] It will be capable of transporting a Canadian robotic rover to explore, prospect potential resources, and load samples up to 15 kg (33 lb) on the ascent module.[100] The rover would then traverse several kilometers across the Schrödinger basin on the far side of the Moon to explore and collect more samples to load on the next EL3 lander.[101][99] The ascent module would return each time to the Lunar Gateway, where it would be captured by the Canadian robotic arm and samples transferred to an Orion spacecraft for transport to Earth with returning astronauts.[102][103]

Artemis Base Camp is the prospective lunar base that would be established at the end of the 2020s. It would consist of three main modules: the Foundational Surface Habitat, the Habitable Mobility Platform, and the Lunar Terrain Vehicle. It would support missions of up to two months and be used to study technologies to use on Mars. It would fall under the guidelines of the Outer Space Treaty.[109]

Little is known about the surface outpost with most information coming from studies and launch manifests that include its launch. It would be commercially built and possibly commercially launched in 2028 along with the Mobile Habitat.[110] The first habitat is referred to as the Artemis Foundation Habitat formerly the Artemis Surface Asset. Current launch manifests show that landing it on the surface would be similar to the HLS. The pressurized habitat would be sent to the Gateway where it would then be attached to a descent stage separately launched from a commercial launcher, it would utilize the same transfer stage used for the HLS. Other designs from 2019 see it being launched from an SLS Block 1B as a single unit and landing directly on the surface. It would then be hooked up to a surface power system launched by a CLPS mission and tested by the Artemis 6 crew. The location of the base would be in the south pole region and most likely be a site visited by prior crewed and robotic missions.[109][5]

NASA's Space Exploration Vehicle

The Habitable Mobility Platform would be a large pressurized rover used to transport crews across large distances. NASA has developed multiple pressurized rovers including the Space Exploration Vehicle built for the Constellation program which was fabricated and tested. In the 2020 flight manifest it was referred to as the Mobile Habitat suggesting it could fill a similar role to the ILREC Lunar Bus. It would be ready for the crew to use on the surface but could also be autonomously controlled from the Gateway or other locations. Japan is currently evaluating a large pressurized lunar rover that would be launched in 2029 to the lunar surface and would be part of their contribution to Artemis surface operations.[109][111][112]

A Lunar outpost design from the SEI. The Dynetics HLS bears heavy resemblance to this design

As announced in November 2019, NASA will be releasing a request for information for unpressurized lunar rovers. The LTV would be propositioned by a CLPS vehicle before the Artemis 3 mission. It would be used to transport crews around the exploration site. It would serve a similar function as the Apollo Lunar Rover.[109]

The VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) is a lunar rover by NASA planned to be delivered to the surface of the Moon as early as December 2022. The rover will be tasked with prospecting for lunar resources in permanently shadowed areas in the lunar south pole region, especially by mapping the distribution and concentration of water ice. The mission builds on a previous NASA rover concept called Resource Prospector, which was cancelled in 2018.[113]

NASA's VIPER rover

The VIPER rover is part of the Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program managed by the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, and it is meant to support the crewed Artemis program.[114] NASA's Ames Research Center is managing the rover project. The hardware for the rover is being designed by the Johnson Space Center, while the instruments are provided by Ames, Kennedy, and Honeybee Robotics.[114] The project manager is Daniel Andrews, and the project scientist is Anthony Colaprete, who is implementing the technology developed for the now cancelled Resource Prospector rover. The estimated cost of the mission is US$250 million.

The VIPER rover will operate at a south pole region yet to be determined. VIPER is planned to rove several kilometers, collecting data on different kinds of soil environments affected by light and temperature —those in complete darkness, occasional light, and in constant sunlight. Once it enters a permanently shadowed location, it will operate on battery power alone and will not be able to recharge them until it drives to a sunlit area. Its total operation time will be approximately 100 Earth days.

Both the launcher and the lander to be used will be competitively provided through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contractors. NASA is aiming at landing the rover as early as December 2022.[115]

Three tests of the Orion spacecraft have been conducted prior to the launch of Artemis 1. Pad Abort-1, the second and final mission in the preceding Constellation program,[118][119] was a successful test of Orion's launch escape system using a boilerplate capsule on 6 May 2010.[118][120] The second test of Orion was Exploration Flight Test-1 on 5 December 2014.[121][122] A stripped down version of the Orion spacecraft was launched atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket, and its reaction control system was tested in two orbits around Earth, reaching an apogee of 5,800 kilometers (3,600 mi) before making a high-energy reentry at 32,000 kilometers per hour (20,000 mph).[123][124] The third and final test of Orion prior to Artemis 1 was Ascent Abort-2 on 2 July 2019, which tested an updated launch abort system at maximum aerodynamic load,[119][125][126] using a 10,000-kilogram (22,000 lb) Orion test article and a custom launch vehicle built by Orbital Sciences.[126][127]

Orion development test flights

Mission	Patch	Launch	Crew	Launch vehicle[lower-alpha 1]	Outcome	Duration
Pad Abort-1		6 May 2010, 13:03:00 UTC White Sands LC-32E	N/A	Orion Launch Abort System (LAS)	Success	95 seconds
Exploration Flight Test 1		5 December 2014, 12:05 UTC Cape Canaveral SLC-37	N/A	Delta IV Heavy (Delta 369)	Success	4 hours 24 minutes
Ascent Abort-2		2 July 2019, 11:00 UTC[128] Cape Canaveral SLC-46	N/A	Orion Abort Test Booster	Success	3 minutes 13 seconds

As of 2019, all crewed Artemis missions will be launched on the Space Launch System from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B. Current plans call for some supporting hardware to be launched on other vehicles and from other launch pads.

Mission	Patch	Launch date	Crew	Launch vehicle	Duration
Artemis 1		2021[129]	N/A	SLS Block 1 Crew	~25d
Artemis 2		2023[130]	TBA	SLS Block 1 Crew	~10d
Artemis 3		2024	TBA	SLS Block 1 Crew	~30d

A proposal curated by William H. Gerstenmaier before his 10 July 2019 reassignment[131] suggests four launches of the SLS Block 1B launch vehicle with crewed Orion spacecraft and logistical modules to the Gateway between 2024 and 2028.[132][133] The crewed Artemis 4 through 7 would launch yearly between 2025 and 2028,[54] testing in situ resource utilization and nuclear power on the lunar surface with a partially reusable lander. Artemis 7 would deliver in 2028 a crew of four astronauts to a surface lunar outpost known as the Foundation Habitat along with the Mobile Habitat.[54] The Foundation Habitat would be launched back to back with the Mobile Habitat by an undetermined launcher[54] and would be used for extended crewed lunar surface missions.[54][134][135] Prior to each crewed Artemis mission, various payloads to the Lunar Gateway, such as refueling depots and expendable elements of the lunar lander, would be deployed by commercial launch vehicles.[133][135] This would leave three SLS launches for use on interplanetary missions such as the Europa Clipper and Europa Lander or launching the crewed Deep Space Transport for a Mars orbital mission in the 2030s.[136][54][110]

Artemis support missions are robotic missions flown through both the CLPS program and Gateway program.[137]