NASA has Plans for More Cargo Deliveries to the Moon

Through the Artemis Program, NASA hopes to lay the foundations for a program of “sustained lunar exploration and development.” This will include regular missions to the surface, the creation of infrastructure and habitats, and a long-term human presence. To facilitate this, NASA is teaming up with industry and international partners to develop Human Landing Systems (HLS) that can transport crews to and from the lunar surface and landers that can deliver payloads of equipment, vehicles, and supplies to the lunar surface.

In a recent statement, NASA indicated that it intends to award Blue Origin and SpaceX additional work under their existing contracts to develop landers that will deliver equipment and infrastructure to the lunar surface. NASA also plans to assign demonstration missions to these companies, in addition to design certification reviews, which will validate their concepts. This decision builds on NASA’s earlier request, made in 2023, that the two companies develop cargo versions of their HLS concepts, which are currently in development for the Artemis III, Artemis IV, and Artemis V missions.

Stephen D. Creech, the Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator (Technical) for the Moon to Mars Program Office, explained in the NASA statement:

“NASA is planning for both crewed missions and future services missions to the Moon beyond Artemis V. The Artemis campaign is a collaborative effort with international and industry partners. Having two lunar lander providers with different approaches for crew and cargo landing capability provides mission flexibility while ensuring a regular cadence of Moon landings for continued discovery and scientific opportunity.”

In previous statements issued in April and September of this year, NASA has emphasized the need for vehicles that can accommodate heavy payload deliveries – between 2,000 and 6,000 kg (4,400 and 13,000 pounds) to the Moon to accommodate the Artemis missions. Per the latest, NASA indicates that it plans for at least two heavy payload missions that will deliver elements of the Artemis Base Camp to the Moon. These large cargo landers must have the capacity and capability of landing approximately 12 to 15 metric tons (13 to 16.5 U.S. tons) of heavy cargo on the lunar surface.

The two missions will see SpaceX using a cargo lander version of their Starship to deliver the Habitable Mobility Platform (HMP) – a pressurized rover currently being developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) – no earlier than 2032 in support of Artemis VII and later missions. Meanwhile, the agency expects Blue Origin to deliver the Lunar Surface Habitat (LSH) element using its Blue Moon lander no earlier than 2033. Said Dr. Lisa Watson-Morgan, program manager for NASA’s Human Landing System:

“Based on current design and development progress for both crew and cargo landers and the Artemis mission schedules for the crew lander versions, NASA assigned a pressurized rover mission for SpaceX and a lunar habitat delivery for Blue Origin. These large cargo lander demonstration missions aim to optimize our NASA and industry technical expertise, resources, and funding as we prepare for the future of deep space exploration.”

SpaceX and Blue Origin will continue to develop their cargo lander concepts and prepare for demonstration missions as part of their NextSTEP Appendix H (Option B) and NextSTEP Appendix P contracts (respectively). NASA plans to issue an initial request for both proposals by early 2025.

Further Reading: NASA