NASA Artemis astronauts will have many responsibilities once they arrive on the moon. After landing, the team will need to collect samples, conduct experiments, and record observations. But before it gets there, it needs to be transported from the orbiting Orion spacecraft to the lunar surface. That’s where SpaceX and its Starship come into play. Getting astronauts to the moon and back will be a complex process. A new conceptual image shows some of the operations required to accomplish the historical journey.
On November 20th, NASA Released new rendering It depicts the stages of the Artemis III moon landing, currently scheduled for early 2026. SpaceX’s entire process, known as the Starship Human Landing System (HLS), first involves docking with Orion, which will orbit the moon. From there, the two Artemis astronauts will transfer from the NASA spacecraft to a specialized version of Starship that stands approximately 164 feet tall, at which point the SpaceX spacecraft will begin its controlled descent to the moon.
However, before docking with Orion, HLS will need to refuel before continuing its mission. This will include a first-of-its-kind procedure in which yet another Starship (built to operate as a fuel tanker) will connect with a transport spacecraft while in low Earth orbit. After additional propellant is transferred to HLS, the 15-story-tall vehicle will continue its rendezvous with Orion.
The spacecraft then makes a smooth landing using brake-burning operations using the two HLS Raptor engines. Given Starship’s height, astronauts would need to use a specially designed elevator to lower the craft and equipment to the lunar surface, at which point they would be the first astronauts to reach the lunar surface in more than 55 years. You can carve history as the first human to return.
Once the two astronauts have completed their mission, they will ascend back into the starship, and the spacecraft will then lift off and return to Orion, beginning their journey home.
But Artemis III’s high-stakes HLS mission cannot proceed without SpaceX first demonstrating its commitment to the challenge. The company plans to carry out refueling missions in unmanned low Earth orbit. By March 2025 at the earliest–However, SpaceX projects are often notorious for long delays.
If all goes to plan, Artemis III won’t be the last time NASA uses SpaceX’s Starship HLS. The space agency has even bigger plans for the Artemis IV mission, which will include docking Starship with more cargo and the planned Gateway orbital lunar space station, as soon as possible. It could be 2028.
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