SpaceX steps up planning for NASA lunar lander
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SpaceX's Starship successfully splashed down in the Indian Ocean after launching from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on October 13. The 11th flight test included the deployment of dummy Starlink satellites SpaceX revised its plans to work with NASA on a manned lunar lander. (Photo Credit: SpaceX/UPI | License Photo)
Nov. 2 (UPI) -- SpaceX Sunday said it is stepping up its efforts to develop a simplified Human Landing System for NASA as it pursues a plan to return to the moon.
SpaceX has been heavily involved in the HLS, which is based on the upper stage of the company's Starship rocket, which is still being developed.
SpaceX released an in-depth, 2,000 word post Sunday detailing the progress it has made on Starship, which completed its 11th test flight last month.
It highlighted steps it has taken to improve life-support, airlock and communications systems aboard the HLS, as well as the elevator that will be used to carry the astronauts and equipment from the top of the craft to the lunar surface.
The company projected a 2026 timeline for testing the refueling process necessary for the HLS to complete its work. Starship's upper stage reaches orbit with its fuel tanks largely empty, and requires multiple refueling missions from other Starships already in space.
NASA awarded a $2.89 billion contract to SpaceX for its work on the HLS in 2021. Since then, the price tag has been revised to $4 billion. The administration chose SpaceX for the project based on its ability for the HLS to transport astronauts into lunar orbit to the Moon's surface and then return them.
Astronauts will travel from Earth in NASA's Orion spacecraft, which is launched atop its Space Launch System rocket, then return to earth in a small spacecraft.
The United States has been involved in somewhat of a space race with China, which is on pace to put a manned lander on the lunar surface by 2030, which has also heightened scrutiny on SpaceX for its slow pace in developing the HLS.
On Oct. 20th, NASA acting administrator Sean Duffy reopened the contract to build a lander for Artemis III, the first scheduled landing on the Moon by U.S. astronauts since December, 1972.
In an effort to beat the Chinese mission, Duffy has said the United States could complete its manned lunar mission by 2028.
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