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SpaceX's Starship program and its criticality for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s lunar missions is at the top of NASA's mind as it enters the next stage of the Artemis program. The space agency held an in-person press conference earlier today with the Artemis 2 astronauts, who will be the first humans to go to the Moon since the Apollo program. This mission is slated to fly in November 2024, and the only delay in NASA's schedule so far is the rocket booster which should finish processing by February.

NASA, SpaceX Conduct Detailed Review of Starship & Crucial Orbital Refueling Flights

Today's press conference came after NASA flew an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the Moon late last year as part of the Artemis 1 launch to test both the SLS rocket and the ship. Its launch took place after multiple delays and scrubs, primarily due to issues with the hydrogen that the rocket uses as its fuel.

NASA's Administrator, Bill Nelson, explained that the Artemis mission's main objective is to provide the space agency with the experience to conduct missions to Mars. As part of this plan, the agency has contracted SpaceX to provide it with the lunar lander that will serve as the first astronaut base on the lunar surface.

Artemis 2 will fly four astronauts, but they will not land on the Moon since the Orion is simply a transfer vehicle that will dock with SpaceX's Starship lunar lander or the Gateway lunar space station. NASA's Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy explained that the mission is integral to the Artemis program. It will be a crucial test flight that will let the crew understand the spacecraft for the first time.

NASA had extensively tested the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis 1 mission, and the spacecraft passed most of these. The tests covered evaluating its power generation systems, cooling systems and electrical systems, among other areas. Another crucial segment tested was the heat shield, which displayed anomalies inconsistent with NASA's estimates.

The Artemis 2 mission will focus on astronaut safety, with mission commander Reid Weisman explaining that if the spacecraft does not perform as expected before it sets a course for the Moon, then it will abort the mission to return the crew to Earth.

Engineers install the Orion spacecraft's heat shield for the Artemis II mission.

After Artemis 2, the Artemis 3 will be the first mission that lands astronauts on the Moon, and according to NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems development directorate, Mr. Free, the contracted date for this is December 2025. The mission depends on SpaceX's ability to successfully launch Starship multiple times to ensure the rocket can support the crucial NASA flight.

To launch the second stage Starship spacecraft to the Moon, SpaceX has to refuel it in Earth orbit. Demonstrating this to NASA will be crucial to influencing the agency's Artemis 3 timeline and suppliers working with SpaceX to ensure that Starship has the equipment to support crewed missions from the lunar orbit to the lunar surface.

According to the NASA official, SpaceX has provided the firm with an updated schedule, and the agency has visited Starbase to take a detailed look at SpaceX's milestones and hardware for a propellant demonstration and an uncrewed demonstration flight next year.

Free explained that the insight NASA gained from its visit was "tremendous," with the 12-hour visit providing teams a chance to discuss the cryogenic propellant transfer mission. His comments hinted at a communications gap between the two, with the official adding that a deeper understanding of SpaceX's schedule will allow NASA to work with other teams efficiently.

Today's press conference came after the Artemis 2 crew visited their spacecraft for the first time. Image: NASA

Summing it up, he stated:

Starship doesn't exist by itself. There's interfaces for our suits, so our suits' contractor has to understand the interface and the design and the emulators and simulators that are ready for that. Similarly for Orion, we need that interface to be worked. So I think we have a better understanding of the big picture, our relationship, our needs. But we know that they've [SpaceX] have proven that they can make great progress and I'm sure they'll continue to do that.

As to the contractual date for the December 2025 mission, when questioned by Joey Roulette of Reuters about whether NASA's meetings with SpaceX have influenced it, he shared:

You know I think our teams are really trying to understand, I'm not gonna give you a date Joey, because our teams are trying to understand what are those trades. So we obviously have to go through a contract change when we make this, because we had a contractual date with SpaceX, and we need to understand where the pressure points are that they have, where our needs are with some of the emulators, simulators, and interfaces that I talked about.

And then decide what's the realism of that. We don't want a kind of zero margin schedule. We have to understand what the margin is in all of this so in order to do that our teams have to interact, that meeting at Starbase that I talked about was one of many. And then I think we'll come out in concert with the leadership team of the agency and say hey here's where we think it's realistic what that date is.

SpaceX's Starship Super Heavy booster breathes fire during a static fire attempt this August. Image: SpaceX

As for the Artemis 2 mission, the SLS booster currently being stacked is the most important for a successful and timely launch. The rocket has to arrive at NASA's Kennedy Space Center by February for a launch next year, and investigations for the heat shield anomaly are focusing on the root cause.

NASA has tested the heat shield at its Ames facility and will continue the tests this month to run through a fault tree. The agency has some theories for the cause behind the ablation, and the tests will narrow down potential reasons with testing going on at the agency's facilities all over the U.S.