US private-sector space company SpaceX, founded and led by South African-born engineer and entrepreneur Elon Musk, has been awarded what is probably the most prestigious single contract in the space sector today. The US National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Nasa) has selected SpaceX to supply the Human Landing System (HLS) for the first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon. 

The milestone-based firm-fixed-price contract has a total value of $2.89-billion. Under it, SpaceX will land the next two American astronauts (at least one of them a woman) on the Moon, using the company’s latest design, called the Starship. This mission will be designated Artemis III, Artemis I being an uncrewed test flight and Artemis II a crewed test flight that will not involve a lunar landing. 

Artemis III will see Nasa’s own huge Space Launch System rocket launch an Orion spacecraft carrying four astronauts. In lunar orbit, two of the astronauts will transfer to the separately-launched Starship, and descend to the Moon, where they will spend about a week undertaking exploration, before using the Starship to return to orbit and rendezvous with the Orion, transferring to it and returning to Earth with their colleagues.

“With this award, Nasa and our partners will complete the first crewed demonstration mission to the surface of the Moon in the twenty-first century as the agency takes a step forward for women’s equality and long-term deep space exploration,” highlighted Nasa associate administrator for Human Explorations and Operations Mission Directorate Kathy Lueders. “This critical step puts humanity on a path to sustainable lunar exploration and keeps our eyes on missions farther into the solar system, including Mars.”

Nasa experts and SpaceX engineers have been working closely together to ensure that the Starship HLS meets the agency’s human spaceflight safety and performance standards. These include engineering, health, medical technical and safety standards. The Starship HLS will have two airlocks for the astronauts to use for Moonwalks, yet also have a spacious cabin.

“This is an exciting time for Nasa and especially the Artemis team,” affirmed Nasa Marshall Space Flight Centre HLS programme manager Lisa Watson-Morgan. “During the Apollo programme, we proved that it was possible to do the seemingly impossible: land humans on the Moon. By taking a collaborative approach in working with industry while leveraging Nasa’s proven technical expertise and capabilities, we will return American astronauts to the Moon’s surface once again, this time to explore new areas for longer periods of time.”

“We are humbled to help Nasa usher in a new era of human space exploration,” said SpaceX in its statement. “Together, Nasa and SpaceX have successfully executed similarly bold and innovative projects, including restoring America’s ability to launch astronauts to orbit and return them safely home. We will build upon our shared accomplishments, and leverage years of close technical collaboration to return to the Moon. In doing so, we will lay the groundwork for human exploration to Mars and beyond.”

The award of this contract does not mean that SpaceX will have a monopoly on the delivery to Nasa of HLS services. The agency intends that future HLS contracts will be awarded under a competitive procurement process. 

Intended to evolve into a fully-reusable system, for missions to Mars and elsewhere, as well as to the Moon, the Starship HLS is powered by SpaceX’s own Raptor rocket engines. To date, the company has built and tested more than 60 Raptor engines, with 567 engine starts and accumulating almost 30 000 seconds (500 minutes, or about eight hours and 20 minutes) of test time.

Prototypes of the Starship are currently undergoing flight test. The four test flights already executed all ended with the rockets exploding. The company’s next test flight will involve a major upgrade of the design. As the earliest date for the Artemis III mission is 2024, SpaceX still has years to perfect the design. None of the Starship’s commercial rivals are yet anywhere near flight test.