SpaceX Needs To Launch Starship Multiple, Multiple Times Says NASA Official

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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.

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