NASA is planning two years in advance for the next moon launch as the Orion capsule hurtles toward Earth
Key Details
- NASA successfully launched its first moon rocket since 1972 on November 16. The unmanned Artemis 1 mission orbited the Moon and its Orion capsule will be splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, December 11.
- The mission has been an overwhelming success and met all of its requirements and stress tests.
- The Artemis Program is scheduled to launch four manned lunar missions between late 2024 and 2028—meaning there will not be another Artemis launch for almost two years or more.
- The program needs to reuse components returned on the Orion capsule and recycle them to save money, a process that could slow the next two launches for years.
Why it’s Important
The Artemis Program has proven incredibly important and successful in defining the future of space travel. As we previously reported, NASA has made private-public partnerships a major factor in its development and success as it brings in innovation and expertise from the private sector to help bring humanity back to the Moon.
The downside has been that the Space Launch System (SLS) is also massively over-budget and expensive. Unlike SpaceX’s rockets, it is non-reusable, cannot be mass-produced, and costs $4.1 billion per launch.
The SLS is in many ways a compromise made to meet government budgets and fill government contracts. Despite the expensive bill, the program still has to rely on reusing and recycling components from the first rocket to save money.
“The reason for the long gap is a bit absurd. It all goes back to a decision made about eight years ago to plug a $100 million budget hole in the Orion program. As a result of a chain of events that followed this decision, Artemis II is unlikely to fly before 2025,” says Ars Technica.
Two dozen avionics boxes, crucial for the rocket’s communication and navigation systems, will be salvaged, restored, and reused on Artemis II and the process is expected to take more than 20 to 27 months. The process could further delay the launch well into 2025. NASA continues to promise a December 2024 launch to meet its deadline though.
“Publicly, NASA is still holding to the possibility of launching Artemis III—yes, the lunar landing mission—in 2025. That is wholly unrealistic. If we’re being honest, a good estimate for the launch of Artemis III is probably 2028,” says Ars Technica.