Artemis program
The Artemis program is a US government-funded crewed spaceflight program that has the goal of landing "the first woman and the next man" on the Moon, specifically at the lunar south pole region by 2024. The program is carried out predominantly by NASA, U.S. commercial spaceflight companies contracted by NASA, and international partners such as the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Canadian Space Agency and the Australian Space Agency. NASA is leading the program, but expects international partnerships to play a key role in advancing Artemis as the next step towards the long-term goal of establishing a sustainable presence on the Moon, laying the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy, and eventually sending humans to Mars.
In December 2017, President Donald Trump signed Space Policy Directive 1, authorizing the lunar campaign. Artemis draws upon ongoing spacecraft programs including Orion, the Lunar Gateway, and Commercial Lunar Payload Services, and adds an undeveloped crewed lander. The Space Launch System will serve as the primary launch vehicle for Orion, while commercial launch vehicles are planned for use to launch various other elements of the campaign. NASA requested $1.6 billion in additional funding for Artemis for fiscal year 2020, while the Senate Appropriations Committee requested from NASA a five-year budget profile which is needed for evaluation and approval by Congress.
History
The current Artemis program incorporates several major components of other canceled NASA programs and missions, such as the Constellation program and the Asteroid Redirect Mission. Originally legislated by the NASA Authorization Act of 2005, Constellation included the development of Ares I, Ares V, and the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. The program ran from the early 2000s until 2010.In May 2009, President Barack Obama established the Augustine Committee to take into account several objectives including support for the International Space Station, development of missions beyond low Earth orbit and utilization of the commercial space industry within defined budget limits.
The committee concluded that the Constellation program was massively underfunded and that a 2020 Moon landing was impossible. Constellation was subsequently put on hold.
On 15 April 2010, President Obama spoke at the Kennedy Space Center, announcing the administration's plans for NASA and cancelling the non-Orion elements of Constellation on the premise that the program had become nonviable. He instead proposed $6 billion in additional funding and called for development of a new heavy lift rocket program to be ready for construction by 2015 with crewed missions to Mars orbit by the mid-2030s.
On 11 October 2010, President Obama signed into law the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, which included requirements for the immediate development of the Space Launch System as a follow-on launch vehicle to the Space Shuttle and continued development of a crew exploration vehicle to be capable of supporting missions beyond low Earth orbit starting in 2016, while maximizing, where possible, the use of the workforce, assets, and capabilities of the Space Shuttle, Constellation program and other NASA programs. The law also invested in space technologies and robotics capabilities tied to the overall space exploration framework, continued to support Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, Commercial Resupply Services and expanded the Commercial Crew Development program.
On 30 June 2017, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to re-establish the National Space Council, chaired by Vice-President Mike Pence. The Trump administration's first budget request kept Obama-era human spaceflight programs in place: Commercial Resupply Services, Commercial Crew Development, the Space Launch System, and the Orion spacecraft for deep space missions, while reducing Earth science research and calling for the elimination of NASA's education office.
On 11 December 2017, President Trump signed Space Policy Directive 1, a change in national space policy that provides for a U.S.-led, integrated program with private sector partners for a human return to the Moon, followed by missions to Mars and beyond. The policy calls for the NASA administrator to "lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities." The effort intends to more effectively organize government, private industry, and international efforts toward returning humans on the Moon and laying the foundation of eventual human exploration of Mars.
On 26 March 2019, Vice President Mike Pence announced that NASA's Moon landing goal would be accelerated by four years with a planned landing in 2024. On 14 May 2019, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced that the new program would be named Artemis, who is both the twin sister of Apollo and the goddess of the Moon in Greek mythology. Despite the immediate new goals, Mars missions by the 2030s were still intended.
In February 2020 the White House requested a funding increase of 12% to cover the Artemis program as part of its fiscal year 2021 budget. The total budget would now be $25.2 billion per year with $3.7 billion dedicated towards a Human Landing System. NASA Chief Financial Officer Jeff DeWit said he thought the agency has "a very good shot" to get this budget through Congress despite Democratic concerns around the program.
In late February 2020, a document started to circulate at Marshall Spaceflight Center named "Moon Mission 2024 Manifest". Matthew Rydin, NASA's press secretary, has stated that "The proposed timeline in this article has many inaccuracies. We are currently in a blackout period because multiple companies have proposed human lunar lander solutions. These selections will be made in the coming weeks. However, the plan represented in this article is not the NASA plan." It would be the first NASA flight manifest to include the SLS Block 2. The only integrated lunar lander publicly proposed is the Boeing HLS. It is unclear how the crews post Artemis IV would land. The alleged proposal was solely an SLS manifest and did not include Artemis Support Missions.
Supporting programs
Implementation of the Artemis program will require additional programs, projects, and commercial launchers to support the construction of the Lunar Gateway, launch resupply missions to the station, and deploy numerous robotic spacecraft and instruments to the lunar surface. Several precursor robotic missions are being coordinated through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which is dedicated to scouting and characterization of lunar resources as well as testing principles for in-situ resource utilization., Nova-C by Intuitive Machines, and Z-01 by OrbitBeyond.
Commercial Lunar Payload Services
In March 2018, NASA established the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program with the aim of sending small robotic landers and rovers mostly to the lunar south pole region as a precursor to and in support of crewed missions. The main goals include scouting of lunar resources, in situ resource utilization feasibility testing, and lunar science. NASA is awarding commercial providers indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts to develop and fly lunar landers with scientific payloads. The first phase considered proposals capable of delivering at least of payload by the end of 2021. Proposals for mid-sized landers capable of delivering between and of cargo were planned to also be considered for launch beyond 2021.In November 2018, NASA announced the first nine companies that were qualified to bid on the CLPS transportation service contracts. On 31 May 2019, three of those were awarded lander contracts: Astrobotic Technology, Intuitive Machines, OrbitBeyond. On 29 July 2019, NASA announced that it had granted OrbitBeyond's request to be released from obligations under the contract citing "internal corporate challenges".
The first twelve payloads and experiments from NASA centers were announced on 21 February 2019. On 1July 2019, NASA announced the selection of twelve additional payloads, provided by universities and industry. Seven of these are scientific investigations while five are technology demonstrations.
The Lunar Surface Instrument and Technology Payloads program was soliciting payloads in 2019 that do not require significant additional development. They will include technology demonstrators to advance lunar science or the commercial development of the Moon.
In November 2019, NASA added five contractors to the group of companies who are eligible to bid to send large payloads to the surface of the moon with to the CLPS program: Blue Origin, Ceres Robotics, Sierra Nevada Corporation, SpaceX, and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems.
In April 2020, NASA selected Masten Space Systems for a follow-on CLPS delivery of cargo to the Moon in 2022.
List of contractors
The contractors selected for CLPS and HLS NASA-funded design work are:| Selection date | Company | Headquarters | Element | Proposed services | Awarded contract |
| 29 November 2018 | Astrobotic Technology | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | CLPS | Peregrine lander | , |
| 29 November 2018 | Deep Space Systems | Littleton, Colorado | CLPS | Rover; design and development services | |
| 29 November 2018 | Draper Laboratory | Cambridge, Massachusetts | CLPS | Artemis-7 lander | |
| 29 November 2018 | Firefly Aerospace | Cedar Park, Texas | CLPS | Firefly Genesis lander based on Israel's Beresheet; Firefly Alpha and Beta launch vehicles. | |
| 29 November 2018 | Intuitive Machines | Houston, Texas | CLPS | Nova-C lander | , |
| 29 November 2018 | Lockheed Martin Space | Littleton, Colorado | CLPS | McCandless Lunar Lander | |
| 29 November 2018 | Masten Space Systems | Mojave, California | CLPS | XL-1 lander | |
| 29 November 2018 | Moon Express | Cape Canaveral, Florida | CLPS | MX-1, MX-2, MX-5, MX-9 landers; sample return. | |
| 29 November 2018 | OrbitBeyond | Edison, New Jersey | CLPS | Z-01 and Z-02 landers | , ; OrbitBeyond subsequently asked to be released from the contract, and NASA did so later in 2019 |
| 18 November 2019 | Blue Origin | Kent, Washington | CLPS / HLS | Blue Moon lander | |
| 18 November 2019 | Ceres Robotics | Palo Alto, California | CLPS | ||
| 18 November 2019 | Sierra Nevada Corporation | Louisville, Colorado | CLPS | ||
| 18 November 2019 | SpaceX | Hawthorne, California | CLPS / HLS | Starship / Starship HLS | |
| 18 November 2019 | Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems | Irvine, California | CLPS |
Artemis Accords
On 5 May 2020, Reuters reported that the Trump administration was drafting a new international agreement outlining the laws for mining on the Moon. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine officially announced the Artemis Accords on 15 May will be a series of a bilateral agreements between the nation states in the Artemis program "grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967".Launch vehicles
As of the early mission concepts outlined by NASA in May 2020, launch vehicles planned to be used will include the NASA Space Launch System as well as commercial launch systems chosen and contracted for by the various commercial suppliers of the Human Landing System elements: Blue Origin New Glenn, United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur, and SpaceX Starship and Falcon 9, as well as launch vehicles that are contracted for the various CLPS cargo providers. The European Ariane 6 was also proposed to be part of the program in July 2019.The PPE module and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost of the Lunar Gateway, which were previously planned for the SLS Block 1B, will now fly on commercial launch vehicles yet to be determined. The Gateway will be supported and resupplied by approximately 28 commercial cargo missions launched by undetermined commercial rockets. The Gateway Logistics Services will be in charge of the resupply missions, as well for contracting the construction of a resupply vehicle capable to remain docked to the Lunar Gateway for one year of operations, provide and generate its own power while docked, and be capable of autonomous disposal at the end of its mission.
The three components of an expendable crewed lunar lander will also be deployed to the station on a commercial launcher before the arrival of the first crewed mission, Artemis 3.
Although the Delta IV Heavy and Falcon Heavy were considered by NASA to launch a crewed Orion, the agency ultimately decided to use only the SLS for the Orion spacecraft.
| Launch Vehicle | Missions |
| Space Launch System | Crew transportation and supplementary logistics |
| Falcon Heavy | Dragon XL launches and possibly the initial Gateway module |
| Vulcan | Parts of the Integrated Landing Vehicle and the Dynetics HLS along with CLPS missions |
| Falcon 9 | CLPS missions |
| Electron | CAPSTONE |
| New Glenn | Modules of the Integrated Landing Vehicle |
| Starship | Starship HLS |
| Ariane 6 | Moon Cruiser |
Space Launch System
The Space Launch System is a US super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle, which has been under development since its announcement in 2011.The main launch vehicle planned to be used for the Artemis lunar program, is the US Space Launch System. NASA is required to utilize SLS Block 1 by the US Congress to lift a payload of to low Earth orbit, and will launch Artemis 1, 2, and 3. The later Block 1B is intended to debut the Exploration Upper Stage and launch the notional Artemis 4-7. Block 2 is planned to replace the initial Shuttle-derived boosters with advanced boosters and would have a LEO capability of more than, again as required by Congress. Block 2 is intended to enable crewed launches to Mars. The SLS will launch the Orion spacecraft and use the ground operations capabilities and launch facilities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Some variations of the SLS launch manifest has all the blocks being active at the same time rather than one block replacing the last as is common with launchers.
Mission
In March 2019, the Trump Administration released its Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request for NASA. This budget did not initially include any money for the Block 1B and Block2 variants of SLS but later a request for a budget increase of 1.6 billion dollars towards SLS, Orion, and crewed landers was made. Block 1B is currently intended to debut on Artemis 4 and will be used mainly for co-manifested crew transfers and logistics rather than constructing the Gateway as initially planned. An uncrewed Block was planned to launch the Lunar Surface Asset in 2028, the first lunar outpost of the Artemis program, but now that launch has been moved to a commercial launcher. Block2 development will most likely start in the late 2020s after NASA is regularly visiting the lunar surface and shifts focus towards Mars.
In October 2019, it was announced NASA had authorized Boeing to purchase materials in bulk for more SLS rockets ahead of the announcement of a new contract. This contract is expected to support up to ten core stages and eight Exploration Upper Stages
Spacecraft
Orion
Lunar Gateway
The NASA Lunar Gateway is an in-development mini-space station in lunar orbit intended to serve as a solar-powered communication hub, science laboratory, short-term habitation module, and holding area for rovers and other robots. While the project is led by NASA, the Gateway is meant to be developed, serviced, and utilized in collaboration with commercial and international partners: Canada, Europe, and Japan.The Power and Propulsion Element started development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the now canceled Asteroid Redirect Mission. The original concept was a robotic, high performance solar electric spacecraft that would retrieve a multi-ton boulder from an asteroid and bring it to lunar orbit for study. When ARM was canceled, the solar electric propulsion was repurposed for the Gateway. The PPE will allow access to the entire lunar surface and act as a space tug for visiting craft. It will also serve as the command and communications center of the Gateway. The PPE is intended to have a mass of 8-9 tonne and the capability to generate 50 kW of solar electric power for its ion thrusters, which can be supplemented by chemical propulsion. It is planned to launch on a commercial launch vehicle in 2022.
The Habitation and Logistics Outpost, also called the Minimal Habitation Module and formerly known as the Utilization Module, will be built by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. A commercial launch vehicle would launch the HALO before the end of year 2023. The HALO is based on a Cygnus Cargo resupply module to the outside of which radial docking ports, body mounted radiators, batteries and communications antennae will be added. The HALO will be a scaled-down habitation module, yet, it will feature a functional pressurized volume providing sufficient command, control and data handling capabilities, energy storage and power distribution, thermal control, communications and tracking capabilities, two axial and up to two radial docking ports, stowage volume, environmental control and life support systems to augment the Orion spacecraft and support a crew of four for at least 30 days.
According to Doug Loverro, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, the Gateway construction was removed from the 2024 critical path in order to clear up funding for the HLS. He stated that the PPE could face delays and that moving it back to 2026 would allow for a more refined vehicle. It is also worth noting that the international partners on the Gateway would not have their modules ready until 2026. The only lander capable of operating without the Gateway is Boeing's HLS.
On 30 April 2020, a key to NASA's vision for a "sustainable" crew presence on or near the Moon is the Gateway station. NASA officials originally hoped the Gateway would be in position near the Moon in time for the Artemis 3 mission in 2024, allowing elements of the lunar lander to be assembled, or aggregated, at the Gateway before the arrival of astronauts on an Orion crew capsule. Jim Bridenstine told Spaceflight Now, the Artemis 3 mission will no longer go through the Gateway, but NASA is not backing away from the program.
Moon Cruiser
Designed by Airbus, the Moon Cruiser is a logistics vehicle based on the ATV and ESM that will be used to support the Gateway. It will be part of ESA's contribution to the Gateway program and was in the design process. It was planned to be launched on the Ariane 6, the vehicle is being designed to be able to refuel lunar landers and deliver cargo to the Gateway. It is also planned to be used to deliver the European ESPRIT module to the Gateway in 2025. It has also been proposed by Airbus to turn the vehicle into a transfer stage for a lunar lander. Concepts for a lander variant of the vehicle exist but had not received funding by July 2019.Dragon XL
On 27 March 2020, SpaceX revealed the Dragon XL resupply spacecraft designed to carry pressurized and unpressurized cargo, experiments and other supplies to NASA's planned Gateway under a NASA Gateway Logistics Services contract. The equipment delivered by Dragon XL missions could include sample collection materials, spacesuits and other items astronauts may need on the Gateway and on the surface of the Moon, according to NASA. It will launch on SpaceX Falcon Heavy rockets from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Dragon XL is planned to stay at the Gateway for six to 12 months at a time when research payloads inside and outside the cargo vessel could be operated remotely, even when crews are not present. Its payload capacity is expected to be more than to lunar orbit. Unlike previous Dragon variants, the spacecraft will not be reusable and instead focuses on transporting cargo. It will act as the United States' logistics vehicle.Landers
Human Landing System
The Human Landing System elements of Artemis are several commercial lunar landing systems that are in early design as of 2020. Each design has dissimilar elements intentionally, to give program design redundancy as NASA plans to contract for the build of two commercial options for the HLS role.On 30 April 2020, in a teleconference, NASA announced in design development funding to three companies to do initial design of HLS landing systems. At the end of the ten month program, NASA will evaluate which contractors will be offered contracts for initial demonstration missions and select firms for development and maturation of lunar lander systems.
It is not known what time slots each HLS would be contracted for as of May 2020.
| Company | Vehicles | Status |
| Blue Origin | Integrated Lander Vehicle, a three-element lunar lander that is intended to be launched via either New Glenn and ULA Vulcan launch vehicles, and then assembled in lunar orbit. | |
| Boeing | The Boeing Lunar Lander was a HLS proposal submitted by Boeing in November 2019. The lander consists of a descent and ascent stage. The lander is designed to be launched on an SLS Block 1B rather than assembled in multiple launches. | |
| Dynetics | Dynetics Human Landing System, a single structure providing both lunar ascent and descent capabilities, and would launch on the ULA Vulcan launch system. | |
| SpaceX | Starship HLS, a fully integrated lander that would use a Lunar design variation of the upper stage of the SpaceX Starship. It would launch using the Super Heavy booster and then serve as its own second stage to complete the ascent to low-Earth orbit. On orbit, it would be refueled before climbing out to lunar orbit to meet Gateway and Orion crew capsule. | |
| The Vivace HLS is a two stage lunar landing vehicle that could transport astronauts to and from the lunar surface. It had a very similar appearance to the Altair LSAM. |
Integrated Lander Vehicle
The Integrated Lander Vehicle or National Human Landing System is a lunar lander currently development by the "national team" which is led by Blue Origin. It also includes Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper Laboratory as major partners, as of 2020. The main selling point of the lander is all the components have been in development in one form or another for some time. The transfer stage is based on the Cygnus spacecraft, the Blue Moon will be used as the descent stage, and the ascent stage will be based on the Orion spacecraft. It will be launched in three parts on both the New Glenn and Vulcan rockets but could be launched on a single SLS Block 1B. The vehicle passes all of NASA's requirements but faces risk with its power and propulsion systems which pose a significant risk to the developmental timeline according to NASA.Starship HLS
The Starship Human Landing System was selected by NASA for potential use for long-duration crewed lunar landings as part of NASA's Artemis program. The Starship HLS variant is being designed to stay on and around the Moon and as such both the heat shield and air-brakes—integral parts of the main Starship design—are not included in the Starship HLS design. The variant will use high-thrust methox RCS thrusters located mid-body on Starship HLS during the final "tens of meters" of the terminal lunar descent and landing, and will also include a smaller crew area and a much larger cargo bay, be powered by a solar array located on its nose below the docking port. SpaceX intends to use the same high-thrust RCS thrusters for liftoff from the lunar surface. If built, the HLS variant would be launched to lunar orbit via the Super Heavy booster and would use orbital refueling to reload propellants into Starship HLS for the lunar transit and lunar landing operations. In the mission concept, a NASA Orion spacecraft would carry a NASA crew to the lander where they would depart and descend to the surface in Starship HLS. After Lunar surface operations, it would ascend using the same Starship HLS vehicle and return the crew to the Orion. Although not confirmed yet, the vehicle in theory could be refueled in orbit to carry more crews and cargo to the surface. NASA has stated that the biggest risk for this proposal would be the complicated reaction control system as well as main propulsion structure.Dynetics HLS
The Dynetics Human Landing System is under development by Dynetics and Sierra Nevada Corporation as well as a multitude of subcontractors. Its design is very similar to early SEI lunar lander proposals with a low crew cabin and large solar panels, as of 2020. It is the smallest of the three proposals. It consists of a single main structure and would rely on drop tanks to power a majority of the descent. The same main spacecraft structure would then ascend back into orbit and rendezvous with Orion or the Lunar Gateway. The vehicle could also be used to easily deliver large payloads to the lunar surface and could be modified to act as a lunar base module. It will launch on a ULA Vulcan rocket but can also fly on an SLS Block 1B rocket. The biggest issue identified according to NASA is its advanced experimental thrust structure and that it could pose threat to the development time.Unselected Boeing HLS
The Boeing Human Landing System proposal was submitted to NASA in early November 2019. The lander consists of a descent and ascent stage with the descent stage being able to deorbit the lander which eliminates the need for a third transfer stage. The lander is designed to be launched on an SLS Block 1B rather than assembled in multiple launches. The lander was further planned to not require the Gateway and could dock with Orion directly in order to allow for a simpler mission profile. Boeing had partnered with Intuitive Machines to provide engines, and also planned to reuse key technologies from their CST-100 Starliner. An alternative plan for launching the lander was also detailed: In the event the SLS Block 1B was not ready by 2024, the descent stage could launch on an SLS Block 1 while the ascent stage would be launched by a commercial launcher and assembled in lunar orbit. The Boeing proposal was not selected for design funding by NASA in the April 2020 design funding announcements.Unselected Vivace HLS
The Vivace Human Landing System was a lunar landing concept by , an aerospace firm which operates in both Texas and Louisiana. They provide engineering services, ground support equipment, engineering development hardware, and flight hardware for commercial space programs. They submitted a proposal for a HLS system sometime during the submission window. Virtually nothing is known about the vehicle other than that it bears a strong resemblance to NASA's Altair lunar lander from the Constellation program. Only one image of the lander can be found on . Vivace's concept went unselected.Advanced Exploration Lander
The Advanced Exploration Lander is a three-stage lander concept used as a design reference for commercial proposals. As proposed, after departure from the Gateway, a transfer module would take the crew to a low lunar orbit and then separate, after which the descent module would handle the rest of the journey to the lunar surface. A crew of up to four could spend up to two weeks on the surface before reboarding the ascent module, which would take them back to the Gateway. Each module would have a mass of approximately 12 to 15 metric tons and would be delivered separately by commercial launchers and integrated at the Gateway. The astronauts would board the lander at the Gateway's near-rectilinear halo orbit that goes between about 1,000 and 70,000 kilometers above the Moon, with the circular low orbit about 100 kilometers high. Both the ascent and transfer modules could be designed to be reused, with the descent module left on the lunar surface.Commissioned HLS studies
In May 2019 NASA announced 11 contracts worth $45.5 million in total for studies on transfer vehicles, descent elements, descent element prototypes, refueling element studies and prototypes. One of the requirements is that selected companies will have to contribute at least 20% of the total cost of the project "to reduce costs to taxpayers and encourage early private investments in the lunar economy.| Company | Contract |
| Aerojet Rocketdyne | One transfer vehicle study |
| Blue Origin | One descent element study, one transfer vehicle study, and one transfer vehicle prototype |
| Boeing | One descent element study, two descent element prototypes, one transfer vehicle study, one transfer vehicle prototype, one refueling element study, and one refueling element prototype |
| Dynetics | One descent element study and five descent element prototypes |
| Lockheed Martin Space Systems | One descent element study, four descent element prototypes, one transfer vehicle study, and one refueling element study |
| Masten Space Systems | One descent element prototype |
| Maxar | One refueling element study and one refueling element prototype |
| Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems | One descent element study, four descent element prototypes, one refueling element study, and one refueling element prototype |
| OrbitBeyond | Two refueling element prototypes |
| Sierra Nevada Corporation | One descent element study, one descent element prototype, one transfer vehicle study, one transfer vehicle prototype, and one refueling element study |
| SpaceX | One descent element study, one descent element prototype |
HERACLES
HERACLES is a planned ESA-JAXA-CSA space cargo transport system that will feature a robotic lunar lander called European Large Logistic Lander, which can be configured for different operations such as up to 1.5 tons of payload, sample-returns, or prospecting resources found on the Moon. ESA approved the project in November 2019. Its first mission is envisioned for launch in the mid to late 2020s aboard an Ariane 64.The EL3 lander will be launched directly to the Moon and will have a landing mass of approximately. It will be capable of transporting a Canadian robotic rover to explore, prospect potential resources, and load samples up to on the ascent module. The rover would then traverse several kilometers across the Schrödinger basin on the far side of the Moon to explore and collect more samples to load on the next EL3 lander. The ascent module would return each time to the Lunar Gateway, where it would be captured by the Canadian robotic arm and samples transferred to an Orion spacecraft for transport to Earth with returning astronauts.
Astronauts
On 10 January 2020, NASA's 22nd astronaut group, nicknamed the "Turtles", graduated and were assigned to the Artemis program. The group includes two Canadian Space Agency astronauts. The group earned their nickname from the prior astronaut group, "The 8-Balls," as is a tradition dating back to "The Mercury Seven" in 1962 which subsequently provided the "Next Nine" with their nickname. They were given this name, for the most part, because of Hurricane Harvey. Some of the astronauts will fly on the Artemis missions to the Moon and may be part of the first crew to fly to Mars.- Kayla Barron : Lt., U.S. Navy
- Zena Cardman : Biologist
- Raja Chari : Col., U.S. Air Force
- Matthew Dominick : Lt. Cmdr., U.S. Navy
- Bob Hines : NASA research pilot
- Warren Hoburg : assistant professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT
- Jonny Kim : Lt., U.S. Navy physician, former U.S. Navy SEAL
- Robb Kulin : Launch Chief Engineer, SpaceX – Resigned in August 2018 before completing his training.
- Jasmin Moghbeli : Maj., U.S. Marine Corps
- Loral O'Hara : research engineer, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
- Francisco Rubio : Maj., U.S. Army
- Jessica Watkins : Geologist, postdoctoral fellow, California Institute of Technology
- Joshua Kutryk : LCol, Royal Canadian Air Force, test pilot, fighter pilot, engineer
- Jenni Sidey : Mechanical engineer, combustion scientist, and lecturer
Planned surface operations
Artemis Base Camp
Artemis Base Camp is the prospective lunar base that would be established at the end of the 2020s. It would consist of three main modules: the Foundational Surface Habitat, the Habitable Mobility Platform, and the Lunar Terrain Vehicle. It would support missions of up to two months and be used to study technologies to use on Mars. It would fall under the guidelines of the Outer Space Treaty.Foundational Surface Habitat
Little is known about the surface outpost with most information coming from studies and launch manifests that include its launch. It would be commercially built and possibly commercially launched in 2028 along with the Mobile Habitat. The first habitat is referred to as the Artemis Foundation Habitat formerly the Artemis Surface Asset. Current launch plans show that landing it on the surface would be similar to the HLS. The pressurized habitat would be sent to the Gateway where it would then be attached to a descent stage separately launched from a commercial launcher, it would utilize the same transfer stage used for the HLS. Other designs from 2019 see it being launched from an SLS Block 1B as a single unit and landing directly on the surface. It would then be hooked up to a surface power system launched by a CLPS mission and tested by the Artemis 6 crew. The location of the base would be in the south pole region and most likely be a site visited by prior crewed and robotic missions.Habitable Mobility Platform
The Habitable Mobility Platform would be a large pressurized rover used to transport crews across large distances. NASA has developed multiple pressurized rovers including the Space Exploration Vehicle built for the Constellation program which was fabricated and tested. In the 2020 flight manifest it was referred to as the Mobile Habitat suggesting it could fill a similar role to the ILREC Lunar Bus. It would be ready for the crew to use on the surface but could also be autonomously controlled from the Gateway or other locations. Mark Kirasich, who is the acting director of NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems, has stated that the current plan is to partner with JAXA and Toyota to develop a closed cabin rover to support crews for up to 14 days. “It’s very important to our leadership at the moment to involve JAXA in a major surface element,” he said. “…The Japanese, and their auto industry, have a very strong interest in rover-type things. So there was an idea to — even though we have done a lot of work — to let the Japanese lead development of a pressurized rover. So right now, that’s the direction we’re heading in.” In regards to the SEV, Senior Lunar Scientist Clive Neal said "Under Constellation NASA had a sophisticated rover put together, It's pretty sad if it’s never going to get to the Moon." but also said that he understands the different scopes of the Constellation Program and Artemis Program and the focus on international collaboration.Lunar Terrain Vehicle
As announced in November 2019, NASA will be releasing a request for information for unpressurized lunar rovers. The LTV would be propositioned by a CLPS vehicle before the Artemis 3 mission. It would be used to transport crews around the exploration site. It would serve a similar function as the Apollo Lunar Rover. In July 2020, NASA will move to formally establish a program office for the rover at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.VIPER
The VIPER is a lunar rover by NASA planned to be delivered to the surface of the Moon as early as December 2022. The rover will be tasked with prospecting for lunar resources in permanently shadowed areas in the lunar south pole region, especially by mapping the distribution and concentration of water ice. The mission builds on a previous NASA rover concept called Resource Prospector, which was cancelled in 2018.The VIPER rover is part of the Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program managed by the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, and it is meant to support the crewed Artemis program. NASA's Ames Research Center is managing the rover project. The hardware for the rover is being designed by the Johnson Space Center, while the instruments are provided by Ames, Kennedy, and Honeybee Robotics. The project manager is Daniel Andrews, and the project scientist is Anthony Colaprete, who is implementing the technology developed for the now cancelled Resource Prospector rover. The estimated cost of the mission is US$250 million.
The VIPER rover will operate at a south pole region yet to be determined. VIPER is planned to rove several kilometers, collecting data on different kinds of soil environments affected by light and temperature —those in complete darkness, occasional light, and in constant sunlight. Once it enters a permanently shadowed location, it will operate on battery power alone and will not be able to recharge them until it drives to a sunlit area. Its total operation time will be approximately 100 Earth days.
Both the launcher and the lander to be used will be competitively provided through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services contractors. NASA is aiming at landing the rover as early as December 2022.
Space suits
The Artemis program will make use of two space suits: the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit, and the Orion Crew Survival System.The xEMU is for use on the lunar surface, with an endurance of up to eight hours. The suit has movable joints and a bearing to allow for movement of the waist. Audio microphones and speakers are located inside the helmet, instead of using the traditional "Snoopy cap". The astronaut enters the suit from between the backpack and the rest of the suit; zippers, which were an issue with the Apollo suits, were excluded.
The OCSS is to be worn inside the Orion spacecraft during launch and re-entry, in case of a depressurization emergency. The outer layer of the suit is orange to allow for visibility in the ocean if astronauts need to exit the spacecraft without any assistance from recovery personnel. The suit includes enhanced shoulder joints for a better range of reach, and greater fire resistance.
Artemis flights
Orion testing
Three tests of the Orion spacecraft have been conducted prior to the launch of Artemis 1. Pad Abort-1, the second and final mission in the preceding Constellation program, was a successful test of Orions launch escape system using a boilerplate capsule on 6May 2010. The second test of Orion was Exploration Flight Test-1 on 5December 2014. A stripped down version of the Orion spacecraft was launched atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket, and its reaction control system was tested in two orbits around Earth, reaching an apogee of before making a high-energy reentry at. The third and final test of Orion prior to Artemis1 was Ascent Abort-2 on 2July 2019, which tested an updated launch abort system at maximum aerodynamic load, using a Orion test article and a custom launch vehicle built by Orbital Sciences.| Mission | Patch | Launch | Crew | Launch vehicle | Outcome | Duration |
| Pad Abort-1 | Orion Launch Abort System | 95 seconds | ||||
| Exploration Flight Test 1 | 4 hours 24 minutes | |||||
| Ascent Abort-2 | Orion Abort Test Booster | 3 minutes 13 seconds |
Planned missions
As of 2019, all crewed Artemis missions will be launched on the Space Launch System from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B. Current plans call for some supporting hardware to be launched on other vehicles and from other launch pads.| Mission | Patch | Launch date | Crew | Launch vehicle | Duration |
| Artemis I | 2021 | SLS Block 1 Crew | ~25d | ||
| Artemis II | 2023 | SLS Block 1 Crew | ~10d | ||
| Artemis III | Oct 2024 | SLS Block 1 Crew | ~30d |
Proposed missions
A proposal curated by William H. Gerstenmaier before his 10 July 2019 reassignment suggests four launches of the SLS Block 1B launch vehicle with crewed Orion spacecraft and logistical modules to the Gateway between 2024 and 2028. The crewed Artemis4 through7 would launch yearly between 2025 and 2028, testing in situ resource utilization and nuclear power on the lunar surface with a partially reusable lander. Artemis7 would deliver in 2028 a crew of four astronauts to a surface lunar outpost known as the Foundation Habitat along with the Mobile Habitat. The Foundation Habitat would be launched back to back with the Mobile Habitat by an undetermined launcher and would be used for extended crewed lunar surface missions. Prior to each crewed Artemis mission, various payloads to the Lunar Gateway, such as refueling depots and expendable elements of the lunar lander, would be deployed by commercial launch vehicles. This would leave three SLS launches for use on interplanetary missions such as the Europa Clipper and Europa Lander or launching the crewed Deep Space Transport for a Mars orbital mission in the 2030s.| Mission | Launch date | Crew | Launch vehicle | Duration |
| Artemis IV | 2025 | SLS Block 1B Crew | ~30d | |
| Artemis V | 2026 | SLS Block 1B Crew | ~30d | |
| Artemis VI | 2027 | SLS Block 1B Crew | ~30d | |
| Artemis VII | 2028 | SLS Block 1B Crew | ~30d | |
| Artemis VIII | 2029 | SLS Block 1B Crew | ~60d | |
| Artemis IX | 2030 | SLS Block 1B Crew | ~60d | |
| Artemis X | 2030 | TBA | SLS Block 1B Crew | ~60d |
Support missions
Artemis support missions are robotic missions flown through both the CLPS program and Gateway program.| Year | Mission objective | Mission name | Launch vehicle |
| 2021 | NRHO Pathfinder mission CAPSTONE | CAPSTONE | Electron |
| Q4 2021 | First launch of the Peregrine 1 lunar lander by Astrobotic | Peregrine 1 | Vulcan |
| Q4 2021 | First launch of the Nova-C lunar lander by Intuitive Machines | Artemis support mission | Falcon 9 |
| 2022 | Tools for mapping the lunar surface temperature, radiation, and hydrogen delivered by Masten | XL-1 | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2022 | PRIME ISRU tech demonstration, lunar ice to H2O | PRIME-1 | Commercial launch vehicle |
| Dec 2022 | Launch of the Power and Propulsion Element | Artemis support mission | Falcon Heavy |
| 2023 | Delivery of the Habitation and Logistics Outpost to the Gateway | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2023 | Fuel Cells Demo 1 delivered to surface via CLPS lander | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| Late 2023 | Delivery of NASA's VIPER rover on the Griffin lunar lander to the lunar surface by Astrobotic | VIPER | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2024 | Delivery of expendable ascent element for Artemis III | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2024 | Delivery of expendable transfer element for Artemis III | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2024 | Delivery of expendable descent element for Artemis III | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2024 | Delivery of the Lunar Terrain Vehicle ahead of Artemis III | Artemis Support Mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2024 | ISRU Subsystems, lunar regolith to O2, performed by crew on surface | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2025 | Delivery of ESPRIT module to the Gateway | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2025 | delivery of expendable ascent element for Artemis IV | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2025 | delivery of expendable descent element for Artemis IV | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2025 | delivery of expendable transfer element for Artemis IV | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2025 | Fuel Cells Demo 2 | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2026 | Delivery of iHAB to the Gateway | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2026 | delivery of reusable ascent element for Artemis V | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2026 | delivery of reusable transfer element for Artemis V | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2026 | delivery of descent element for Artemis V | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2027 | delivery of a Gateway station module | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2027 | refueling of ascent element for Artemis VI | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2027 | refueling of transfer element for Artemis VI | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2027 | delivery of descent module for Artemis VI | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2027 | Cryo Fluid Management Systems | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2027 | Surface power crew demonstration mission | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2028 | delivery of a Gateway station module | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2028 | refueling of ascent element for Artemis VII | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2028 | refueling of transfer element for Artemis VII | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2028 | delivery of descent module for Artemis VII | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2028 | delivery of the Foundation Hab to the lunar south pole | Artemis support mission | Space Launch System Block 1B / 2 |
| 2028 | delivery of the Mobile Hab to the lunar south pole | Artemis support mission | Space Launch System Block 1B / 2 |
| 2029 | refueling of ascent element for Artemis VIII | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2029 | refueling of transfer element for Artemis VIII | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2029 | delivery of descent module for Artemis VIII | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2030 | refueling of ascent element for Artemis IX | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2030 | refueling of transfer element for Artemis IX | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2030 | delivery of descent module for Artemis IX | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2030 | refueling of ascent element for Artemis X | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2030 | refueling of transfer element for Artemis X | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
| 2030 | delivery of descent module for Artemis X | Artemis support mission | Commercial launch vehicle |
Criticism
The Artemis program has received criticisms from several space professionals:Mark Whittington, who is a contributor to The Hill and an author of several space exploration studies, stated in an article that the "lunar orbit project doesn't help us get back to the Moon".
Aerospace engineer, author, and Mars Society founder Robert Zubrin has voiced his distaste for the Lunar Gateway which is part of the Artemis program as of 2020. He presented an alternative approach to a 2024 crewed lunar landing called , a successor to his proposed Mars Direct. His vision phases out the SLS and Orion, replacing them with the SpaceX launch vehicles and SpaceX Dragon 2. It also proposes using a heavy ferry/lander that would be refueled on the lunar surface via In situ resource utilization and transfer the crew from LEO to the lunar surface. The concept bears a heavy resemblance to NASA's own Space Transportation System proposal from the 1970s.
Former Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin disagrees with NASA's current goals and priorities, including their plans for a lunar outpost. He also questioned the benefit of the idea to "send a crew to an intermediate point in space, pick up a lander there and go down". However, Aldrin expressed support for Robert Zubrin's Moon Direct concept which involves lunar landers traveling from Earth orbit to the lunar surface and back.
House Authorization Bill of 2020
The leadership of the House Science Committee introduced a bipartisan NASA authorization bill on 24 January 2020 that would significantly alter NASA's current plans to return humans to the Moon and rather would focus on a Mars orbital mission in 2033. Bill H.R. 5666 would change the lunar landing date from 2024 to 2028 and put the program as a whole underneath a larger space exploration plan. The bill is currently stuck in the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and there have been no committee votes or further action as of July 2020. Major proposed changes include:- Creation of a new Moon to Mars program office with a goal of landing humans on Mars "in a sustainable manner as soon as practicable"
- A 2028 target date for a lunar landing to allow the technology to mature
- A NASA developed expendable Human Landing System, something along the line of the Advanced Exploration Lander or the expendable Altair design
- An integrated Orion / HLS system launching on a single Space Launch System Block 1B, similar to the Saturn / Apollo combination possibly using the Boeing HLS design
- The requirement of one uncrewed and one crewed test flight of the HLS before a lunar landing is attempted, something not currently required
- Once operational, the system would perform two lunar landings a year rather than one
- No base would be set up on the lunar surface rather, the missions would follow the "flag and footsteps" approach of Apollo
- Development of the Lunar Gateway as a separate program to test Mars transportation technologies and not be required for lunar operations
- ISRU technologies would be managed under a program separate from the Moon to Mars campaign and not be required for either mission
- International Space Station funding would be extended to 2030