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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said he may be able to launch the company’s massive new spacecraft to the moon for NASA “likely sooner” than the space agency’s 2024 target, even in case of contract and other delays.
Starship was selected as NASA’s lander of choice for the Artemis Human Landing System (HLS) in April, but two situations delayed the contract in the months that followed.
First there were protests from competitors Blue Origin and Dynetics, in part expressing concern over NASA’s decision to select one supplier instead of two (the companies cited less budget funds available for HLS as the cause. likely).
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After the Government Accountability Office confirmed NASA’s choice of SpaceX in a detailed decision released earlier this month, Blue Origin filed a complaint. This means that work is suspended again on HLS until at least November.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told SpaceNews on Monday (August 23) that he expected “a further delay” in the agency’s plans for Artemis, which since 2019 (before Nelson’s tenure) has been targeting a moon landing in 2024.
Musk, who is known for his optimistic deadlines, made the first before 2024 comment on twitter in response to a question from All Artemis unofficial Twitter account, asking if he could meet the 2024 deadline. Musk’s response: “Probably earlier.”
The account also cited an Aug. 14 report by CNBC space reporter Michael Sheetz that SpaceX received $ 300 million from NASA on July 30, after GAO denied protests to its competitors.
But that’s not the only timing hurdle SpaceX faces.
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Earlier this month, the Inspector General’s office cited a 20-month delay in the development of the Artemis lunar surface space suit that the office said made a moon landing in 2024 “impossible.”
SpaceNews also asked Nelson if the man’s return to the moon in 2024 was “off the table,” to which Nelson replied: “I can’t answer your question whether or not, due to the delays. about the spacesuit or what I just went through the credits and regarding the legal postures I don’t know.
And SpaceX also has its own development schedule to consider. Starship is a prototype that has yet to complete an orbital mission. While SpaceX wanted this to happen in July, and the system had already been stacked on the pad once in a test, the company was awaiting the outcome of an EA of the Federal Aviation Administration’s program. A typical timeframe for this is months, according to media reports.
Other considerations for the 2024 deadline include congressional funding for HLS, which has so far failed to respond to agency requests; the launch of the untested lunar Space Launch System rocket which could take place at the end of 2021; and the ongoing pandemic and the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant, which could induce further slowdowns in the United States in the coming weeks.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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