It’s no secret that during the last few years, a new Space Race has been emerging. Since NASA awarded SpaceX the Artemis contract for the Human Landing System (HLS), there’s been quite a commotion.This prompted Blue Origin and Dynetics to submit legal objections, as well as a lawsuit and a tumultuous public relations campaign. NASA has now lifted the stop-work order and resumed payments to SpaceX, which has stated that their HLS concept might be operational by 2024.
The SpaceX HLS idea is a variant of the Starship, which is currently being developed at SpaceX launch site at Boca Chica. The HLS Starship will have a better cargo capacity because it will not require heat shields, flaps, or big gas thruster packs, according to the latest mockup and prior claims by Musk (all of which are needed for atmospheric re-entry).Musk offered SpaceX assistance here as well, suggesting that they could get this other critical mission component ready sooner.
There are the well-publicized delays that have dogged the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion capsule from the start. As a result, it’s been suggested that NASA contract out the responsibility of returning the Artemis astronauts using the Starship.
NASA is still attempting to return to the Moon by the year 2024. They’d had to rush everything, reprioritize critical mission parts, and rely on contractors (namely SpaceX) to help fill in the gaps. They’ve teamed up with the ESA and other space organizations to see this through, while Russia and China joined forces to accelerate a rival lunar exploration and colony program.
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