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Remember that the SLS is what will be used to launch the Artemis missions. Starship & Superheavy are not in the picture at all for this work, even though they w

Remember that the SLS is what will be used to launch the Artemis missions. Starship & Superheavy are not in the picture at all for this work, even though they would be able to do the job and at a much lower price. Additionally, I doubt that Starship or SuperHeavy will be ready by 2024; flying, maybe, but reliable enough for manned missions? I don't think so.

zipwitch 6y ago
>* the SLS is what will be used to launch the Artemis missions* That seems overly optimistic for a system that is now a year and a half past it's original target launch date and has a current target date of late next year.
- nickik 6y ago
  The original launch for SLS was supposed to be 2016. But I agree, the dependency on SLS is not great.
101404 6y ago
I expect there will be more than one launch system and more than one moon landing system, provided by private companies. Seems to work great for satellite launch and ISS supply mission. Why not for moon transport?
simonh 6y ago
The article says that the SpaceX submission is for Starship. I think that’s doable in 4.5 years. They expect to fly and land an unmanned prototype upper stage this year. A manned upper stage up to 4 years later doesn’t seem unreasonable. They reckon the upper stage is that hardest part, the first stage should be much simpler.
- mr_toad 6y ago
  A lot depends on the ability to refuel in orbit. To do that they’ll need multiple starships flying, and to have worked out the kinks in orbital refuelling. It might sound trivial, but it’s never been done before.
  - nickik 6y ago
    There is a reason SpaceX is not just designing one 'bespoke' rocket. Elon has said over and over again that the real challenge is producing these in large numbers and cheaply. They will actually have to prove out refueling pretty soon under the NASA contract. And SpaceX bid also includes flying the system many times until 2024. So SpaceX will have to do a lot of flights and demonstrate all this stuff to have a shot at this. So it is good that they are going right into mass production that is the only way they can prove all these different things until 2024.

zipwitch 6y ago

>* the SLS is what will be used to launch the Artemis missions* That seems overly optimistic for a system that is now a year and a half past it's original target launch date and has a current target date of late next year.

nickik 6y ago
The original launch for SLS was supposed to be 2016. But I agree, the dependency on SLS is not great.

101404 6y ago

I expect there will be more than one launch system and more than one moon landing system, provided by private companies. Seems to work great for satellite launch and ISS supply mission. Why not for moon transport?

simonh 6y ago

The article says that the SpaceX submission is for Starship. I think that’s doable in 4.5 years. They expect to fly and land an unmanned prototype upper stage this year. A manned upper stage up to 4 years later doesn’t seem unreasonable. They reckon the upper stage is that hardest part, the first stage should be much simpler.

mr_toad 6y ago
A lot depends on the ability to refuel in orbit. To do that they’ll need multiple starships flying, and to have worked out the kinks in orbital refuelling. It might sound trivial, but it’s never been done before.
- nickik 6y ago
  There is a reason SpaceX is not just designing one 'bespoke' rocket. Elon has said over and over again that the real challenge is producing these in large numbers and cheaply. They will actually have to prove out refueling pretty soon under the NASA contract. And SpaceX bid also includes flying the system many times until 2024. So SpaceX will have to do a lot of flights and demonstrate all this stuff to have a shot at this. So it is good that they are going right into mass production that is the only way they can prove all these different things until 2024.