The Artemis 3 mission could end up getting delayed if the SpaceX Starship rocket system is not ready in time. NASA is concerned that the amount of work required to complete the launch system could delay the mission, which was initially supposed to happen in December 2025. Jim Free, NASA associate administrator for exploration systems development aired the concerns during a joint meeting of the US National Academies’ Aeronautics and Space Engineer Board and Space Studies Board on Wednesday, June 7, reports SpaceNews. The space agency in 2021 selected SpaceX to develop the first commercial human lander that will carry astronauts to the lunar surface. The Artemis 3 mission would be the first mission to take astronauts to the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. The four astronauts who are part of the mission will set off on their multi-day journey to the lunar orbit in an Orion spacecraft launched by the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Both Orion and SLS were tested in the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission and will have a crewed test in the form of the Artemis 2 mission, which could launch as early as 2024. But after the astronauts reach lunar orbit during the Artemis 3 mission, two crew members will transfer to a SpaceX human landing system (HLS) for the journey to the Moon’s surface. According to the plans, they will then spend a week exploring the lunar surface before taking a trip back to orbit. Then, they will return to Orion where their colleagues will be waiting for a trip back home. But Free seems to be concerned with the number of Starship launches that will need to be carried out for SpaceX to be ready for the Artemis 3 mission, according to SpaceNews. Each lander mission will require a launch of the Starship lander as well as many extra Starships to fuel the lander in Earth orbit before it goes to the Moon. Also, before Artemis 3, SpaceX will have to demonstrate a cryogenic fluid transfer in Earth orbit and will have to carry out an uncrewed Starship lunar landing on the Moon. SpaceX most recently made the news when its Starship rocket during its first integrated flight test. Starship is the collective name used to refer to the integrated Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy rocket system. When its development and testing are completed, it could become the most powerful launch system ever developed, with the capability to carry a payload of up to 150 metric tonnes in fully-reusable mode and up to 250 metric tonnes in “expendable mode,” according to SpaceX. The Super Heavy rocket will be powered by 33 Raptor engines powered by a mixture of cryogenic liquid methane liquid oxygen, referred to as “methalox.”
