Washington, United States. SpaceX’s Starship has accumulated at least two years of development delays since NASA selected the rocket as an astronaut moon lander in 2021, NASA’s inspector general said Tuesday. The report said more time is likely needed to clear remaining hurdles before a lunar landing as NASA studies plans to speed up the program.
Artemis timeline pressures and shifting targets
NASA is working with multiple companies under its multibillion-dollar Artemis program, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, to establish routine astronaut missions to the moon amid concerns that China could land crews on the lunar surface by around 2030.
Delays in SpaceX’s Starship development have pushed back the mission timeline from an original 2024 target for a moon landing, a date that officials at the time treated with skepticism.
In-space refueling identified as a key technical hurdle
The inspector general’s report highlighted Starship’s requirement to refuel itself in space before traveling to the moon as one of the most challenging steps toward becoming an astronaut-rated lunar lander. The report described the process as risky and delicate and said it has never been attempted at such a scale.
For a crewed lunar landing mission, SpaceX would need to launch more than 11 other Starships into Earth’s orbit to serve as refueling tankers. One Starship would serve as a propellant storage depot that would require more than 10 Starships to fill with enough fuel to be transferred to the moon-landing Starship.
Propellant handling and orbital operations risks
Starship, taller than a 15-story building, is fueled by roughly 1,200 metric tons of liquid methane and liquid oxygen. The propellants must be maintained at cryogenic temperatures, below −238 °F (−150 °C).
The report said docking Starships and transferring super-cooled propellants at least 10 times in low-Earth orbit would be among the riskiest challenges, given the increasing satellite traffic in a region described as politically and commercially vital.
NASA officials overseeing Starship development consider demonstrating cryogenic propellant transfer to be one of SpaceX’s most significant technical challenges, according to the report. It added that NASA is tracking a top risk that some cryogenic technologies and capabilities SpaceX is developing may not be adequately mature ahead of a 2028 moon landing.
Test flight activity
SpaceX has launched its Starship system 11 times since 2023 in a series of test flights that NASA officials have monitored closely.
What do you see as the biggest obstacle to meeting a 2028 moon landing timeline with Starship?