All articles tagged with #artemis
NASA picked Blue Origin to fly the first of three uncrewed lunar missions, funding roughly $230 million toward the initial two lander missions to test payloads and tech for a future Moon base, with SpaceX as a competing option for crew landers and Artemis missions; the plan pursues an iterative, privately supported path to a sustained lunar presence by the 2030s.
SpaceX’s Starship V3 Flight 12 from Pad 2 survived an engine-out ascent and reentry, deploying 22 payloads to test orbit-based heat-shield inspection that could speed up future flights, as NASA maintains Artemis IV targets and SpaceX moves toward a June 2026 IPO.
NASA and the Department of Energy signed an MoU to develop a 100+kW fission surface power reactor for deployment on the Moon by 2030, with DOE providing fuel and regulatory oversight while NASA funds and leads the program; a parallel SR-1 Freedom nuclear-electric propulsion track aims to demonstrate Mars missions by 2028. The initiative seeks to overcome decades of space-nuclear delays by tying explicit mission needs, fixed-price contracting, and formal interagency leadership to the effort, though whether it will deliver a working reactor and a practical Mars transfer by the target dates remains uncertain. Geopolitically, the plan notes potential 'keep-out zones' if rivals beat the U.S. to the Moon, underscoring a broader strategic dimension to the push. The project is estimated around $3 billion over five years.
Lunar Strike imagines a near-future Moon base where climate-change, geopolitical strain, and dwindling funding have shifted space ambition from exploration to survival. You play as a junior archivist for the in-universe ARCK project, documenting humanity’s lunar settlement while fending off a terrorist faction; the story emphasizes a lived-in base at the Moon’s south pole and AI that supports people rather than runs the colony. Set against Artemis-era context and ongoing Earth-space tensions, the game offers a pessimistic but grounded look at how we might live and preserve history on the Moon. Release is planned for PC with no fixed date beyond 2026.
SpaceX’s Starship V3 roared from Starbase on May 22, 2026 for Flight 12—the most powerful Starship yet—marking the first flight of the Version 3 core with upgrades like a new fuel transfer tube, faster PEZ deployment, 39 Raptors across two stages, three grid fins, and a reusable “hot stage ring.” The suborbital test culminated in fiery splashdowns of both the Super Heavy booster and the Ship upper stage. The launch advances SpaceX’s long-running Artemis program goals, with NASA eyeing Artemis 4 for a late‑2028 lunar landing and continuing discussions about Artemis 3 in Earth orbit and potential Blue Origin competition.
NASA announced it will competitively bid for operating the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a Caltech-run lab for NASA since its early days, as part of a broader agency restructuring to increase center specialization and merge mission directorates. The plan could change how JPL is run and governed, though NASA says there will be no layoffs or program cancellations. A new operator could alter day-to-day management while preserving the lab’s scientific capabilities as the agency pursues ambitious Artemis-era goals.
A lengthy memo from NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman outlines a broad reorganization to make NASA more mission-centric, consolidate centers, create new directorates (including a combined Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate and a unified Space Technology/Nuclear Power directorate), and accelerate Artemis missions with a Moon Base program. The plan also centralizes authority for lunar and nuclear initiatives, establishes a Lower Earth Orbit program, pushes a faster transition toward commercial partnerships and private space stations, and includes a series of directives on governance, funding, communications, workforce conversion from contractors to civil service, HQ relocation planning, and oversight to deliver more science and missions on a tighter timeline.
NASA announced an agencywide realignment aimed at speeding mission delivery and aligning with the National Space Policy, unifying mission directorates and center leadership to focus resources on top priorities such as Artemis, a Moon base, nuclear propulsion, and the orbital economy, while boosting in-house capabilities and reducing bureaucratic obstacles—without workforce reductions or program cancellations.
NASA unveiled a sweeping internal reorganization aimed at reducing overhead and speeding mission delivery. The plan consolidates six mission directorates into four, returns more funding and decision-making authority to field centers, and preserves center leadership as it pushes Artemis, Moon Base, space power, LEO economy, and science missions, while introducing competition for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and trimming bureaucratic obstacles.
Lunar Outpost, already testing the Eagle rover, has secured about $30 million to develop Pegasus, a smaller, autonomous lunar rover aimed at building a broader Moon infrastructure ecosystem. The company envisions rovers that autonomously construct launch pads, energy storage, habitats, and other facilities, potentially working alongside Artemis astronauts. Pegasus is slated for delivery by 2027 with a Moon launch planned for 2028, aligning with NASA’s Artemis timeline and part of a wider push to enable a sustained human presence on the Moon and multi‑planetary exploration.
NASA released the 2026 Civil Space Shortfall Ranking based on 454 external responses, consolidating 187 shortfalls into 32 priority categories and selecting 40 focus areas for FY2026 investments to accelerate lunar infrastructure, surface mobility, logistics, and onboard computing for future Moon and Mars missions, underscoring public-private partnerships to energize the space economy.
SpaceX will launch its larger Starship V3 from Starbase on a ~65-minute suborbital test, deploying 22 mock Starlink satellites and attempting an in-space engine relight as a step toward full reusability and NASA’s Artemis III moon mission; the booster will land offshore in the Gulf of Mexico rather than returning to Texas, and Elon Musk signaled plans for a possible SpaceX IPO.
SpaceX will launch its first Starship V3 megarocket from Starbase, Texas, on May 21 in a 90-minute window for a suborbital test—the 12th Starship flight overall. The new V3 features a bigger Super Heavy with 33 Raptors and a Ship with six Raptors, a three-grid-fin booster, a redesigned hot-stage attachment for reuse, and a redesigned propellant system. Ship also gains propulsion and reaction-control upgrades and a faster payload deployment system that will eject 20 dummy Starlinks and two live satellites with cameras to inspect the heat shield. The flight aims to demonstrate long-duration capability, in-space propellant transfer and rapid reuse, with Artemis moon missions (Artemis 4, targeted for 2028) on the horizon; a poor debut could affect SpaceX’s IPO timing or valuation, though Elon Musk says the production pipeline is full and the main risk would be loss of the launch stand.
NASA chief says China is expected to perform a crewed circumlunar flight around the Moon in 2027, a development echoed by Jared Isaacman who warned the next Moon mission will be taikonauts. The comments underscore a perceived space-race dynamic between the U.S. and China, while Isaacman has pushed to accelerate Artemis—now reframed as a 2027 low-Earth-orbit test (Artemis 3) followed by a 2028 lunar landing (Artemis 4)—and Congress has signaled support with increased exploration funding. All crewed lunar missions to date have been NASA missions.
SpaceX is preparing Flight 12 of its Starship by stacking the Version 3 upper stage (Ship 39) atop Booster 19 at Starbase, Texas, with a wet dress rehearsal planned ahead of a May 21 liftoff in a 90-minute window that starts at 6:30 p.m. EDT. Flight 12 will be the first Starship flight of 2026 and the debut of the Starship Version 3, featuring upgrades aimed at NASA's Artemis program and future Starlink/data-center missions. The mission will loft the upper stage on a suborbital path, deploy 20 dummy Starlink satellites and two modified probes, and see the Super Heavy booster splash down in the Gulf of Mexico while Starship splash-lands in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia; SpaceX plans eventual recovery of both stages at Starbase with its Mechazilla arms.