NASA fears problems with Elon Musk's Starship could delay Artemis 3 beyond 2025

The Artemis 3 mission, NASA's ambitious plan to return to the Moon after five decades, could slip past the deadline of 2025. NASA has raised concerns that the difficulties with the development of SpaceX's Starship rocket, if not fixed in time, could push the Artemis 3 launch window from December 2025 to 2026. 

Jim Free, the NASA associate administrator for exploration systems development, confirmed that Artemis 3 is actually facing the danger of a delay. During a meeting of the National Academies’ Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board and Space Studies Board on June 7, Free highlighted that Elon Musk's SpaceX will have to conduct dozens of successful launches of the world's biggest rocket before it could fly to the Moon.

(Starship launches from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas; Image: SpaceX)

NASA has awarded SpaceX with two contracts worth $4.2 billion to develop Starship rockets to take astronauts to the lunar surface. The plan is to park a Starship in lunar orbit, which will then make a landing with the astronauts who would switch vehicles from the Orion spacecraft that comes from Earth. But SpaceX has a lot of hurdles to cross before getting to the Moon.

(The Orion spacecraft; Image: NASA)

According to Space News, Free reflected on those hurdles, such as demonstrating the successful operation of Starship landers, 'tankers' that will be used for in-orbit fuelling, carrying out a successful Starship lunar landing and in-orbit cryogenic fuel transfer. "They have a significant number of launches to go, and that, of course, gives me concern about the December of 2025 date," Free told Space News. 

The concerns follow Starship's first integrated test flight on April 20 ending with a 'rapid unscheduled disassembly' of the rocket. Despite the mission ending after four minutes with an explosion of the rocket, SpaceX does not see this as a failure. However, the launch caused serious damage to its surrounding in Boca Chica, Texas which included flying boulders of concrete, fire, and raining debris. As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which granted SpaceX a launch permit for the rocket, is investigating the aftermath of the launch after being sued by environmental groups.