SpaceX is racing to keep its lunar landing contract, as NASA considers alternatives amid Starship program delays.
SpaceX is preparing for a pivotal year for its Starship program.The company shared a photo of the next Super Heavy booster that will fly on Starship Flight 12 on X. The image shows the booster inside the private space company’s Starbase facility in South Texas, with the caption “Stacking complete.
”Though SpaceX has yet to announce a launch date, Starship is expected to fly again in the first quarter of 2026. That flight test will kick off an important year for the Starship program, which must prove that it is on track to send astronauts to the Moon for NASA’s Artemis III mission, currently scheduled for “no earlier than 2027”.Starship’s race to liftoffThe latest Starship flight was delayed when the Super Heavy booster designated for Flight 12 was damaged during testing in November. That booster was the first of SpaceX’s “Version 3” Super Heavy boosters, designed for increased performance thanks to more powerful Raptor 3 engines, a redesigned, lighter structure, and integrated hot staging.Now, a new Version 3 booster is fully stacked ahead of Flight 12 early this year. Flight testing Starship Version 3 will be pivotal for SpaceX, as it has faced several delays that could impact its Artemis III lunar contract. The fully-stacked Super Heavy ready for Starship Flight 12. Source: SpaceX / XNASA recently indicated that, due to these delays, it might search for another candidate to land its Artemis III crew on the Moon. In October, acting NASA chief Sean Duffy told CNBC in an interview: “I love SpaceX; it’s an amazing company. The problem is, they’re behind. They’ve pushed their timelines out, and we’re in a race against China.”Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is aiming to fly its Mk1 lunar lander to the Moon early this year. If that lunar landing mission is a success, Blue Origin would be a prime candidate.Starship is the world’s most powerful and tallest rocket, standing 400 feet tall when fully stacked. The rocket flew five times last year, with the last two flights meeting SpaceX’s requirements.A pivotal year for StarshipThough SpaceX is in a race to keep its Artemis III lunar lander contract, Elon Musk’s private space company recently highlighted Starship’s capabilities to fly beyond the Moon. The company said Starship Version 3 will be the first version of the rocket capable of flying to Mars. Elon Musk has previously noted that he would like to launch an uncrewed Starship to the Red Planet during the next alignment of Earth and Mars. The two planets orbit close enough for travel once every 26 months, and the next opportunity occurs late this year.However, before SpaceX could fly Starship to Mars or, indeed, the Moon, it must master on-orbit refueling. Elon Musk himself has described orbital refueling as “an essential technology for making life multiplanetary.” And yet, a demonstration of the capability has been delayed on several occasions and was supposed to take place last year. SpaceX will likely have to achieve the feat in 2026 for Starship to send astronauts to the Moon with Artemis III. An orbital refueling demonstration will also be crucial to achieving its goal of flying to Mars and taking humanity to the next level of space exploration.
Elon Musk Mars Mission Moon Mission Spacex Starship Super Heavy Booster
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