In April 2021, NASA awarded SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to develop a variant of its Starship vehicle as the Human Landing System (HLS) for the Artemis program. It was the largest single lunar lander contract in history,and among the most controversial. NASA chose an unproven rocket design over established competitors to return humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972. Since then, the program has been reshaped by technical setbacks, a major restructuring of Artemis mission architecture, and a strategic pivot by Musk himself toward lunar settlement. The bet is still on , but the terms have changed. Artist's concept of Starship HLS on the Moon during an Artemis surface mission. Credit: SpaceX/NASA Why NASA Chose Starship NASA's Human Landing System competition evaluated proposals from three teams: SpaceX (Starship HLS at $2.9 billion), Blue Origin's National Team (Blue Moon at $5.9 billion), and Dynetics (ALPACA at $8.5 billion). SpaceX won on technical merit and price, but the decision drew immediate protests from Blue Origin and congressional scrutiny. The GAO upheld NASA's selection in November 2021. $2.9B Original Contract Value 100+ t Payload to Lunar Surface 50 m Vehicle Height (~15 stories) 33 Raptor Engines (Super Heavy) 6 Raptor Engines (Starship) 1,200 t Propellant Capacity The Core Gamble SpaceX's proposal required technologies that didn't yet exist at the time of selection: orbital propellant transfer at scale, long-duration cryogenic storage in space, and autonomous precision landing of a 50-meter vehicle on the lunar surface. NASA accepted this risk because SpaceX's fixed-price approach shifted financial exposure to the contractor , and because no alternative offered comparable capability at any price. Vehicle Architecture: Adapting Starship for the Moon Starship HLS performing a braking burn with Raptor engines prior to lunar descent. Credit: SpaceX/NASA The HLS variant of Starship differs significantly from the standard Starship designed for Earth-orbit missions. Key modifications include: • Crew Transfer Elevator: A 9-meter personnel elevator system transports astronauts between the pressurized cabin and the lunar surface , necessary because the crew area sits roughly 15 stories above the ground. • Lunar Landing Engines: High-mounted RCS thrusters replace the main Raptor engines for final descent, preventing regolith blasting of the landing zone and nearby hardware. • No Heat Shield or Flaps: The HLS variant does not return to Earth and therefore lacks the thermal protection system and aerodynamic surfaces of the standard Starship. • Solar Arrays: Deployable solar panels supplement power generation for extended surface stays of 7-10 days. • Enhanced Communications: Direct-to-Earth and relay-compatible communications systems for continuous mission support. The Orbital Refueling Challenge The single most critical technology for Starship HLS is orbital propellant transfer. A Starship launched from Earth arrives in orbit with its tanks largely empty after the ascent burn. To reach the Moon, it must be refueled in orbit through multiple tanker flights. The Refueling Sequence Step Operation Details 1 Deploy Storage Depot Dedicated propellant depot launched to LEO 2 Tanker Flights Multiple Starship tankers transfer propellant to depot 3 HLS Fueling HLS Starship docks and receives full propellant load 4 Trans-Lunar Injection Fully fueled HLS departs for lunar orbit 5 Crew Transfer HLS docks with Orion (Artemis IV) or Gateway (Artemis V+) SpaceX has conducted initial propellant transfer demonstrations in orbit, successfully moving liquid oxygen between header and main tanks during test flights. Full ship-to-ship transfer at scale remains the critical unsolved milestone ahead of any crewed lunar mission , and the reason Musk himself recently acknowledged orbital refueling as a gating factor for deep space plans. February 2026: NASA Restructures Artemis Around Starship HLS Artist's concept of crew transfer between Orion and Starship HLS. Credit: SpaceX/NASA In a Feb. 27, 2026 briefing, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced the most significant restructuring of the Artemis program since its inception , changes that directly reshape how and when Starship HLS flies to the Moon. The New Artemis Architecture (as of Feb. 2026) • Artemis II (NET April 2026): Crewed lunar flyby with Orion. Currently rolled back to VAB after a helium fault in the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage; repairs targeting a 3-week timeline for an early April 1-6 window. • Artemis III (2027, new): An Apollo 9-style LEO test. Orion will rendezvous and dock with both Blue Origin and SpaceX HLS vehicles in low Earth orbit , the first time astronauts get inside Starship HLS in space. A new Axiom Space spacesuit will also be evaluated on this flight. No lunar landing. • Artemis IV (2028): Now the target for the first crewed lunar landing . If successful, an Artemis V could follow in late 2028. The restructuring was driven by safety concerns and competitive pressure from China. The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel had flagged the original Artemis III plan as high-risk: too many first-time operations on a single flight. Adding the LEO rendezvous mission gives crews hands-on experience with HLS before attempting a lunar descent. SLS Block 1B: Canceled NASA also announced it is abandoning the planned SLS Block 1B upgrade, which would have replaced the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage with the larger Exploration Upper Stage. Instead, the agency will fly a "near Block 1" configuration for future missions , an upper stage variant still to be defined, given that the ICPS is based on the now-retired Delta 4 rocket. Isaacman was blunt about why: "Launching a rocket as important and as complex as SLS every three years is not a path to success. When you're launching every three years, your skills atrophy." The Block 1 configuration, simpler and more understood, allows for a faster cadence. Whether NASA can actually achieve that cadence remains an open question. 2028 New target for first crewed lunar landing (Artemis IV) 2027 New Artemis III LEO rendezvous/HLS checkout flight SpaceX's Lunar Pivot: Moon City Before Mars On Feb. 8, 2026, Elon Musk announced that SpaceX had shifted its primary focus from Mars settlement to lunar settlement , a dramatic reversal from years of Mars-first rhetoric. In a social media post, Musk wrote that SpaceX could achieve a "self-growing city" on the Moon in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take over 20. "It is only possible to travel to Mars when the planets align every 26 months," Musk noted, "whereas we can launch to the Moon every 10 days. This means we can iterate much faster to complete a Moon city than a Mars city." The Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX has abandoned plans for a 2026 Mars mission entirely, instead targeting an uncrewed Starship lunar landing demonstration as early as March 2027. That timeline aligns with the new Artemis III LEO rendezvous mission: if SpaceX can land an uncrewed Starship on the Moon in early 2027 and dock with Orion in LEO later that year, the crewed lunar landing in 2028 becomes considerably more credible. SpaceX Lunar Demo Timeline (reported) • March 2027 (target): Uncrewed Starship HLS lunar landing demonstration , autonomous touchdown on the lunar surface with no crew aboard • 2027: Artemis III LEO checkout , crewed Orion rendezvous with HLS in low Earth orbit • 2028: First crewed Starship HLS lunar landing (Artemis IV) • 2028+: Potential Artemis V; SpaceX begins building toward permanent lunar base May 2026 Update: Artemis III Is Now a Low Earth Orbit Dress Rehearsal What NASA clarified on May 15 • Artemis III stays in Earth orbit: NASA now describes the mission as a crewed low Earth orbit test of Orion rendezvous and docking with one or both commercial lander pathfinders from SpaceX and Blue Origin. • Artemis IV becomes the landing target: NASA says the Earth-orbit test is meant to reduce