"NASA must standardize its approach, increase flight rate safely, and execute on the President's national space policy. With credible competition from our greatest geopolitical adversary increasing by the day, we need to move faster, eliminate delays, and achieve our objectives."
"Launching SLS every three and a half years or so is not a recipe for success."
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced major changes to the Artemis program to accelerate lunar missions and address concerns about China's advancing space capabilities. Key modifications include canceling the Exploration Upper Stage and Block IB upgrade for the Space Launch System rocket, using existing upper stages for Artemis II and III, and developing a standardized upper stage for subsequent missions. Artemis III will no longer land on the Moon but instead dock with commercial landers in low-Earth orbit, with Artemis IV becoming the first lunar landing mission. NASA aims to achieve annual mission cadence starting with Artemis III in mid-2027, followed by at least one lunar landing in 2028. The agency is collaborating with SpaceX and Blue Origin to accelerate commercial lunar lander development.
#artemis-program-restructuring #space-launch-system #commercial-lunar-landers #nasa-competition-with-china #mission-cadence-acceleration
Read at Ars Technica
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