NASA and SpaceX Prepare for Historic Lunar Missions With Starship Lander

SpaceX's Starship will support NASA's Artemis program, marking humanity's return to the Moon and advancing plans for a sustainable lunar presence.

NASA's Artemis III mission, planned for 2026, will use SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System (HLS) to return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years.
The Starship HLS will ferry astronauts between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface, with an uncrewed test mission preceding the crewed landing.
NASA has also tasked SpaceX and Blue Origin with developing cargo landers for future Artemis missions, scheduled to deliver infrastructure like rovers and habitats in the 2030s.
SpaceX's Starship cargo lander will transport a pressurized rover developed with Japan's JAXA, while Blue Origin will deliver a lunar surface habitat.
These efforts are part of NASA's broader Artemis campaign to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon and prepare for future human exploration of Mars.