NASA has outlined its strategy to return astronauts to the Moon as soon as 2028, revealing significant changes to the Artemis Program architecture during a news conference on Friday. The agency acknowledged substantial modifications to how spacecraft will interact during the mission, marking the first detailed public explanation of these plans.
For the SpaceX Starship component, the revised approach requires the Orion spacecraft to dock with the Starship lunar lander in high-Earth orbit. This docking occurs before the combined vehicle transits to the Moon, altering previous assumptions about the launch sequence.
The plan for Blue Origin involves four launches of the New Glenn rocket. Unlike other configurations, this architecture does not include spacecraft-to-spacecraft refuelings. The Blue Origin proposal also allows for the possibility of its Blue Moon lander rendezvousing with Orion in low-Lunar orbit, offering an alternative path for lunar surface access.