Starship

SpaceX offered Starship to the CLPS program with a stated capability of delivering up to 100 metric tons to the lunar surface.

The NASA study assumed refueling Starship in low Earth orbit to carry payloads to geostationary orbit as part of its baseline deployment approach.

The Human Landing System for Artemis 3 will use SpaceX's Starship.

NASA estimates that SpaceX will need to conduct in the high teens number of fuel transfers for Starship.

SpaceX's Starship has flown twice and experienced explosions both times.

SpaceX's Starship third integrated test flight hardware will be ready this month, with a launch license expected by February 2024.

SpaceX will test the 'Pez dispenser' payload door on Starship for deploying full-sized Starlink V2 satellites that are significantly larger than the V2 mini satellites currently launched on Falcon 9.

Closing out the corrective actions from the 2023-11-18 flight was a condition for receiving an updated FAA launch license for the next Starship test flight.

SpaceX is working on corrective actions identified from the second Starship test flight on 2023-11-18.

Even without the Artemis 2 delay, Artemis 3 would likely have slipped from late 2025 because of the development work required on Starship and the lunar spacesuits.

SpaceX's first integrated test flight of Starship also failed.

Two SpaceX Starship launches in April and November 2023 did not achieve orbit.

The Starship launched from Boca Chica on November 18 suggests future lunar missions.

NASA has selected the lunar variant of the Starship for the Human Landing System program.

Once on the Moon, the cargo section of the HLS Starship can be separated and delivered to predetermined locations by a lunar crawler.

The estimated pressurized volume of the HLS Starship's cargo section is 1,000 cubic meters, comparable to the ISS.

Starship components could be fully outfitted and tested on Earth before lunar launch.

Starship missions could also effectively support construction efforts on Mars.