Starship HLS

paired with the European Space Module and booster upgrades initially developed for Ares V.

Other elements, such as the human landing system, are in development by private space flight companies under contract.

International collaborations are bound by the Artemis Accords.

Artemis Accords are a non-binding set of principles for outer space exploration and development, established through a series of bilateral agreements between the United States and partner nations.

The Uncrewed Artemis 1 mission sent an Orion spacecraft to lunar orbit in 2022.

Artemis 2 sent four astronauts on a lunar flyby in 2026, becoming the only crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit not part of the Apollo program.

Artemis 3, scheduled for late 2027, is planned to test human landing system Lunar Lander in Earth orbit.

Artemis 4, targeted for 2028, is planned to be the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo.

And this is the single biggest unproven element of the entire program.

Neither Starship HLS nor Blue Moon has completed NASA's human rating certification.

Not close in the sense that the certification process is still running.

And which one flies on Artemis IV is still open? Still open.

Let me push on the lander question once more, because it's the thing that could break everything.

The lander is the critical path.

If Starship HLS isn't human rated by early 2028, and Blue Moon isn't either, Artemis IV doesn't launch.

There's no alternative scenario where you just sort of figure it out.