NASA is reportedly considering using SpaceX’s Starship to transport the Orion capsule to the Moon, with some sources calling it a done deal.
First reported by Bloomberg, the plan would see Orion launch to Low Earth Orbit aboard the Space Launch System (SLS), rendezvous with Starship, and have SpaceX’s vehicle carry the crew the rest of the way to the Moon – beginning after Artemis V.
The SLS has long been central to NASA’s Artemis architecture, yet its future has grown increasingly uncertain. A budget proposal from the current administration suggested cancelling it after Artemis III, before that was walked back. Then new NASA administrator Jared Isaacman – a former SpaceX customer – reshuffled the schedule again.
Artemis III is now a 2027 Low Earth Orbit mission to test lunar landing technology (analogous to Apollo 9’s dry run with the Lunar Module), with an actual landing pushed to Artemis IV in 2028 and Artemis V potentially following the same year.
The report demonstrates the fluid state of the Artemis program as managers work to develop solutions that align with both the administrator’s vision and the budget within which NASA must operate. The SLS, while it has launched a successful uncrewed lunar mission, is delayed and over budget. Isaacman has stated a desire to increase the cadence of flights, and making the vehicle a ferry for jaunts to Low Earth Orbit would certainly simplify things.
After that, Starship appears to be the preferred option for getting crews into lunar orbit.
The proposal reflects the Artemis program’s increasingly fluid state as managers try to reconcile Isaacman’s vision with a constrained budget. The SLS has completed one successful uncrewed lunar mission, but it remains delayed and over budget. Using it purely as a ferry to Low Earth Orbit would reduce its role substantially, or it could be dropped altogether after Artemis V in favour of another human-rated vehicle. Blue Origin’s New Glenn, for example, is designed to carry humans and can lift up to 45 metric tons, enough for Orion and its European Service Module.
Either path would be a blow for Boeing, prime contractor on the SLS core stage.
Orion itself remains non-negotiable. Starship has no crew escape system and isn’t rated for re-entry at lunar return velocities, so the capsule is still needed regardless of what launches it.
There’s also the matter of Starship not yet having reached Earth orbit. The next test flight is scheduled for April; if it succeeds, 2026 could finally be the year the vehicle demonstrates orbital capacity, leaving two years to ready it for a lunar role by 2028.
The Register asked NASA to comment on the plans.
The logic of using Starship – which must fly a lunar mission regardless – to carry Orion along with it isn’t unreasonable. However the technical hurdles are real, congressional approval is far from guaranteed, and the SLS, irrespective of its faults, has actually flown.
Whatever happens, this episode underscores one thing clearly: NASA’s path back to the Moon remains anything but settled. ®