By AFP | 2026-04-17

With Artemis II successfully completing its historic lunar mission on April 10, NASA is banking on US private space companies SpaceX and Blue Origin for the next step: landing astronauts on the moon.

The Apollo program -- which sent the first and only humans to the moon's surface between 1969 and 1972 -- was designed so that only two astronauts could land on the lunar surface for a maximum of a few days.

More than 50 years later, US ambitions and expertise have grown, with NASA hoping to send four people on a mission lasting several weeks and eventually building a lunar base.

For the second phase of its mission, the US space agency is looking to commercial landers designed by SpaceX and Blue Origin to get its astronauts on the moon.

After Artemis II splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after its record-breaking journey, NASA officials urged all hands on deck for a crewed landing in 2028.

"We need all of industry to work and come along with us, and they need to accept that challenge and come with us and really start the production lines that are going to be required in order to achieve that goal," acting associate NASA administrator Lori Glaze said during a briefing.

The Apollo program relied on a single rocket, the Saturn V, which carried both the lunar lander and the capsule carrying the astronauts.

NASA has opted for two separate systems for Artemis: the first to launch the Orion spacecraft carrying the crew from Earth, and another to launch the lunar lander, which will be privately contracted.

'Camping trip'

The decision was driven by the technical limitations of the Apollo program, said senior NASA official Kent Chojnacki, who is in charge of lunar lander development.

"It was very not expandable to long-term exploration and long-term stays," he said.

Although spectacular, the Apollo missions were like "camping trips," said Planetary Society director of government relations Jack Kiraly.

The Planetary Society encourages space exploration.

The systems NASA is looking at now are "huge compared to Apollo," Chojnacki said, noting that the new lunar landers being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX are two to seven times larger than before.

The US space agency is also drawing from external partners, such as the European companies that built the propulsion module for Orion.

The new approach opens access to more equipment and resources, but also significantly complicates operations.

To send these giant spacecraft to the moon, the private space exploration companies will need to master in-flight refueling, a complex maneuver that has not yet been fully tested.

After the lunar lander is launched, additional rockets will be needed to deliver the fuel required for the journey to the moon, some 250,000 miles (400,000 km) from Earth.

Heightened competition

Given this risky undertaking and the numerous delays -- particularly those experienced by SpaceX that was supposed to have its lander ready first -- pressure has mounted in recent months.

NASA has raised the possibility of reopening the contract awarded to SpaceX and using Blue Origin's lunar lander first, sending shockwaves through the rival companies.

Both firms announced they were realigning their strategies to prioritize the lunar project -- and keep their contracts with NASA.

But concerns remain, particularly regarding the feasibility of in-orbit refueling.

"We do have a plan," Chojnacki said, noting that NASA has a back-up plan in case of failure.

The timeline is also up in the air.

NASA says it plans to test an in-orbit rendezvous between the spacecraft and one or two lunar landers in 2027, and carry out a crewed lunar landing in 2028.

Before that, companies will need to test in-orbit refueling and send an unmanned lunar lander to the moon to demonstrate its safety.

That all needs to happen within the next two years.

"It feels like a very small amount of time," said Clayton Swope of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.