Starship HLS

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Starship HLS
File:Starship HLS.png
Artist's rendering of Starship HLS
Manufacturer SpaceX
Country of origin United States
Operator SpaceX
Applications Lunar lander
Specifications
Spacecraft type Crewed, reusable
Crew capacity 2 (Artemis 3)
4 (Artemis 4)
Regime Cislunar space
Dimensions
Diameter 9 m (30 ft)
Capacity
Payload to lunar surface Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).[1]
Production
Status In development
Maiden launch NET 2025
Related spacecraft
Derived from SpaceX Starship (spacecraft)
Flown with SpaceX Super Heavy
Starship HLS
Engines 3 Raptor engines
3 Raptor vacuum engines
RCS thruster bank
Thrust Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). (Raptor engines)
Fuel Liquid oxygen / Methane
File:HLS-black (1079348640239).png

Starship HLS[lower-alpha 1] is a lunar lander variant of the Starship spacecraft that is slated to transfer astronauts from a lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon and back. It is being designed and built by SpaceX under the Human Landing System contract to NASA as a critical element of NASA's Artemis program to land a crew on the Moon.

The mission plan calls for a Starship launch vehicle to launch a Starship HLS into Earth orbit, where it will be refueled by multiple Starship tanker spacecraft before boosting itself into a lunar near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO). There, it will rendezvous with a crewed Orion spacecraft that will be launched from Earth by a NASA Space Launch System (SLS) launcher. A crew of two astronauts will transfer from Orion to HLS, which will then descend to the lunar surface for a stay of approximately 7 days, including at least five EVAs. It will then return the crew to Orion in NRHO.

In the third phase of its HLS procurement process NASA awarded SpaceX a contract in April 2021 to develop, produce, and demonstrate Starship HLS. An uncrewed test flight is planned for 2024 to demonstrate a successful landing on the Moon. Following that test, a crewed flight is expected to occur as part of the Artemis 3 mission, no earlier than December 2025.[2] NASA later contracted for an upgraded version of Starship HLS to be used on the Artemis 4 mission.[3]

Design

Starship HLS is a variant of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft optimized to operate on and around the Moon.[4] Unlike the standard Starship Spacecraft, Starship HLS will never re-enter an atmosphere, so it does not have a heat shield or flight control surfaces.[4] This reduces its mass,[4] as well as the number of tanker Starship launches needed for refueling.[4] In contrast to earlier HLS designs that proposed multiple stages, the entire spacecraft functions as both an ascent and descent stage. Like other Starship variants, Starship HLS has six Raptor engines mounted at the tail, which are used during launch and the majority of landing and ascent.[4] When within 100 meters of the lunar surface, the variant will utilize high‑thrust RCS thrusters located mid‑body to avoid plume impingement with the lunar regolith,[5] though these thrusters may not be needed.[6]The thrusters burn gaseous oxygen and methane instead of the liquid oxygen and methane used by the Raptors.[5][7]:50:30 Electrical power is supplied by a band of solar panels around the circumference of the vehicle.[8][9] HLS has the capability to loiter in lunar orbit for 100 days.[8]

According to NASA, minimizing changes in vehicle configuration and making the design and development of Starship HLS as common as possible will benefit future Starship HLS builds by eliminating the need for additional testing, evaluation, and verification of different vehicle designs.[4] NASA added this will also allow SpaceX to accelerate vehicle builds to help ensure availability and on time delivery for mission integration.[4]

Mission Profile

Prior to the launch of the HLS vehicle from Earth, a Starship configured as a propellant depot would be launched into an Earth orbit and then partially or fully filled by between four and fourteen[lower-alpha 2] Starship tanker flights carrying propellant.[10] In November 2023 NASA said that the number of launches required for the mission would be "in the high teens", and that the launches would need to be in "rapid succession", because of the loss of liquid cryogenic propellants due to boiloff.[11] The Starship HLS vehicle would then launch and rendezvous with the already-loaded propellant depot and refuel before transiting from Earth orbit to Lunar orbit.[12]

File:Artemis III CONOPS.svg
Artemis 3 Concept of Operations infographic

Once HLS is in a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon, an Orion spacecraft will be launched by a Space Launch System rocket and dock with the waiting Starship HLS lander.[12][13](pp4,5) After two to four of the crew had transferred into the HLS, it would depart and descend to the lunar surface.[13](pp4,5) After lunar surface operations, Starship HLS will lift-off from the Moon and return to lunar orbit to rendezvous with Orion.[13](pp4,5) The crew then transfers back to Orion and departs for Earth. Although not confirmed yet, Starship HLS could, in theory, be refueled in orbit to carry more crews and cargo to the surface.[14][15]

History

Starship HLS builds on the SpaceX Starship system by adding a new spacecraft variant called Starship HLS.[14] This spacecraft will be used in conjunction with the Starship booster (called Super Heavy) and two additional Starship spacecraft variants, "tanker" and "depot", that were already planned prior to the HLS contract.[citation needed]

Prior Starship system history

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Further information: SpaceX Starship § History

The SpaceX Starship concept was initially conceived in the early 2010s as a spacecraft that would be principally built for the Mars colonization effort that Musk has advocated since 2011,[16] with the first colonists arriving no earlier than the middle of the 2020s.[17]

By 2016, the scope became somewhat broader, enabling landings on planets with and without an atmosphere.[18] Lunar destination flights, however, were not generally emphasized by Musk, and he specifically stated that the Moon was not a necessary step on the path to Mars.[19][20]

By late 2018, SpaceX had specified the primary construction material for Starship to be stainless steel[21] – after approximately a year of building manufacturing pathfinder hardware out of carbon composite materials—and manufacture of the initial test article including pressure vessel construction for the liquid methane and liquid oxygen tanks began in early 2019.[22]

Between July 2019 and July 2021, seven Starship prototype vehicles, each with different vehicle design configurations and varied test objectives, flew a total of eight atmospheric test flights, all launched from the SpaceX South Texas launch site at Boca Chica, Texas.[23] In 2023, flight testing of complete Starship vehicles began.[24]

Initial Artemis 3 contract ("Option A")

File:Planned Artemis III Mission Profile.png
288x288px

Starship itself has been in privately funded development by SpaceX since the mid-2010s, but the HLS variant is being developed under NASA's Human Landing System contracts.[25] The initial contracted design work started in May 2020, with selection and funding for full-development occurring in April 2021, when Starship HLS was selected by NASA to land "the first woman and the next man" on the Moon during the Artemis 3 mission, potentially as early as 2024.[25]

Selection of the Starship lunar lander

In 2021, NASA signed a US$2.89 billion contract with SpaceX to develop and manufacture Starship HLS,[25] and to conduct two flights – an uncrewed demonstration mission, and a crewed lunar landing.[26][12] Starship HLS is intended to dock in a lunar NRHO with either the NASA Orion spacecraft or NASA lunar Gateway space station, in order to take on passengers before descending to the lunar surface and return them after ascent.[13]

Starship HLS[lower-alpha 1] was first made public when it was initially selected by the NASA in April 2020 for a design study as part of their Artemis program, which aims to land humans on the Moon. SpaceX was one of three teams selected to develop competing lunar lander designs for the Artemis program over a year-long[27] period starting in May 2020.[27] The other landers in consideration were Dynetics HLS, developed by aerospace manufacturer Dynetics, and the Integrated Lander Vehicle, developed by a team led by Blue Origin.[14] NASA intended to later select and fund at most two of these landers to continue to perform initial demonstration flights.[28][15]

On 16 April 2021, NASA selected only Starship HLS for crewed lunar lander development[25] plus two lunar demonstration flights – one uncrewed and one crewed – no earlier than 2024. The contract is valued at US$2.89 billion over a number of years.[26][12] Two NASA Artemis astronauts are to land on the first crewed Starship HLS landing.[29] NASA had previously stated that it preferred to fund development of multiple Human Landing System proposals with dissimilar capabilities; however, "only one design was selected for an initial uncrewed demonstration and the first crewed landing, due to significant budget constraints" for the human landing system program imposed by US Congress.[12] NASA stated that the unselected proposals – Dynetics HLS and Blue Origin Integrated Lander Vehicle – as well as landers from other companies would be eligible for later lunar landing contracts.[12]

Opposition by competing companies

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Further information: Blue Origin Federation, LLC v. United States

On 26 April 2021, Blue Origin and Dynetics separately protested the award to SpaceX at the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).[30] On 30 July 2021, the GAO rejected the protests and found that "NASA did not violate procurement law" in awarding the contract to SpaceX, who bid a much lower cost and more capable human and cargo lunar landing capability for NASA Artemis.[30][31] Soon after GAO rejected the appeal, NASA made the initial $300 million contract payment to SpaceX.[32] The protest action delayed NASA from authorizing work on the contract, and thus delayed the start of work by SpaceX for 95 days.[33] Blue Origin produced infographic posters that highlight the complexity of Starship HLS, for example the fact that on orbit refuelling with cryogenic fuels like that Starship HLS uses has never been demonstrated, while stating that its design uses "proven technology".[34]

On 13 August 2021,[35] Blue Origin filed a lawsuit in the US Court of Federal Claims challenging "NASA's unlawful and improper evaluation of proposals".[33][36] Blue Origin asked the court for an injunction to halt further spending by NASA on the existing contract with SpaceX,[37] and NASA stopped work on the contract on 19 August, after SpaceX had been allowed to work on the NASA-specific parts of Starship HLS for just three weeks since the work had been previously halted in April.[35] Reactions to the lawsuit were negative, with many criticizing Blue Origin for causing unnecessary delays to the Artemis program.[38][39][40] On 4 November, the court granted the federal government's motion to dismiss the case,[41][42][43] and NASA announced that it would resume work with SpaceX as soon as possible.[44]

Artemis 4 contract ("Option B")

On 23 March 2022, NASA announced it would be exercising "option B", an option under the initial SpaceX HLS contract that would allow a second-generation Starship HLS design to conduct a demonstration mission after Artemis 3.[45]

On 15 November 2022, NASA announced the Option B award of US$1.15 billion, and announced that this crewed landing is to occur as part of Artemis 4.[3] The flight will include docking with the Gateway.[3] The Option B HLS will meet NASA's requirements for a "sustainable" HLS. These include the ability to support four crew members and delivering more mass to the surface.[3]

Subsequent contracts

After NASA awarded the Option A contract to SpaceX, congress directed NASA to award a second HLS contract. NASA responded by creating "Appendix P" for a non-SpaceX sustainable HLS. This lander will be used for Artemis 5 as its crewed demonstration flight. In May 2023, Blue Origin was awarded $3.4 billion by NASA to develop their Blue Moon lunar lander.[46][47] NASA intends to allow Starship HLS option B and the Blue Moon lander to compete for Artemis missions after Artemis 5.

See also

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Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 HLS is an initialism for "Human Landing System"
  2. ↑ In the documentation of SpaceX's HLS bid, a conservative figure of 14 tanker flights is used. Musk has stated that with a tanker payload mass of 150 tons, four to eight tanker flights would be necessary, depending on the payload mass on Starship HLS itself and the intended fuel load (since the mission profile may allow for a less than full tank).

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 NextSTEP H: Human Landing System Archived 8 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine, NASA, 27 January 2021, retrieved 31 January 2021.
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  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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