A Pathway to the Moon: Marshall Space Flight Center’s Human Landing Systems

NASA’s Artemis campaign will bring astronauts back to the lunar surface in this decade and beyond. Artemis
objectives include exploration, advancing science and technology, and learning how to work and live on another world as we prepare for human missions to Mars. NASA is collaborating with commercial and international partners to establish the first long-term presence on the Moon with plans to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.

NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) program, based at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is responsible for the development of the vehicles that will take astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon and back, safely. The program has contracted with two industry providers, SpaceX and a Blue Origin-led team, to build the next lunar landers. In 2021, NASA awarded a firm, fixed-price (FFP) contract to SpaceX to provide an initial lunar lander for Artemis III – scheduled to be the first mission to return astronauts to the Moon in more than 50 years. In 2022, NASA awarded SpaceX a contract modification to provide a more capable lunar lander for Artemis IV. In parallel, the program awarded another FFP contract to Blue Origin and its partners to provide a landing system for Artemis V, giving NASA a dissimilar, redundant capability for human Moon landings. For Artemis VI and beyond, NASA plans to competitively procure landing services. In late 2023, the HLS program also gave the contracted companies the authority to begin work to develop large cargo landers, based on modifications of the human landing systems.

The HLS program is making significant strides with SpaceX and Blue Origin as the companies perform design, development, test, and evaluation (DDT&E) of these human landing systems. The HLS program continues to provide critical oversight, insight, and expertise into many of the key areas required to return to the Moon, such as technology and engine development and cryogenic fluid management. This paper will detail the progress both providers have made toward Artemis III, IV, and V as well as large cargo landers, scheduled to become available no earlier than Artemis VII. We will also discuss the role Marshall Space Flight Center and the HLS program play in the evolution of the public-private partnerships within the aerospace industry and the critical role of NASA and its
engineering expertise in getting humans back to the Moon.