Story continues after Advertisements

NASA is planning to significantly expand SpaceX’s role in its Artemis Moon missions, shifting key responsibilities away from Boeing’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in a major architectural change to the program.

According to a report from Bloomberg published on March 19, 2026, NASA is revising its lunar landing plans under the Artemis program. In the original architecture, Boeing’s SLS was designed to launch the Lockheed Martin-built Orion crew capsule with up to four astronauts, propelling it toward the Moon and placing it in lunar orbit. There, Orion would dock with a SpaceX Starship Human Landing System (HLS) variant, which would then ferry astronauts to the lunar surface.Under the new proposal, SLS would no longer handle the translunar injection — the critical burn to send Orion toward the Moon. Instead, Orion would launch on SLS into low Earth orbit, where it would rendezvous and dock with a Starship vehicle. Starship would then take over the pivotal role of propelling the docked Orion capsule to lunar orbit and subsequently landing astronauts on the Moon’s surface.

This shift elevates Starship’s importance in the Artemis architecture while diminishing Boeing’s SLS contribution primarily to delivering Orion to low Earth orbit. The change is described as a blow to Boeing, whose SLS has faced repeated delays, cost overruns, and scrutiny in recent years.

The plan has reportedly been approved internally, though it could still face congressional oversight and potential revisions, as discussions with involved companies—including SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Boeing—are ongoing. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman was scheduled to meet with these partners to review progress and the evolving plans.

In response to the developments, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk commented on X, stating: “SpaceX will ultimately deliver millions of tons to the Moon to build a self-growing city there and same for Mars.”

This proposed change aligns with broader efforts to accelerate the Artemis timeline, reduce costs, and leverage Starship’s reusability and massive payload capacity. It builds on SpaceX’s existing $2.9 billion NASA contract (awarded in 2021) to develop the Starship HLS for lunar landings, though the vehicle has yet to complete key demonstrations like in-orbit refueling.

NASA has not issued an official statement confirming the full details of the revision as of March 20, 2026, but sources familiar with the matter indicate the agency is moving toward this more Starship-centric approach for future crewed lunar missions. The changes could impact upcoming Artemis flights, including Artemis III, targeted for the late 2020s.

Author’s note: Thanks for reading Cosmic Chronicles. Write your thoughts in the comment section below. If you have story suggestions or feedback, Direct Message me on social media 𝕏: Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo @JaneidyEve. Read the most recent stories featured below. Thank You.