SpaceX Starship Chosen to Lead Humanity’s Return ‘To the Moon and Beyond’

paving the way for future missions to Mars

BREVARD COUNTY • FLORIDA – SpaceX announced major progress in the development of Starship, the world’s most powerful and capable launch and landing system, which has been selected by NASA to return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in more than half a century under the Artemis program.

For the first time in human history, technology, capability, and determination have converged to make a permanent human presence beyond Earth possible.

Designed to carry both large numbers of explorers and the infrastructure they’ll need, Starship is the only vehicle capable of transporting up to 100 metric tons of cargo directly to the lunar surface. It will serve as the lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis III and Artemis IV missions, enabling sustainable exploration of the Moon and paving the way for future missions to Mars.

“Starship was built with one goal in mind — to make life multiplanetary,” said a SpaceX spokesperson.

“Through our partnership with NASA and the Artemis program, we are taking the next step toward that vision by enabling a lasting human presence on the Moon and ultimately extending humanity’s reach to Mars.”

Engineering the Future of Exploration

Each Starship has a pressurized habitable volume exceeding 600 cubic meters—nearly two-thirds the size of the entire International Space Station. The vehicle features dual airlocks for efficient surface exploration and can be reconfigured to transport crews, cargo, and habitats.

Cargo variants will deliver critical payloads, including rovers, reactors, and habitat modules, to support long-term lunar operations.

SpaceX is advancing Starship along two primary development paths:

■ Core Starship System Development – Focused on reusable vehicle technology, launch cadence, and propellant transfer capability.

■ Human Landing System (HLS) Configuration – Tailored to NASA’s Artemis mission requirements, including crew systems, life support, and precision lunar landing capabilities.

To date, SpaceX has completed 49 milestones under its HLS contract with NASA, including successful demonstrations of environmental control systems, docking operations, lunar landing engine tests, and crew elevator functionality. The company has also produced more than three dozen

Starships and 600 Raptor engines, representing over 226,000 seconds of total engine test time.

Next Steps in Lunar Readiness

Upcoming milestones include long-duration orbital tests and a ship-to-ship propellant transfer demonstration, both essential to enabling sustainable lunar missions. SpaceX is also fabricating a flight-ready Starship HLS cabin equipped with complete environmental and power systems to validate design maturity and serve as a training platform for future lunar crews.

“Every Starship flight advances our capability to explore deeper into the solar system,” the spokesperson added. “Our rapid testing, production, and iteration model ensures that we learn, adapt, and deliver innovation faster than ever before.”
A Permanent Return to the Moon

NASA selected Starship through a competitive process that recognized its superior technical capability, management approach, and cost-effectiveness. Starship’s full and rapid reusability, high payload capacity, and scalability make it the cornerstone of a sustainable lunar exploration program.

The Artemis program represents the next chapter in human spaceflight — one that will establish a lasting presence on the Moon and lay the foundation for the first human missions to Mars. With Starship, SpaceX and NASA are turning that vision into reality.
About SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures, and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft with the ultimate goal of making life multiplanetary. Founded in 2002, SpaceX has redefined space access through rapid reusability, cost reduction, and innovation, leading the way toward sustainable space exploration.

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