How far has Lunar Starship gone in development?

Grok ^ | 04/06/2026 | Grok

[SmokingJoe]

Lunar Starship (the Starship Human Landing System, or HLS, for NASA's Artemis program) is in active development but remains several years from its first crewed lunar landing. As of early April 2026, the program has made substantial progress on hardware testing and subsystem qualification, yet key challenges like in-orbit propellant transfer, long-duration flights, and an uncrewed lunar demonstration are still ahead—contributing to schedule delays.

Current Status and Major Achievements SpaceX has completed 49 contractual milestones for the HLS contract with NASA (out of many total), with most achieved on or ahead of schedule. These cover: Life support and thermal control systems demonstrations. Full-scale landing leg drop tests on simulated lunar regolith. Raptor engine throttling tests tailored for lunar landing profiles. Lunar navigation sensors, crew elevator concepts, micrometeoroid shielding, docking adapter qualification (based on Dragon 2 tech), and software reviews. Integrated testing of cabin systems, including suited crew-in-the-loop evaluations.

A dedicated flight-ready Starship HLS cabin is now in fabrication, complete with avionics, power, life support, and communications. This will support system-level testing and astronaut training. The lunar variant design differs significantly from Earth-return Starships:

No heat shield or flaps (unneeded for lunar-only operations; it stays in cislunar space or returns to lunar orbit). Added landing legs optimized for 1/6th gravity. Powered by 6 Raptor engines (mix of sea-level and vacuum-optimized). Height around 52 meters (~171 ft), with massive internal volume (~650 m³ pressurized in some concepts) for crew, cargo, and potential habitat use.

It launches on Super Heavy, with plans for tanker variants to enable orbital refueling.ffada4 SpaceX has flown 11 integrated Starship/Super Heavy test flights (as of late 2025), achieving milestones like booster catches, in-space engine relights, controlled reentries, and small-scale cryogenic propellant transfers (~5 metric tons demonstrated). Production includes dozens of Starships and over 600 Raptor engines, with infrastructure expansion at Starbase (Texas), Florida, and California.

Key Remaining Challenges and 2026 Milestones The biggest technical hurdles for lunar capability are: Orbital propellant transfer (ship-to-ship cryogenic refueling) — never done at scale before; critical for reaching the Moon with enough delta-v. Long-duration orbital flight testing. Uncrewed demonstration landing on the Moon. SpaceX and NASA target these for 2026, depending on the rollout of Starship Version 3 (V3) hardware, which features a larger, more powerful design aimed at higher payload and refueling efficiency. The next test flight (Flight 12, first V3) was expected in early-to-mid 2026, with potential for multiple flights that year focusing on reusability and refueling demos.

NASA's Office of Inspector General noted at least two years of delays since the 2021 contract award, with more possible due to technical maturity risks (especially cryogenics and refueling). Artemis timelines have shifted: the first crewed lunar landing with Starship HLS is now targeted for 2028 (Artemis IV or similar), with an Earth-orbit integrated test possibly in 2027. An uncrewed lunar demo was previously eyed for late 2026.

Timeline Context 2021: NASA selects Starship HLS as the primary lander. 2023–2025: Core Starship flight tests advance; 49 HLS milestones completed. 2026: Expected focus on V3 flights, long-duration orbit, and propellant transfer demos. 2027–2028: Targeted for uncrewed demo and first crewed landing (subject to progress and additional Artemis architecture changes, including possible added missions). SpaceX privately funds most of the core Starship development (>90%), while NASA pays on a milestone basis for HLS-specific work. The company emphasizes that Starship enables not just landings but sustainable lunar operations through high cargo capacity (up to ~100+ tons) for habitats, rovers, etc.

In summary: Lunar Starship has solid subsystem progress and a clear design path, with 2026 shaping up as a pivotal year for proving the orbital refueling and extended operations needed for the Moon. However, the program faces realistic delays common to such complex systems, and a crewed landing is still likely 2+ years away. Progress is rapid by aerospace standards, but execution of the remaining high-risk demos will determine the exact pace. For the latest updates, check SpaceX's site or NASA Artemis pages, as test schedules can shift quickly.

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: hls; moonlander; spacex

[P8riot]

But can they make a toilet that works?

[SmokingJoe]

Yes.
SpaceX had nothing to do with Artemis 2.
SpaceX has Dragon capsules which have had working toilets,

[beef]

“SpaceX had nothing to do with Artemis 2.”

That is for sure. Most people do not know that the 4 main engines on the SLS were not only space shuttle technology, they were used shuttle engines. The oldest was 42 years old and they all flew before on shuttles. In principle, I am not opposed to this. The shuttle engines were very good and it makes sense to leverage this technology. But they should have been able to bring this monstrosity in for far less money and in far less time. At least, the Artemis spacecraft seems to be working better than it’s cousin, the Starliner. Good new for the people who are riding in it.

[Samurai_Jack]

lol @

[virgil]

Both Blue Origin and SpaceX are making a landers.

https://www.nasa.gov/reference/human-landing-systems-2/