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Artemis estimated to cost $93 billion through 2025

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NASA examined Orion crew capsule and heat shield

By Joey Roulette

WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - NASA Administrator Bill

Nelson announced on Thursday new delays in the U.S. space

agency's Artemis program to return astronauts to the moon for

the first time since 1972, pushing back the next two planned

missions amid potential policy changes under President-elect

Donald Trump's administration.

Nelson told a news conference at NASA headquarters that the

next Artemis mission, sending astronauts around the moon and

back, has slipped to April 2026, with the subsequent astronaut

landing mission using SpaceX's Starship planned for the

following year.

"Assuming the SpaceX lander is ready, we plan to launch

Artemis III in mid-2027," Nelson said.

"That will be well ahead of the Chinese government's

announced intention" to land on the lunar surface by 2030,

Nelson added, illustrating the competition between the world's

top two space powers as they race to the moon.

The newly announced delays came after NASA concluded an

examination of the Orion crew capsule, made by Lockheed Martin ( LMT )

, and its heat shield, which had cracked and partially

eroded during reentry into Earth's atmosphere on its debut 2022

uncrewed test mission, Artemis I.

The Artemis program was established by NASA during Trump's

first administration and represents the flagship American effort

to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since the

U.S. space agency's Apollo 17 mission. The Artemis program is

estimated to cost $93 billion through 2025.

Unlike the Apollo missions, the Artemis program also calls

for building lunar bases that will help pave the way for the

more ambitious future goal of sending astronauts to Mars.

The Artemis program has made noteworthy progress, including

Orion's 2022 uncrewed launch atop NASA's giant Space Launch

System (SLS), but also has experienced various delays and rising

costs. The roughly $2 billion SLS per-launch price tag and its

heavy cost overruns in development have made advisers to Trump's

transition effort eager to upend the Artemis program and focus

more heavily on Mars using SpaceX's Starship. Trump takes office

on Jan. 20.

NASA's Artemis I mission was a 25-day voyage around the moon

ending when the Orion capsule, carrying a simulated crew of

three mannequins, made a splash down in the Pacific. During its

blazing atmospheric reentry, heat became trapped inside the

Orion heatshield's outer layer, causing cracks and raising

concerns after the mission about the capsule's future models.

Nelson said he and other senior NASA officials unanimously

decided at a meeting this week to keep the heat shield design as

is for Artemis II, but change the capsule's return trajectory to

prevent the cracking issues.

Orion capsules on missions beyond Artemis II will have an

upgraded heat shield. Replacing the Artemis II heat shield would

have caused a much longer delay of at least a year, according to

Pam Melroy, NASA's deputy administrator.

The Artemis II mission, a flight carrying astronauts around

the moon in Orion but without a landing, has experienced

previous delays as well, including one announced by Nelson in

January pushing back its time table to September 2025. Nelson on

Thursday confirmed it would be further delayed until April 2026.

The Artemis III lunar landing mission involves Orion

transferring the astronauts in space onto Starship, which will

land them on the surface.

The United States and China, an ascending power in space,

are both courting partner countries and leaning on private

companies for their moon programs.

The Artemis program has been NASA's top priority under

Nelson. Trump's first NASA chief, former U.S. congressman Jim

Bridenstine, launched the Artemis program and persuaded Congress

to increase the agency's budget to fund it.

Trump on Wednesday picked billionaire businessman Jared

Isaacman, an associate of SpaceX founder Elon Musk, to succeed

Nelson as NASA chief. Nelson said he spoke briefly to Isaacman

to congratulate him, and that he expects the incoming Trump

administration to carry Artemis forward under the current plan.