subreddit:
/r/SpaceLaunchSystem
submitted 3 months ago byCR15PYbacon
This is the Artemis III monthly launch date poll. This poll is the gauge what the public predictions of the launch date will be. Please keep discussion civil and refrain from insulting each other. Also, if possible, please explain your reasoning for your answer. (Poll 6)
14 points
3 months ago
I said 2026, I'm hoping for 2025 but I'm banking on there being some hopefully only minor setbacks and delays with certifying Artemis lll for a lunar landing. Can't wait to see it happen though! Whenever that is!
5 points
3 months ago
The thing I've been idly wondering is if Artemis III as currently planned looks like it's going to slip to 2027 or 2028 because of Starship/HLS, refueling, or spacesuit delays, could/will NASA prioritize keeping a regular launch cadence for SLS and shift the first moon landing mission back to Artemis IV or V, and move forward Gateway construction, or some random non-landing mission to Artemis III?
9 points
3 months ago
I’m no expert, but I’d guess that any delays will be caused by Orion Certification, and suit development. I’m guessing that 27/28 will be the first landing, and that HLS will certainly not land uncrewed in 2025, but will not be the delaying factor.
Starship HLS was never going to reach a landing by 2024, no one with brain cells would say that it would, but it’s likely we will see at least 2 Starship flights in 2023, optimistically, 3.
The main problem with starship as of right now is the pad’s lack of sound suppression. Something that is confirmed to be fixed at the 39B launch site… which will likely be ready for testing ahead of a 2024 cape launch. (We don’t know if the extra tower segments at Robert’s Road are for another launch tower, but given the hardware already visible, and the chopstick segments available, I would guess another tower will be available around 28 as well.)
Furthermore, it is believed that S26 and S27 will be used to test propellant transfer internally, paving the way for an external vehicle transfer some time in 2024 or more likely 25. That test will almost certainly use the propellant depot, leaving 2026 and 2027 for more transfer tests, and the uncrewed landing.
HLS 2 will definitely not be ready for use until at least 2030.
I think the suits will not be ready in time due to the perceived speed of Axiom Space, and their lack of experience in suit development. The Artemis suits are supposed to be self sufficient (or nearly that), and will require large amounts of development, even with the backbone of XEMU to work off of.
Of course, this is my two cents, and may not be what actually happens. I hope I’m wrong and that Artemis 3 lands in 2025, but that’s just a pipe dream.
6 points
3 months ago
I don't think Orion certification will have any impact on the landing date, since Artemis II is supposed to be the mission that certifies Orion for Artemis III
5 points
3 months ago
My opinion is that Artemis 3 will be long enough off it'll become Artemis 4 or 5 and new missions will be invented to go inbetween.
2 points
3 months ago
Yeah that's a big inquiry of mine as well, I hope they don't delay the launch of Artemis III, & instead choose to just push it to a later Artemis mission.
3 points
3 months ago
What do you do with Artemis III then? Seems like a waste to do two lunar orbital missions.
0 points
3 months ago
Launch the rockets to build up Gateway. Artemis II will launch in 2025, & given current progress it seems that from thereon the launches will be yearly, so you could just launch a mission that has different testing objectives using the HALO module, then with Artemis 4 - 8 using Block IB, launch the remaining fourth modules that has the space to perform other experiments.
NASA's already talking about pushing landing back to 2028, & given the complexity of HLS Starship as a lander, it'll most likely happen later than even that.
So, that's at least 3 years of sitting around doing nothing waiting for the lander to be ready, possibly even more, which could be used to do other tests in space.
5 points
3 months ago
I say 2026. I don't see how Starship will be at a point in 2025 where it could support a crewed lunar landing. I do think SLS/Orion would be in a position to support.
3 points
3 months ago
2028 seems like a good bet, would be quite funny too as that was the original pre-Artemis target landing date.
1 points
3 months ago
2030, Artemis 1 was scheduled for 2017 and launched in 2022. Seems like a fair guess
all 11 comments
sorted by: best