A landing system is a round trip

NASA’s Human Landing System program develops commercial crewed lunar-landing capability for Artemis. Early development awards in 2020 included Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX. NASA selected SpaceX for the initial development award in 2021 and selected Blue Origin as a second lander provider in 2023. These procurement steps are part of the program’s history, not a record of completed crewed lunar landings.

The SpaceX Starship Human Landing System and Blue Moon Mark 2 Human Landing System are different vehicle designs within this program. A program sets and verifies a required capability; its providers can approach that capability with different hardware and operations. This course reviews their changing plans as of October 23, 2026.

Orion provides the crew’s Earth-return vehicle. A human lander must support the surface portion and bring its passengers back to the appropriate rendezvous. The launcher, the crew-return spacecraft and the lander therefore have connected but distinct jobs. A successful launch does not by itself demonstrate the surface journey.

Draw an original functional map: travel to the meeting point, transfer crew, descend, work on the surface, ascend, meet the return vehicle and transfer back. Label the spacecraft responsible for each phase. The map makes it harder to overlook the return trip while focusing on the visually dramatic landing.

A lander that reaches the surface still needs suitable power, thermal conditions, crew support and a departure capability. In a teaching scenario, an engine can perform descent but a required restart has never been evaluated. Landing success would answer one question while leaving an important ascent question unresolved.

Requirements also connect to time. A surface stay consumes supplies and can change thermal or electrical conditions. A complete mission assessment asks whether the vehicle can depart after the planned stay, reach the rendezvous and support the crew through transfer—not merely whether its landing legs can touch the ground.