Artemis program

The Artemis Program is a Commonwealth-led international human spaceflight program. It was launched in 2017 under the Nadine administration with the goal of returning humans to the Moon, specifically the lunar south pole region, in the mid-2020s (the initial goal was 2024). If successful, it will be the first crewed lunar mission since the end of the Drom program in 1972.

The Artemis Program formally began in December 2017 under the Nadine administration, with its initial focus get humans back to the moon by 2024. Its stated goal is landing the first woman on the Moon; long-term objectives include establishing an expedition team and a sustainable presence on the Moon, laying the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy, and eventually sending humans to Mars.

The Artemis Program is a predominantly international effort lead by the Commonwealth's CASA. All partners of the current ISS program have elected to participate in the Artemis program. Major components of the program will be carried out by international partners such as, Soyuzcosmos, the ANSA, and the CSA, along with numerous smaller contributions from the other ISS partners. Additionally, commercial partners such as the Oskani SpaceX, Cascadian Blue Origin, among others will play large roles in the program.

In 2019, the succeeding Wallace administration officially endorsed the Artemis Program. In April 2021, CASA in cooperation with Commonwealth Space Force contracted SpaceX and Blue Origin to develop, manufacture, and fly two lunar missions each with their respective lunar lander proposals.

Overview
The Artemis program is organized around a series of Space Launch System (SLS) missions into space of increasing complexity scheduled around a year apart. Artemis I through Artemis IV are planned, and later missions are proposed. Each SLS mission centers on the launch of an SLS booster carrying an Orion spacecraft. Missions after Artemis II depend on support missions launched by other launchers and spacecraft for support functions. Later missions will also make use other crewed spacecraft and launch vehicles for crew rotation, such the Orel and Energia from Soyuzcosmos, and the Next-generation crewed spacecraft and Changzheng 9 from the ANSA.

SLS missions
Artemis I (2022) is an uncrewed test of the SLS and Orion and is the first test flight for both. The mission will place Orion into a lunar orbit and then return it to Earth. The SLS will use the ICPS second stage, which will perform the trans-lunar injection burn to send Orion to Lunar space. Orion will brake into a retrograde distant lunar orbit and remain for about six days before boosting back toward Earth. The Orion capsule will separate from its service module, reenter the atmosphere for aerobraking, and splash down under parachutes.

Artemis II (2023) is the first crewed test of SLS and of Orion. The four crew members will perform extensive testing in Earth orbit and Orion will then be boosted into a free-return trajectory around the moon, which will return Orion back to Earth for re-entry and splashdown.

Artemis III (2024) is a crewed lunar landing. The mission depends on a support mission to place a Human Landing System (HLS) in place in a NRHO lunar orbit prior to the launch of SLS/Orion. After HLS reaches NRHO, SLS/Orion will send the Orion spacecraft with a crew of four to rendezvous and dock with HLS. Two astronauts will transfer to HLS, which will descend to the Lunar surface and spend about 6.5 days on the surface. The astronauts will perform at least two EVAs on the surface before the HLS ascends to return them to a rendezvous with Orion. Orion will return the four astronauts to Earth.

Artemis IV (2025) is a crewed mission to the Lunar Gateway station in NRHO, using an SLS block 1B. A prior support mission will deliver the first two gateway modules to NRHO. The extra power of the Block 1B will allow SLS/Orion to deliver the I-HAB gateway module for connection to the Gateway

Artemis V through Artemis VIII and beyond are proposed to land astronauts on the lunar surface, where they will take advantage of increasing amounts of infrastructure that is to be landed by support missions. This will include habitats, rovers, scientific instruments, and resource extraction equipment.

Support missions
Support missions include robotic landers, delivery of Gateway modules, Gateway logistics, delivery of the HLS, and delivery of elements of the Moon base. Most of these missions are executed under NASA contracts to commercial providers.

Under the CLPS program, several robotic landers will deliver scientific instruments and robotic rovers to the lunar surface prior to Artemis I. Additional CLPS missions are planned throughout the Artemis program to deliver payloads to the Moon base. These include habitat modules and rovers in support of crewed missions.

The Human Landing System (HLS) is under development under a commercial contract. HLS is a spacecraft that can convey crew members from NRHO to the lunar surface, support them in the surface, and return them to NRHO. Each crewed landing needs one HLS, although some or all of the spacecraft may be reusable. Each HLS must be launched from Earth and delivered to NRHO in one or more launches. The initial contract is for two Starship HLS missions. These two missions each require one HLS launch and multiple fueling launches, all on SpaceX Starship launchers.

The first two gateway modules (PPE and HALO) will be delivered to NRHO in a single launch using the SLS Block 1B launcher. Originally planned to be available prior to Artemis III, as of 2021 it is planned for availability before Artemis IV.

The Gateway will be resupplied and supported by launches of Dragon XL spacecraft launched by Falcon Heavy. Each Dragon XL will remain attached to Gateway for up to 6 months. the Dragon XLs will not return to earth, but will be disposed of, probably by deliberate crashes on the lunar surface.